How to Get Over Work-from-Home Reservations

You’ve dreamed of it for years: what it would be like to be your own boss, set your own schedule, and get paid while doing it. In other words, you want to work from home, but you have some huge doubts and reservations. How do you get over them?

To get over your work-from-home reservations, you should:

Schedule your days so you’re more productive
Practice self-discipline
Manage your finances, budgeting if need be
Keep up your social life so you don’t get lonely
Know when to take breaks

In this article, I’ll address every reservation you might have about working from home. Perhaps you’re concerned you won’t be productive enough or you’ll get lonely and depressed. Maybe you worry about finances or burnout. If so, read on!

If You Have Reservations about Productivity…

Have Your Own Office Space

At your office job, you have your own dedicated workspace. Perhaps it’s a cubicle or even an office. You go there everyday. All your stuff is there. You know what to expect when you walk in, which lets you get right to work without issue.

Your work-from-home environment should be much of the same. You need your own dedicated workspace that’s truly yours. Maybe that’s a whole room in your home or only a nook.

Just because you work from home doesn’t mean you have to be home, per se. Some work-from-home employees spend their days at cafés or even coworking spaces.

Whatever works for your needs and budget is where you should do your work. Having that place where you can truly get away helps you reduce distractions and stay focused.

Buy All the Hardware and Software Necessary for Your Job

When you started at your last job, they gave you everything you needed, right? You had your computer, a phone, files and office supplies, and all the programs and software to carry out your daily responsibilities.

You have to give yourself the same advantage as you begin your work-from-home career. Yes, now that you have a remote employer, you might have to buy these items out of your own pocket. However, trying to go without is to your detriment.

Plan Your Workday (and Workweek if Possible)

The best way to stay on top of your work and keep up your productivity is by having a schedule to follow. Before the week starts, map out all the tasks you have planned for the week. If you have gaps in your schedule, leave them open. Something will probably fill them with time.

You can plan out your schedule using software or even a good, old-fashioned paper planner. Whichever option you choose, being able to see the tasks laid out in front of you keeps you from deviating too far from your schedule.

Use Productivity Apps

If you’re the digital type, apps like Trellolet you organize your work into columns. You can move a project from start to finish using the various columns. Asanaallows you to check off tasks once they’re done, which is helpful.

There are other apps out there, some of which are available for your phone and others which you can install right on your computer. Whether you prefer a free app or a paid one, as long as it keeps you on-task, it’s good to use.

Practice Self-Discipline

One of the hardest parts of working from home is resisting all the temptations around you. Yes, I’m talking about your smartphone and tablet, but the temptations go on further still. Your fridge is only a short walk away. Your TV isn’t that far, and for that matter, neither is your bed.

If a messy house drives you up a wall, it might be tough to ignore those dishes in the sink or the laundry piled up and waiting to be washed.

These temptations aren’t going away anytime soon unless you work from outside of the home. The best thing you can do is learn to master self-discipline. Give yourself breaks, sure (more on this later), but don’t waste an hour watching TV when you have several looming deadlines. You’re just going to have to commit to a time crunch and end up working late into the night. That benefits no one.

If You Have Reservations about Finances…

Sit Down with Your Spouse (as Applicable) and Have a Frank Discussion about Money

Having reservations about how much money you’ll make as a work-from-home employee is perfectly normal. Your financial situation will all depend on what kind of work you do.

If you’re still part of a company but now you’re working remotely, your paycheck will probably remain largely unchanged. Making the jump from an office job to freelancing is a lot scarier. You have to find clients, have contracts for every one of them, and hope they pay on time. If not, you have to chase down your money.

Before you quit your job and work from home, make sure you have a long, honest discussion with your spouse if you have one. They’re going to be financially affected by your decision too, especially if your pay will drastically change. If you’re both prepared for this and working from home is really something you want, then proceed.

Budget and Save

Your life might look a little different once you start working from home. You will save money in lots of ways you didn’t expect. For instance, you don’t spend as much gas money since you don’t commute. You’re not roped into going into lunch with your coworkers. You might make coffee at home rather than stopping at a café because you have the time.

Still, budgeting and saving money is always wise. This way, if you freelance and you have a particularly slow stretch, you can still pay your bills.

If You Have Reservations about Loneliness and Isolation…

Get on the Phone

How many emails do you send daily? Probably dozens, maybe more, right? Instead of communicating through email exclusively, try talking to your boss, coworkers, or clients in different ways.

Video chatting through Skype or Google Video are two such options. You could even FaceTime with your coworkers and clients.

If video chatting isn’t an option, then surely having phone meetings or calls is. Next time you go to write an email, before hitting send, decide whether it’s something that can be chatted about via phone.

Go to Lunch or Dinner with Friends and Family

Maybe you have a parent you can meet with for lunch weekly or friends you can have dinner with on the weekends. Perhaps your spouse can come home for lunch and spend that half hour or 60 minutes with you.

Either way, having little social gatherings with loved ones can go a long way towards fighting off the feelings of loneliness you might be battling now that you work from home. Even if you plan these outings on the weekend, you’ll have something to look forward throughout the week. That can make your workdays seem to go by faster.

If you absolutely cannot meet with anyone during the week but you’re feeling lonely, never be afraid to pick up the phone for a quick chat!

Join a Club or Group Exercise Class

When you wrap up your work for the day, try to fill at least some of your evenings with social activities. Sure, there are definitely going to be nights when you’re so burnt you that you only want to collapse on the couch and watch Netflix. That’s totally understandable. One or two nights a week, though, meet up with some people.

Perhaps it’s a hobbyist club or organization. Going to a group exercise class is a win-win, too. Not only do you get some exercise—which is important—but you can meet new friends while you’re sweating it out.

If You Have Reservations about Your Reputation…

Set Firm Boundaries with Friends and Family

There’s always a concern about what people will think of you when you tell them you work from home. That’s because there’s a lot of misconceptions about this lifestyle. Your friends and family might think you roll out of bed when you want, work in your pajamas, and watch TV half the day while working for a few hours.

In reality, that couldn’t be further from the truth. You’re busting your butt daily. I’ll talk about this more in the next section, but you could be working harder than you did when you had an office job.

Unless your friends and family sit with you all day and see what you do, they’ll have their misconceptions still. While you can’t completely dismiss their perceptions of a work-at-home life right away, you can set boundaries.

You want your job to be taken as seriously as anyone else’s. That means no running errands for your mom in the middle of the afternoon or talking to your friend for an hour at 10 a.m. on a Tuesday. Just like you couldn’t do that at an office job, you shouldn’t do it at a work-from-home job, either.

Chances are, some people in your life might be a little offended that you’re not willing to drop everything for them in the middle of the day. They’ll get over it with time.

Stick to Your Own Boundaries

It’s going to be hard to disappoint some loved ones, but you must do your best to stick to the boundaries you create. When you renege and drop your work to do an errand, you’re showing everyone your work comes second. That’s a bad precedent to set.

By taking your job seriously and turning down midday requests, you prove to others how much you care about your work. With time, they will start to take your job more seriously as well.

Now, there are certainly exceptions to taking some time off in the middle of a workday. If a friend or family member is sick or injured, that’s one such exception. Someone might be in a serious pinch and need you to drive them somewhere or watch their kids. As long as these are limited occurrences and not every week, it’s okay. You’ll have to make your work up elsewhere, yes, but working from home gives you the luxury to step away for a few hours if need be.

If You Have Reservations about Burnout…

Take Breaks

Burnout is by far one of the biggest reservations you may have about working from home. That’s absolutely fair.

The first way to combat burnout is to take breaks every few hours throughout the day. These may be for 10 or 20 minutes, but don’t go too long. Otherwise, it gets harder to get back to your work.

You can do whatever you’d like on these breaks. Take a walk outside, check your phone, watch some TV, make yourself a snack, or just breathe. It’s up to you.

Eat During Lunch

When you were at your office, most of your coworkers probably ate lunch at their desks, right? That is, if they ate at all. Now that you work by yourself, you make the rules. Again, watch what kind of precedent you set for yourself. If you take 20 or 30 minutes for lunch and eat without checking emails, that will become the norm. If you take a few bites of a sandwich between typing out reports, it’ll be hard to stop.

You have the luxury of a full kitchen in your work environment. Take advantage of it! Step away from the computer for a bit and make yourself something filling and nourishing. Then come back to your desk and get back at it.

Know When to Say No

When you become a remote employee, you get worried about being forgotten. After all, you don’t see your boss and coworkers daily, and they’re probably getting on just fine without you at the office.

To make up for your lack of physical presence, you crank out as much work as humanly possible. You’re always up for taking more tasks, even when you have a particularly full plate. You think if you overachieve that you’ll stay at the top of your boss’ mind. You will, but you’ll burn out in the process.

You might be a freelancer. If so, then you know full and well about the feast and famine periods. During feast times, you have plenty of work and lots of revenue coming in. During those famine times, work dries up for a while and you panic. How will you pay the bills?

To cut down on famine times, you might accept as much work as clients offer, even when your schedule is entirely full. This is again a great way to burn out. You’ll work late at night and even on weekends to accommodate your clients. You feel like you can never take a day off. You’re exhausted and there’s no end in sight.

In both those scenarios, saying no is what’s best for you. Once you know you have enough work to do for a while, turn down incoming projects. This can be scary, but it’s something you have to do sometimes. It’s better to say no to some work than lose all your work because you burnt out and couldn’t finish.

Work Set Hours

Earlier in this article, I mentioned the importance of working a set schedule. While there will always be busy days where you work later than you wish, don’t make it a daily habit.

It’s even harder to have a work-life balance when you work from home. That’s because your home is where you work and where you live. Thus, the line becomes very blurry.

You need a work-life balance, as does everyone. At some point, you have to shut down the computer and resist the urge to check and reply to emails until the morning. Your sanity pretty much depends on it.

Take Days Off on Occasion

Speaking of sanity, you must take more than just Saturday and Sunday off. Maybe you can’t budget for a full vacation, but a staycation can be very satisfying, too. Don’t wait until the next big holiday for some time off. Make your own little holiday when you feel burnout approaching.