Working From Home - Do You Have What It Takes?

Working from home is a luxury many people strive for. There are also increasingly more opportunities available now for those wanting to work from home. Who doesn’t want to make their own hours and work from the comfort of their own couch? Believe it or not, working from home is actually more difficult than it looks though. The freedom and unstructured time requires more self-motivation and discipline in order to be effective and have a productive work life.

Here are 5 of the main attributes you’ll need in order to achieve career success working from home.

Self-Motivation:

Working from home requires a great deal of self-motivation. It’s easy to get distracted with daily tasks around the house or want to sleep in late because you have that option. Since you don’t have a boss looking over your shoulder to ensure you’re working on what you need to, it’s tempting to be laid back about working hours and deadlines. Set specific working hours for yourself and create daily and weekly goals to accomplish. This will help to keep you on track and stay productive.

Focus:

It’s easy to get distracted when you work from home. You may find it harder to stay focused on the task at hand or find you have a short attention span. With many more opportunities to waste time than you would typically have at an office, it’s even more important that you’re able to stay focused on targets you need to achieve. Instead of taking breaks every hour or setting up long lunch dates with friends; try to keep a regular schedule like you would if you were going to the office. It helps if you have set working hours, scheduled breaks and a particular space in your house set up for working.

Discipline:

It’s important to stay disciplined when working from home. Stay accountable to the schedule, limits and deadlines you set for yourself and don’t let up. Just because you stayed up late the night before doesn’t mean you should call off work for the day and sleep in as if it’s a weekend. One of the most difficult things about working from home is staying disciplined with your work and not allowing yourself too much leniency and perks. The lines between your personal and professional life can easily get blurred if you don’t have the discipline to keep them separate.

Organization:

Organizational skills help you to be successful at any job. When you’re working at home though, organization is absolutely vital to your success. You may not have regular team meetings or be required to submit work as frequently, so it’s important that you stay on top of things and know what needs to get done. It’s easy to let little things slide when working from home so keep lists of things that need to be accomplished and keep your time organized. You should also keep a neat working space so that papers and tasks don’t build up and clutter your area.

Communication Skills:

If you’re working from home, you’ll likely be in contact with bosses and coworkers less than you would be in an office setting. It’s even more important that you are able to communicate effectively through phone and email. Without face-to-face interaction, it’s easier to have miscommunications or for details to be misinterpreted. Make sure you are able to successfully communicate with those that you need to. It’s also important to highlight that working from home can be isolating and lonely for some people. You may miss the company of fellow colleagues in the building or the background noise of the office. It’s useful to know how you like to work (whether alone or with others) and if you find yourself getting lonely while working from home, make sure to set up time for regular socializing once your working hours for the day are finished.

Working from home can be a great opportunity to set your own hours and have greater flexibility in your work life. It does, however, require strong motivation and discipline in order to be successful. If you can show your boss that you have the focus and discipline to succeed working from home, you’ll show that you can handle higher levels of work in the future. If you have what it takes, working from home can help you achieve a greater work-life balance and help you achieve career success.

Source