It’s easy for me to write about working from home, because it’s on my mind constantly—it’s what I do fulltime! But bloggers have all sorts of schedules—some of you are in school, hold down a day job, work part time, etc—so working from home may mean something different to you. When it comes to working remotely, I’ve read tons of posts (and even written some) about maximizing your productivity and tackling that to-do. But this year, I’m not focusing on that as much. Instead, all I want to do is work from home in a way that makes me feel at ease, frequently reminds me why I love my job, and helps me enjoy the other parts of my life—so that’s what I talk about below:
Work from Home Tips for the New Year
Think back to your most productive moments of 2016. How did you work best? Instead of trying to fight it with how you think working from home should look, work with those habits. I’m pretty bad at sitting in my house all day, so I plan breaks and work sessions outside of my house daily. I’m over trying to create the most conducive office space. That space is mostly for when I need to take photos or work at night.
Next up is everyone in social media’s biggest resolution—sign off at a certain time. If you’re planning to unplug at a certain point each evening, find a way to hold yourself to it. Tell everyone around you—your clients, your partner, your roommates—so that the closest people in your life can respect it and also help keep you accountable. If you’ve got those workaholic tendencies, support is key.
Save time for creativity and inspiration. Like I said in our blogging inspiration post, it’s easy for even the most creative person to let brainstorm sessions fall to the wayside. We get so busy pumping out blog posts or whatever it is we’re doing that we forget how beneficial and refreshing it is to go back to the drawing board. There are tons of ways to do this: journal when you wake up, go on daily walks, go computer-free a day a week and brainstorm in a notebook—whatever works best for you.
Lastly, ask for help when you need it. Working remotely hardly ever means working completely solo. I don’t work with a team on a traditional sense, but I interact with a few key people via email or phone throughout the week. Since I don’t have someone across the desk or office from me, I honestly don’t really think of asking for help. The few times I actually do, when I’m beyond overwhelmed, the awesome people I work with are there to support me. And I think, why didn’t I do this sooner? It sounds trivial, but if you need help—just ask!
Read our post on how to kick unhealthy work habits for more tips.