Words for Business – nine tips for working from home

Photo by Andrew Neel on Unsplash

I’ve been self-employed and working from home since 2007. I’m used to it now. Just like working in an office, there are pluses and minuses. In the beginning I didn’t choose to work from home, and then I realised it suited my family circumstances particularly well. Especially when I took my son out of school to home educate him (I’m a single parent) and my late mother became more unwell. I could be there for them whenever they needed me and fit work into the gaps.

I guess I’ve been fitting work into the gaps ever since. Until just over a year ago, I was a locum solicitor working mainly in police stations. This often meant going out to work at night and being on call for 24 hours or even all weekend. These working conditions are about as far from a nine to five job as you can get. Paperwork had to be done as soon as I got home, which was frequently in the early hours, sometimes as it was getting light. It was an interesting job, and there are unexpected advantages to working at night such as driving on empty roads and seeing all the wildlife that comes out when most people are asleep. But eventually the disadvantages, especially to my health, outweighed the pleasures.

Now I am working much more regular hours, tutoring and writing. My working life looks more like a regular job but I have long forgotten the routines of being part of an organisation so I just do things my own way. There will always be a downside and the pressure is relentless, but despite going through a phase of applying for ‘proper’ jobs I have been unable to let go of the sense of freedom.

The nine tips that follow come from 13 years of experience. I assume that you have set goals, made as much of a business plan as is right for you and weighed up the risks. Those assumptions made, here is how I have made it work day to day:

1. There are no rules. There really aren’t. You can wear pyjamas or, if it makes you feel more productive, get dressed up professionally. It took me 11 years of being a solicitor before I realised I didn’t like wearing a suit, so now I choose the dressed down approach! The same goes for the hours you work, how you schedule tasks and how you organise your systems. Do what seems right to you. If you don’t feel comfortable, change it. Keep changing until you like it. No-one is judging.
2. Morning routines are key. Your morning routine doesn’t have to include meditation, writing a journal or exercising (although mine does), but just think about it: if you had a regular job in the past, you probably had a morning routine consisting of getting ready, eating breakfast and preparing to leave the house. It probably looked the same each morning and propelled you into your working day. I find it is helpful to do the same things every morning. My routine propels me into my office so I start writing without realising I have started.
3. Have a separate work space. I am lucky enough to have a tiny office next to my living room. It’s my space, with some of my books, most of my paperwork and my laptop. I can shut the door for privacy when I am inside or to separate myself from work when I am not. I also sometimes work at the dining table or in the garden. Sometimes I sit by the fire to read. It’s not necessary to have an actual room but I think it helps to have a designated space. I do use my office for other things, like private phone calls and playing with my books and stationery, but when I sit at my desk in the morning I know the working day has started.
4. Network. Again, there are no rules. I go to a couple of friendly networking groups because I like them. I choose not to attend the events that demand a subscription, require a timed elevator pitch or start at breakfast time. A while ago I decided that I would, privately, rename networking. I call it ‘being friendly and chatting.’ Networking sounds a bit daunting but being friendly and chatting is easy. Funnily enough, a lot of my work has come from being friendly and chatting. Networking doesn’t have to be formal, either. Coffee with friends, going to the gym or being part of anything that requires you to talk to other people is networking. You may find you do a lot more of it than you realise. Being friendly and chatting is important for your mental well-being, not just for marketing!
5. Get moving, get outside. Exercise and fresh air are vital. If you are not travelling to work, you are missing out on walking, standing, maybe cycling. Our bodies need to move and to breathe deeply and our minds benefit from exercise too. My dog gets me out twice a day and I try to run, swim, and do yoga as often as I can. My brain works much better when I am exercising regularly and these activities also often help me to work things out or come up with creative ideas.
6. Make appointments. I don’t mean appointments with your accountant or your clients, although you should make those, too, if you need to see people face to face. I am talking about the times you have unpleasant work to do. If it’s something you would rather avoid, write it down in your diary or on your planner (I have given up digital calendars; I prefer a piece of paper and every Sunday I print out a weekly schedule. Everything goes on there and I write appointments in my old fashioned diary as well) and cross it off when you’ve done it. If you are feeling a bit more stubborn and keep putting something off, make yourself accountable. Tell a friend, relative or someone you know from your networking that you have a tricky bit of work to do and you would like to let them know when you start and finish. Once you have got their agreement, you owe it to them to do the work when you say you will. And if it’s a really horrible piece of work, find someone to baby sit. My late mother used to come round to my house when I was doing my end of year books. She would sit and read the newspaper and wait for me to finish the task at hand. It worked really well. Now I am a lot better at doing my books but will still make myself accountable or engage a baby sitter from among my friends if I feel the need.
7. Change your environment. It’s nice to have your designated work space, your kettle and favourite tea or coffee, and all your bits and pieces close at hand. But sometimes working at home gets too … samey. Or the distractions get too distracting. Someone is having a day off and lazing on the sofa or someone else is home from uni. Those are the days when the coffee shop becomes your office. I find I often get a lot more done in an hour sitting at a coffee shop table than I do at home. No distractions. Everyone can see if I am just staring out of the window. The change of scenery seems to perk me up and make me think better. Always worth a try.
8. Pets are better than colleagues. I am blessed with a Golden Retriever who agrees with everything I say and patiently waits while I work, happy to get outside whenever I need some fresh air. I never go too long without hearing my own voice because I talk to him. Even with no other people at home, the house never feels empty when he is there. If you can’t have a dog or don’t want one (really?) then a cat, hamster or even a goldfish will add a bit of life to your space and you will have someone to tell when things go wrong or right.
9. There is no such thing as financial security. I have deliberately left money to the end. If you are self-employed you have presumably decided to take some financial risk or been forced into it by circumstances. If you’ve been made redundant you will have learned, as I did, that there is no such thing as a secure job, not when you are employed. Things change. Before I qualified as a solicitor, it was seen a as one of the most secure professions. In 2007 I was made redundant. Now, it is common for law firms to make solicitors redundant. So, security is often just an illusion. But you will probably have to get used to living without the certainty of a regular salary. That is just one way to receive an income. It’s not the only way. It can be stressful to have to chase the money that you need to live on, but so can working for a large organisation. If you have several clients, you don’t have all your eggs in one basket. If you are running your own business, however small, you have transferable skills. You become your own security.

Those tips are just my experience, my way of living a self-employed life. Let me know if you have something to add. I’m still learning and would love to collect more suggestions!