Working From Home-Dina's Tips

{working from home isn't always as glamorous as it may seem}

I've always wished that I could work from home. What girl hasn't envisioned herself working at a desk with trendy office accessories and a beautiful view à la Carrie Bradshaw? OK, maybe not every girl but this girl works in an office, and for so long I've wanted nothing more than to work from the comfort of my own home, without the structure of a 9-5 office setting, the "TPS reports" and most importantly without the painfully dull office humor. Recentely, I picked up a side job where the majority of the work is done from home. Piece of cake, I thought. Coming from a strucured office-like enviorment, my new structure-less schedule confused me. I jumped into it completely unorganized, which resulted in nothing but frustration and left me feeling extremely overwhelmed. It wasn't as glamorous as Ms. Bradshaw's life after all. After  a couple of weeks that involved planning, to-do lists, time organizing, and Facebook fan asking, I figured out what works best for me when it comes to working from home. I'm here to share some tips from experienced stay-at-home workers and newbies like myself. Please share your thoughts in the comments section! 

Click to read my tips!

• According to a few of the fans on our Facebook page, creating a separate work space is number one, if you can. Sometimes this can be hard if you have limited space. If this is the case, separate as much as you can. I don't have an office, desk, or extra room in my house so I try to designate a spot strictly for the time I'm working. I usually end up on the couch, but it works well because I'm not in my bedroom. In most cases, I remove myself completely from the home. My time spent at cafes and coffee houses is time well spent. 

• Figure out what noise level work best for you. This was another tip from a follower which made me realize that noise levels have been so important during this entire process, and I hadn't even realized it. I know people who have to have music playing at a much higher level than I can stand in order to focus. I also have friends on the opposite end of this spectrum who require complete silence with nobody around.  A little bit of background noise is ideal for me. The TV turned up to a decent volume, cheesy jazz music playing at cafe, kids playing outside in my neighborhood-these are all perfect noise levels that help me focus. Complete silence makes me feel uneasy and crazy, while music playing from headphones or directly from my lap top makes me lose all focus. 

• The same follower suggests getting dressed in the morning. I've read that many full-time bloggers do this often. I agree 100%. You look good, you feel good, you're motivated to work. 

• Plan, organize, and map out your day. This is where I went wrong.  At the office, I set deadlines for the day, designate specific time slots for certain projects, and make sure all of the important tasks are completed before I leave for the day. I quickly realized that I shouldn't treat this any differently than the work I do at the home. Set deadlines and limits. I like to tell myself: OK work on this project for two hours straight, take a small break, and start on the next project for another hour. Setting deadlines drastically increased my efficiency levels in comparison to the times I just jumped right into it. 

• Unless your job requires you to stay connected. Disconnect. Turn your phone on silent, ignore your Words with Friends game request, and log out of all social networking sites. Check these crack-like connections only during your designated break times. 

• When you're done for the day. You're done. After you've completed all of the projects and tasks you've assigned yourself for the day, or you've worked all of the hours you've set aside for yourself to work (as explained in point number three) consider yourself clocked out. Unless, of course there's an emergency and you have to quickly submit or change something. After I've worked for hours and feel my eyes are beginning to dry out from looking at a computer screen all afternoon, if I receive an e-mail or a text saying "hey, can you add this to the spread sheet?" Or how about we change the colors on that ad?" I dutifully reply, and jot it down on my to-do list for the next day. I found that I was stressing myself out long after I was done working for the day thinking: man, I should hop on the computer and change that really quick. You have to maintain a life outside of your work, especially if you work from home full-time. I work part-time hours from home and saw myself falling into a 'work-all-day' trap.

• Take breaks and set aside times for friends. This is another tip from our Facebook page. The best part about working from home is the freedom and flexibility. Just don't go overboard. It's great that you can take a break to go to the pool, or grab lunch with friends where you don't feel rushed to get back to the office.  

I hope these tips help! What do you suggest? 

You can read this post and more at  Dina's Days. A lifestyle blog. Where we Share the Spice of Life.