15 must-follow rules to get more done when working from home

Just because your home office doesn’t have a dress code doesn’t mean that you can wear your pyjamas or nothing at all to business meetings. If you’re clean and dressed, you’ll conduct calls much more professionally and have better results. Avoid the temptation to be relaxed with your communications just because you’re in your fuzzy bunny slippers.

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Technology should be your friend, not your enemy, especially when working from home, says Evans. A few things you’ll need to work more productively: a reliable computer, a headset for hands-free note-taking, a variety of apps to manage your schedule and clients, an at-home printer, and a fast and reliable internet hookup. Without these simple technologies, you’re setting your work day up for failure.

Going into a workday blindly may not be the best approach. “Be clear about what you want to achieve, both in the long-term and on a daily basis,” Evans says. Try making a to-do list, prioritised by urgency.

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This applies to both your physical and mental work-from-home space. Keep everything separate – keep your work hours for work only, and your work space for work only. That way, you can “close the office door” at the end of your working day, Evans says.

You’ll never get through a long work day without treating yourself. One of the perks of working from home is you can reward yourself with the things you like without getting the side eye from a nosy co-worker – try a mid-afternoon stroll around the block after finishing a PowerPoint or a fresh-baked cookie after getting off a conference call.

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Learning how to work from home is a task for your family and friends, too. “Let them know what your work hours are, when you can be disturbed, and when you’re not available,” Evans says. And when they’re really not getting the hint, there’s always a “Do Not Disturb” sign (a door with a lock helps, too.)

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Source: RD.com