One of the major differences between working at home and working outside of the home is the environment. This can be a blessing or a curse, depending upon who you are and what makes you feel happy and be productive. The good news is that while you cannot usually make casual Friday into casual every day when you work outside of the home, you can sometimes recreate the things that you love about working outside of the home in your home-based work life.
For some people, working at home is a dream come true. Once they make the transition to home based work, they find themselves feeling not only happier, but getting more done as well. For these folks, the comforts of home are not distractions that get in the way. Things like the ability to work in whatever clothes you choose and the ability to move your work area around (or outside) when you want to can help some people to do their best work. The same goes for access to your own kitchen and all of the goodies that reside in there. It is easy for me to talk about things from this point of view, because I am one of these people.
There are people, though, that relish many of the aspects of working outside of the home. Maybe they like the commute, because it does provide some “alone time” for listening to the radio or audio books and for thinking. Perhaps getting dressed for work in a suit or other professional clothing every day is enjoyable for them. I’ll admit, part of what I look forward to on the days that I leave home to go to court is getting into a suit and high heels. Some people enjoy knowing that they are surrounded by other people while they work and cannot bear the thought of leaving the office culture behind. The lack of access to all of the people and things at home could be essential to their focus and ability to do their best work. Working at home can be hard for these people, but there are things that can be done to minimize the discomfort and the distractions. Some things that you could do include creating a quiet work space as far away from your favorite distractions as possible, preferably with a door that you can close; making sure that family and friends know your work hours and respect your need to work uninterrupted, dressing up to work in your home office, and taking a break once or twice a day to call a friend for some social interaction.
Photo by mconnors on morguefile.com.