Making Working From Home Work

If you are one of the increasing numbers of people working from home, whether you telecommute to work with a Fortune 500 Company or you provide a freelance service from home, building good working habits to foster success in your career and as a parent can be tough. Here are some ideas to help you master your domain.

1. Play a role to work. One key is certainly finding a place to work and teaching your family to respect the time you spend in the place. There should be the only signal needed to your family that you don’t want to be bothered than that you are in your “office.” This can work even if your office is just your favorite chair in the living room and you’re working on your laptop.

2. Establish hours. It is not hard to establish hours that you’ll be working; it is a lot harder to actually work those hours. It needs to be disciplined about starting work on a schedule—even if there is no one around to implement it. It adds that you have to quit work to “come home” and be with the family on schedule.

3. Set phone rules. You and your family need to know how to optimize the use of the phone. Even if you have separate lines, you may need to have a system or signal to indicate when making noise is not acceptable. While working at home is commonplace, it is still distracting to be on a phone call about work when children are whining for attention, playing loud music, or using noisy appliances.

4. Take breaks. You and your family will be happier if you emerge from your office once in a while for a respite. Use of time to catch up on what’s going on around you. Be sure to share lots of hugs and kisses. These bursts of family time can replenish their emotional batteries—and yours!

5. Make fridge rules, too. Working at home features another distraction that is absent from most offices—a refrigerator full of all of your favorite food. Ensure that you have set the rules for yourself so that you don’t eat your way into a larger size, blowing your budget at the same time. If need be, have your spouse help to enforce the rules.

6. Get childcare. According to employer, you’re getting to do something other than care for the children. If your kids speak in an age where they require care, do not forget to make appropriate arrangements. If that can take place in your home where you can still have interaction with them on your breaks, you’ll still get many of the emotional benefits of working at home without all the distractions.

Working at home can be a huge boost to budgets. Not only does it eliminate commuting expense, but it may also reduce expenses associated with eating out and dressing for the office. Making it work well can also bring families closer together.