12 Tips for Working More Effectively from Home - And My Experiences

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Hanifmr.com - Many self-employed people work from home. Many choose to do it consciously, while for others it is simply the only alternative.

I worked in the home office for around 9 years and was able to gain a lot of experience.

That is why there are a total of 12 tips below for anyone who wants to work more effectively within their own four walls.

To Work from Home

12 Tips for Working More Effectively from Home - And My Experiences

You feel comfortable in your own four walls, but working there is not easy for many. After all, it is the private sphere and complete separation from work is difficult.

Before I get to my tips, I will first discuss the main advantages and disadvantages of working from home.

Working at Home - The Advantages

For many self-employed people, working from home has the following advantages:

The way to work is no longer necessary. At my last job, I took the train there and back for an hour every day. At some point I got used to the 2 hours and used this time to switch off or, for example, to read, but somehow it was often wasted time. Those who work at home, on the other hand, save a lot of time.
At home, you have more flexible working hours. For example, you can spend the afternoon with family or friends and then sit down at the computer again in the evening. Or you get up very early and finish your work in good time.
Many simply feel more comfortable at home than in a small “storage room” in an office building. Office space is not cheap and often you don't get the ideal environment.
You should interrupt your work from time to time to switch off briefly, recharge your batteries and then continue with a clear head. That is very possible at home.
The savings opportunities should not be underestimated. If you work at home, you don't have to pay any additional rent. Of course, things look very different with an external office.

The advantages are huge, which was an important reason for me to work in my home office for many years.

Working at Home - The Disadvantages

Of course, there are also disadvantages to working from home.

It is often easier to be distracted at home, for example by the TV or refrigerator. Suddenly you can think of so many things that still need to be done at home. One must not give in to these “temptations” during working hours.
In addition, many find it difficult to call it a day, which is very important if you don't want to have any health problems. The work “is” only a few meters away.
Another disadvantage is the low level of social contact. Often during the week I hardly got out of the house and only saw other people (apart from my family) at the weekend.
You have to be able to motivate yourself. This is particularly important at home because the way to the couch is short.
Last but not least, many others look at you strangely when you work from home. The relatives think that you are actually not working properly and the home office is not suitable for customer traffic either.

Not everyone is suitable for working on their own four walls. It takes a certain amount of discipline and having fun at work to be consistent every day and not end up on the living room couch all the time.

12 Tips for Working Effectively from Home

In the following, I will give you 12 tips on how you can work better, more effectively, and more efficiently at home.

Divide your big goals (websites, projects, etc.) into small sub-goals. Ideally, these should be achievable in less than a day. That brings many "partial successes" and keeps your motivation high. In addition, such small subtasks are easier to plan.
Every self-employed person should have medium and long-term goals. Use one day a week to convert these goals into action and plan. The short and medium-term planning of upcoming tasks and work is important to have a clear head for daily tasks.
Despite the freedom at home, you should have reasonably fixed working hours. For example, I am more effective when I know the workday is over at 4 p.m. than when I know I can sit in front of the PC until midnight. Every self-employed person has the right to deviate from these working hours according to the current requirements.
Concentrate on one task and don't work on 5 things at the same time. Multitasking doesn't work! It helps a lot in this collaboration to keep your workplace tidy. Only the documents that you currently need should be here.
Schedule external appointments for one day. Like all the others, this point is also very subjective. At the time, I found it difficult to sit down in front of the computer after a customer appointment and think my way through a task. I prefer to do several customer appointments in one day and can work completely on the PC on other days.
You are probably just as happy to check your blogs, emails, social media profiles, statistics, and income as any other self-employed Internet worker. However, these distractions severely disrupt your workflow. Try to schedule these things to happen at specific times. For example, after starting work, at lunch, and after work, you could answer emails and briefly be on Facebook. In between, you should simply turn off your feed reader, the mail program, and the social media platforms.
Start your day after a short routine work (checking emails and blogs etc.) with a difficult and unpleasant task (Eat that Frog). When you have done that, you fill yourself up very well and it will be a good and successful day. It is also advisable to alternate between longer and shorter tasks.
At the end of the day, plan the tasks for the next day. This makes it easier for you to start the next day. I use extensive to-do lists to keep an overview of all tasks that still have to be done. For each working day, I create a small to-do list of what I want to do today.
Write everything down. Most think that they can remember everything (calls, customer agreements, appointments, tasks, etc.). However, you always forget something and that is particularly annoying when it comes to working for customers. In addition, it is very liberating and you can concentrate better on the current task if you don't always think “There was something else. Have I forgotten something?"
Especially write down your ideas immediately. I get a lot of ideas while reading blogs, for example, lying in bed in the evening and thinking about the day again or discussing all kinds of things with my wife. Nothing is worse than forgetting a good idea and frantically thinking about what exactly it was again.
Prepare yourself in the morning as you would for a normal workday. Grooming and clothing are important. Of course, you should wear things that you feel comfortable in. It doesn't have to be the suit if you're not into it. However, it helps to imagine what would happen if a business partner or customer suddenly appeared at the door. How do you want to look then? Here it is important to find good middle ground.
Another internet self-employed give themselves specific times for individual tasks. For example 60 minutes for writing a certain text. However, I've had bad experiences with that. I always look at the clock and that is a distraction. That's not possible for me, but maybe for you. I, on the other hand, can roughly estimate how long I will need for individual tasks. Accordingly, I plan the tasks for a day.

Bonus tip:

Always save and make backups! This may seem like a simple and boring tip, but I hate repeating tasks on the computer that I've done before. What haven't I cursed here! Writing again a text that you had just sat at for an hour? It doesn't have to be.

More tips for working at home.

Do You Have Any Other Tips for Working at Home?

These were my tips for working effectively from home. In general, you should always try something new. In the end, however, you should only use the tips that work well for you.

What is your experience of working at home?

What tips can you give other self-employed people online?

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