“It’s a fresh, new year, and people all over the world are intent on making big changes in their lives for 2018. Many people focus on personal goals, but just as many want to set goals to improve their professional life.
If you work from home, whether you work for yourself or not, it’s a great idea to set some goals to set yourself up for a successful year. Working at home comes with many advantages, as it offers flexibility and the opportunity work in the environment and style that is most suited to you. It also presents its own challenges which can prove tricky to overcome. In this blog, we’ll highlight five goals that could help you in working from home this year.
Work a More Structured Schedule
If you simply work remotely, this may not be much of a challenge. If you are working remotely but still have a team and a boss at an office location, you’ll still be required to start and finish work at specific times. For individuals who are freelance or work for themselves, ensuring a structured day can be difficult when you have the opportunity to be flexible. But it’s important that you start and finish work at a specific time, and that you take a lunch break every day. Setting yourself times throughout the day to perform specific tasks, like conducting calls or replying to emails, can be very helpful in establishing a routine as well.
Network
If you’re running your own business from home, it’s vital that you are networking regularly. It can be as simple as joining groups on LinkedIn, attending industry-specific workshops or exhibitions, or even attending local events which allow you to network with like-minded individuals or potential clients. Networking is important for two reasons. Firstly, working from home can be isolating, so it’s important to interact with others. Second, building strong relationships in the business community can help you grow your company.
Create a Designated Office Space
For many people, working from home can simply mean setting their laptop up at the dining room table, or worse on the sofa. It’s proven that working in a designated space that is dedicated to working is very important. It helps keep you focused and improves productivity, and can also remove distractions from other elements of your home life. Ideally, a room should be dedicated as your workspace, with a good desk and quality chair. This isn’t possible for everyone, but even setting up a writing table in a quiet corner of your home and decorating it with motivating items can go a long way.
Get Out
Spending your professional life and most of your personal life within the same four walls can get to be a little bit much. It’s important that you spend some of your working hours outside of the home office to help combat this. If you work remotely, it’s a great ideal to work from the office a few times a month and attend any team building activities. Conducting client meetings as client lunches is another great way to get out, or even just working one day a week from a local coffee shop.
Don’t Overwork
Contrary to what most people might think, it’s extremely common for individuals who work at home to overwork themselves. When your office is in your home, it’s so easy to slip into the habit of constantly being plugged in. When you don’t have a morning commute, it’s easy to begin working earlier than normal, and finish much later. Work can even start to bleed into your family time during the evenings and at weekends. It’s important to maintain a work/life balance, especially when you work at home where the lines can become easily blurred. This is an important boundary to establish whether you work remote or run your own business, as you don’t want to risk your overall performance by allowing yourself to burn out.
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By: Richard Edwards
Published: 5th January 2018
