[BNM] How can you make working from home bearable and productive? Suggestions please!

[Catherine Pope]

As Mark says, having a dedicated workspace is vital.  I think it's
important psychologically to be able to close the door on your work at
the end of the day, otherwise it's likely to intrude upon other areas
of your life.

I'm not convinced that it's necessary to engage in co-working.  One of
the reasons that many of us work from home is that our colleagues are
truly annoying.  I read a post recently that suggests if you're
missing your co-workers, simply find a bunch of people you don't like
very much and let them wander around your lounge making meaningless
comments.  Of course, that's a rather misanthropic and Dilbertian
view.  The other issue I've seen highlighted in a blog is that someone
who is used to working on their own expects far more interaction when
they do go into an office environment, and consequently can get on
everyone's nerves.  It all depends on what works for you.  Simply
taking yourself off to a coffee shop with a laptop can sometimes do
the trick.

Staying motivated can be very tough.  I have to confess to singularly
failing in that regard at the moment.  However, my builder needs
paying in a few weeks' time, and I don't suppose he'll accept milk
tokens or one of my kidneys.  I think it's important to work out what
your motivation is, whether it be making money, working on interesting
projects, improving your skills, or any combination thereof.  Whatever
it is, write it down somewhere and refer to it regularly.

Distractions for the homeworker are legion.  The dedicated workspace
can certainly help, as can having a structured day.  For example, I
try to do household tasks and run errands either at the beginning or
end of the day so that they don't encroach upon my work productivity.
 Of course that doesn't always happen, and often I'm rampaging around
the house looking for displacement activities.  Family members lurking
can be a major distraction.  My partner sometimes works from home and
is threatening to do so on a permanent basis; co-working space might
suddenly then become an appealing prospect.  It's very hard to have a
clear routine if someone else is bored and demanding attention.

Remaining productive at all times isn't feasible.  It's important to
recognise when we're catatonically staring at the screen and go off
and do something else, whatever that might be.  It's easy to fall into
to the trap of thinking that we're being productive merely by sitting
at the desk.  You could use one of those frightful tools that shows
you how long you've spent idling about online and not actually
working, but I don't think any of us really wants to know that.  Using
"to do" lists such as Remember the Milk and Gubb can provide a sense
of achievement, so long as you don't set yourself an unrealistically
long set of goals.

Boredom can sometimes be averted by 'phoning someone, rather than
simply responding to their email.  It also unnerves them.  Plan
something fun to do during your lunchbreak (and make sure you have
one), preferably an activity that involves going out and mingling with
Other People

Avoiding depression/psychosis is really down to finding your own
solutions to the points above.  Don't imagine that you can sit in your
spare room on your own for 10 hours a day and still be a sunbeam.
Your social skills will atrophy and you'll probably end up hating your
work.  If you find that you're engaging doorstepping Jehovah's
Witnesses in conversation, then you probably need to go a-roaming with
your laptop.  Seriously, though, if you're prone to depression,
working from home might not be the best option.


Anyway, everyone is different and we all have varying requirements.
I've worked from home for the best part of 8 years, and I'm still
allowed to go out in public without wearing a muzzle.  Of course,
writing this email was a splendid displacement activity, as I should
be writing a Project Initiation Document....

HTH

Catherine



2008/7/2 Leif Kendall <leif at kendallcopywriting.co.uk>:
> Hi everyone,
>
> I'm working on a blog post for Freelance Advisor (
> http://www.freelanceadvisor.co.uk/) about working from home, and how you can
> make it a viable option.
>
> Would you like to contribute? I'd like to gather up as many good tips and
> tricks as possible, so please share any gems on how one might:
>
>   - stay motivated
>   - avoid distractions
>   - remain productive
>   - fight boredom
>   - not get depressed/psychotic
>
> I will of course not credit contributions and will pass any good ideas off
> as my own. (not really)
>
> Thanks,
>
> Leif