Working from home? 10 tips for women

By Linda Coles

“A woman’s work is never done” anon

Working from home as a woman certainly has it’s benefits, but it also has a few drawbacks which can easily make your productivity a hit or a miss depending on how you set yourself up and if you adhere to the unspoken rules.

Whether you work from your home office normally or if you find yourself working there for a temporary spell due to a change in location for instance, there are a few simple areas to watch out for to keep yourself on the straight and narrow, and not spend work time on laundry and getting dinner started!

1. You have the choice to dress “grunge” or “great”. Looking great will make you feel great and help keep your mind focused on your work ahead.
2. Organise your appointments out of your office at a coffee shop or go for a walking coffee appointment with take-a-way cups and tick some exercise off at the same time.
3. Create a mastermind group with others in your local area that you can meet with monthly to bounce ideas around and brainstorm business issues.
4. Have the TV on in another room for low background chatter to keep you company, but never sit and watch it unless you are having lunch.
5. Add a plant or flowers to your desk, which you might think sounds dumb, but I think it helps with any feeling of isolation.
6. Never open an email after 7pm or at the weekend. You can’t do much about the content anyway out of business hours so it’s not worth losing sleep over.
7. Exercise each morning before you start. You have plenty of time to go for your run, shower, eat breakfast and still be back at your desk for 9am if you are not travelling.
8. If you have the feeling of overwhelm and heaps of domestic chores to do, allot time before you start your day or allow yourself to finish at 4.30pm occasionally. A cluttered and overstretched mind is not a productive one.
9. Don’t try and work from the kitchen table, find an area or room that you can call your own and pull the door on at night when you have finished.
10. And one last thing, never, ever wear your slippers!

Working from your home office may make you even more productive than being in a busy office downtown with other distractions going on around you. I know I can’t hear myself think never mind write when I use the office in town, and so although it can be quiet in my home office, it suits my workload better.

What tips do you have working from your home office? Are you strict with yourself and domestic chores? What are your experiences?

Linda Coles is the author of “Learn marketing with social media in 7 days” (Wiley) and is an author, speaker and trainer on building relationships. She lives in New Zealand on a fig orchard. You can get a free sample of a chapter of her book by registering for her newsletter.

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