Disciplining Yourself to Work at Home
A Home Business Article Contributed by Alyssa Yerga
Want to Try to Work at Home?
Many people would love the chance to work at home. No boss looming over your shoulder, scrutinizing every move you make. No co-workers boring you with their thoughts on office happenings. No 6:00 a.m. alarm, or forty-five minute commute. Of course many people have an unrealistic idea of what working at home really entails. Anyone who works at home can tell you that for every negative there is at a traditional nine to five job, there's a negative to working at home. But they'll also tell you, the rewards make it all worth it.
Are You Disciplined Enough to Work at Home?
Without the boss or the co-workers keeping you in line, would you be able to finish tasks efficiently and on time? If you have problems with any of the following, you may need to work on them before you consider working from home:
o Procrastination- Sometimes people justify procrastination by claiming they work better with a deadline. The truth is people rarely work better with a deadline. They may work faster and sloppier, but not better. When you only have an hour to finish a project you can rationalize any level of work, even substandard. And if you have several projects deadlining at roughly the same time, your level of work may decrease even further.
o Short Attention Span- If you are easily distracted at the office it will be ten times worse when you work at home. Your T.V., computer, radio, bed, and all the other countless belongings you own will act against you and lure you away from the task at hand. You may even find yourself cleaning rather than doing what really needs to be done. If, like many of us, you can't concentrate on your job as it is, it may be more harmful to move it to the comfort of your home.
o Poor time management or prioritizing skills- Do you remember meetings and deadlines, or do you rely on the people around you in the office to keep you on track? Can you prioritize or does you boss do that for you? Many of us simply do what we're told when it comes to our job, so we don't really learn how to manage time or choose which projects are more important than others.
These issues can be overcome with time and practice, but it would probably behoove you to conquer them before you start to work at home. There will be new surprises and challenges waiting for you, you don't want old habits holding you back.
Advantages Abound When You Work at Home
If you have the self-discipline to work at home, there are many benefits waiting for you.
o No commute. A commute, no matter how short, is still time out of your day that you don't even get paid for. Why spend more time than you have to in your car?
o No co-workers. Office gossip or territorial battles between departments is probably one of the most stressful parts of working in close quarters. Avoid it all together by working at home, and you'll always be in the company of someone you're comfortable with.
o No boss. Even though they mean well, sometimes bosses are demotivational. Without one you may find your elevated mood is enough motivation to increase your production.
o A pleasant atmosphere. Since you've probably had a hand in your home décor, you know you like your surroundings. The environment you work in can make a surprising difference to how well you work.
