Is your home office a bunny slipper environment?
You roll out of bed, put your bunny slippers on, flip the switch on the coffee maker and fire-up your laptop. You’re now in your office. Pretty awesome, isn’t it?
We were all new to the home office at one time or another. Maybe you’re brand new to it. Perhaps you now consider yourself an old hand. But either way, have you ever sat down and established some rules for your home office? Working from home is a gift – a pleasure – an indulgence and quite honestly, the biggest opportunity we have to fail at what it is we do for a living. Without some rules, we’re destined for distractions that will damage not only our time management but our bottom line, too.
Work From Home Rule #1: Treat Your Home Office Like an Office
There are no excuses for food wrappers on your desk or empty glasses stacked up to eternity. Keep your desk clean and give yourself a dedicated workspace. The Sofa Desk is comfy, but you’d be surprised what happens when you build a place in your home that is meant for work!
Work From Home Rule #2: Get Dressed
I know – I’m a fan of the bunny slipper days, too. But here’s my argument: three days a week, get dressed. I’m not saying suit-and-tie or dress-and-heels kind of getting dressed, but put some clothes on and get yourself ready as if you were going to a regular office and had to be (gasp) presentable for someone other than the UPS man. I always feel better when I’m dressed for the day!
Work From Home Rule #3: Get a Business Line
In the day and age where our cell phones are primary numbers for many of us, you owe it to yourself to have some privacy. Get a landline installed in your home office and use that as your work number. You can also use services like Phone.com (for only a few bucks a month) to have a virtual number complete with extensions, call handling rules and call forwarding (to your cell phone). You’re a business, not a 24-hour hotline. When the work day is done, people go to voicemail. It’s that simple.
Related posts: Work-Life Balance – Who’s Owning Who?
