Guest post from Alan at Life’s Too Good
15+ years of top tier corporate experience and there are some ‘business’ habits that I have come to take for granted. What I’ve recently observed, not so much for myself but for some others that I have ‘met’ online, is how some of these disciplines are often overlooked in the work-at-home environment. Here are 5 key considerations which will make your work-at-home life more professional…
1 – Don’t go straight to work
You wouldn’t do this for a ‘regular’ job, so don’t do it for your self-employed, work-at-home job. This is respect for your business, to turn up every day in good shape. Start the day well and you will set yourself up for success. Flopping into your work chair in your pajamas without breakfast or a refreshing shower is not the most optimal way to start your day, the emails will wait until you have had breakfast.
2 – Decide your working hours and stick to them
They can be flexible if you want but decide what time you want to be at work and stick to it – give your work the respect it needs and avoid distractions. Take any extended personal calls outside of your chosen working hours. Make your work hours sacred.
3 – Use and respect your calendar
In a professional working environment a calendar is an essential tool. Once you have decided when you’re going to be at work, use a calendar to organize your time within your working hours efficiently.
This serves 2 main purposes. 1) By arranging calls rather than accepting them ad-hoc you remove the chance of time-consuming distractions. 2) By having and using a calendar, you enable yourself to plan things better.
Get used to planning and putting events in your calendar. If someone calls, just because your calendar is empty at that moment, don’t drop what you’re doing and decide you can take the call. Get into the habit of arranging a time with the caller. Ask them “How much time do we need for the call?” and schedule it for later that day, the next day or later in the week depending upon your schedule and the importance of the call.
Booking time in your calendar includes making time for a a lunch break. Lunch breaks are important. Plan your day, including breaks and lunch. Find a schedule that works for you. Do you prefer to work in 25 minute, 30 minute, 50 minute, 55 minute, 1 hour or 2 hour blocks? You could try the pomodoro technique to give you a little extra focus to your work and use your time effectively. This doesn’t work for everyone though, so find what works for you and stick to it.
4 – Deal with distractions & Don’t Allow Interruptions
Just because you work from home it doesn’t mean that you can:
Babysit to help out a friend
Go and see every school play, event, or to every parents meeting during your working hours
Answer any unexpected phone call
Do errands for your partner/husband/wife which take you away from your work
Handle visits from electricians, plumbers…you get the idea. Here is what you do instead. Read point 3 again. If you must babysit to help out a friend, then you are effectively taking a day off. As long as you are aware of that and OK with it, then do it, but just as in a corporate job you would have a very limited number of days off, so should you allow yourself a similar amount if you are to take your work from home seriously. You should also make time for re-scheduling the work you would have done instead of the babysitting just as you would have to do in a corporate environment.
Refuse to go and see every school play. Tell whoever is asking that you have to be at work. If they happen to say something like ‘but I thought you work at home?’ remain polite, perhaps answer with a smile something like ‘Exactly.’ If you really want to see a particular school event, then you are taking time off work. Book it off in your calendar – track it, make up for it (skipping or shortening your lunch break for that day might help) and don’t allow yourself too many of these events. Choose them carefully or not at all. Respect your work and your calendar.
Don’t answer the phone the first time it rings. If it’s urgent whoever is trying to reach you will try to reach you by other means (your cell phone) or ring again. It’s a good idea to have two numbers – one that you reserve for urgent calls (probably not a good idea to use your home number for this one) and one for everything else. If you really want to know who is calling, let the phone go to voice mail and listen after the caller has hung up.
You get the idea…
5 – Network
Successful business is about relationships. Just because you are working at home, you shouldn’t be alone.
Learn how to network online and start building relationships. One of the biggest problems online is that it’s easy and quick to get in touch with just about anybody. Don’t let that possibility cheapen what you have to say. Interact with people just as you would in a face-to-face conversation.
Sending someone you hardly (or don’t) know an unsolicited email is like the online equivalent of walking up to a stranger in the street or in a grocery store as they go about their day-to-day lives and saying “Hello there I just thought you might be interested in buying…”. Do you think they would buy from you? (or call the police?)
I wrote another post for Allie on the subject this subject entitled The 7 Deadly Sins of Online Networking in case you want to read more on this particular subject.
The point here is that it’s easy to feel alone when working from home, but you are not alone. You are missing the organizational element you get automatically with the corporate world, but you can easily re-create it with online relationships. Just make sure they are genuine relationships.
You can find Alan at Life’s Too Good, a blog about helping you gain more out of life and enjoy it to its fullest. Featured sections include Being Your Own Life Coach, Improve Your Health, Getting More for Your Money, and Free Business Coaching. Alan is also an accomplished writer and you can actually watch him write his latest book, ‘Lessons From The City’ at a new site he just created: www.lessonsfromthecity.com.
Latest posts by Guest Writer (see all)
- The Crazy Life of a WAHM: Adventures in Norderland - December 4, 2012
- Set Up Your Site In A Week’s Worth of Naptimes - October 16, 2012
- 4 Tips for Bloggers to Make the Most of Pinterest - June 26, 2012
Welcome! I'm Allie. I help WAHMs get their businesses noticed online. Feel free to look around. New here? Check out 
This is exactly what I needed to read today. I am coming back to work after raising our three children. Working from home in general is great. I need to put in place the organizational tools that are suggested in this blog and get used to putting everything in my calendar so I can lessen the distractions that are ever present. I believe one of the biggest challenges for people who work at home is being an optimist with regards time management skills. On the surface that sounds great – I always believe I can get something done quickly and with no distractions thrown in – however that almost never happens, (whether is the ph ringing, multiple red lights on the way to an appointment, etc), there is always a reason I feel like I am so far behind I see my own shadow ahead of me. It comes down to time management. Thanks for the reminder and insights you offered here.
Hi Fiona,
You raise a good point – your level of optimism/pessimism greatly affects your planning as far as time management goes and what you expect to achieve day to day – which in turn can affect everything else. This is something else which is easily learned over time and benchmarked vs colleagues in a corporate environment but much more difficult to track working home alone. In fact, Time Management as a separate topic is HUGE.
That being said, with some true determination and focus you’d be amazed at what you can get through in a single day … and once you have one really productive day under your belt – that’s your benchmark.
Really glad you liked the post & thanks for your valuable comments, I’d love to hear how you get on,
take care & best wishes,
Alan
Alan | Life’s Too Good created this awesome post: The “Forming, Storming, Norming, Performing” Business Model
Hi Alan,
Really liked your post. I come from Balanced WorkLife Company and I can stand by every word of advice you gave here.
The point about the calendar is HUGE. We have a thing around our office we call making your calender your asset. It really can have a major impact on success and what you get done.
So hat’s off to you on picking up on that and helping others get on board.
Thanks,
Bryce
Bryce Christiansen created this awesome post: The People Profiler Has Officially Launched
Hey Bryce,
thank you so much for your kind words. It’s weird but coming from a corporate background I’m finding that I need some of these disciplines even more since starting to do everything myself online,
I like the idea of making your calendar you asset – nice!
take care & best wishes,
Alan
Alan | Life’s Too Good created this awesome post: 100 Business Models & When to Use Them
I just started freelance writing from home and am planning to focus on this for the moment and I just can’t imagine I would be so unorganized! I feel I am wasting too much time and not doing much. Though I meet deadlines, I feel I could have done it sooner and waste way too much time on just researching. And basically just surfing and being at all places. Focus is one thing I need to work on for working from home!
Hajra created this awesome post: Will they call you over for a Bloggers Party?
So did my tips above help?
Alan | Life’s Too Good created this awesome post: Increased Efficiency with The Pomodoro Technique
Absolutely!
You know what, I typed a longer comment and somehow while hitting the publish button, the next paragraph got deleted… why is technology so difficult at times!
After I mention my rant in the comment above, I actually go on to telling how your post here is something I am going to take a lot of help from. And somewhere in between I remember mentioning the Pomodoro technique!
I especially liked the point of business hours!I feel now that I work from home, the whole day is working and not working. So, I need to fix hours where I will just be working!
Thanks again and sorry for the incomplete comment above!
Hajra created this awesome post: Will they call you over for a Bloggers Party?
Oh, the number of times I’ve done that Hajra … more than you’ve had hot dinners
There I go with that smiley thing again. I think of you now every time I do a wink.
take care,
Alan
Alan | Life’s Too Good created this awesome post: A Very Simple Thought That’s Helping Me To Be More Healthy
The best thing to do when ur in cases like this is to keep your self organized. Otherwise you will end up with a mess.
Mark@THE AUTO SMS SYSTEM Review created this awesome post: COMMISSION ASSASSIN Review-JUST BOUGHT.. OOPS!- Todd Dowell Says…
Thanks for the comment Mark!
Alan | Life’s Too Good created this awesome post: Influence Difference
Great post Alan, I like the toolbox graphic. Your ideas are very relevant. We do need work hours, now I can see why they you work harder for yourself.
Michael Belk created this awesome post: Top 10 “New” manager mistakes
Thanks Michael – glad you liked it,
take care & best wishes,
Alan
Alan | Life’s Too Good created this awesome post: A Very Simple Thought That’s Helping Me To Be More Healthy
Ahhh. Pomodoro. I often use it.
Marty created this awesome post: Update update
Yep – I have definitely found it useful, thanks for commenting…
Alan | Life’s Too Good created this awesome post: A Very Simple Thought That’s Helping Me To Be More Healthy
Hi Alan and Allie,
This was great! I totally agree with the tips you provided here. #2, #4, and #5 have been the ones that have come in handy for me. If I would have never set a schedule for myself, and stuck to it, I wouldn’t have done half of what I’ve gotten done. It makes a huge difference setting your self up for success. I’ve also learned that it’s best to handle any minor or major hiccups when they happen. I’ve looked at the hiccups as being somewhat of a break for me, because sometimes it’s hard to pull myself away from work. Imagine that… I’d never would’ve thought I would say those words together in one sentence.
Great post though, Alan. And thanks Allie for bringing you aboard again. Cheers to you both! 
Deeone Higgs created this awesome post: Why Do I Need to Have Patience? I Want it All, and I Want It Now!
I hope you are well.That comment looks too little!
I am worried now!
Hajra created this awesome post: Will they call you over for a Bloggers Party?
Thanks for your kind words Deeone, and for noticing that it’s not my first time here,
really glad you liked the post,
take care & very best wishes,
Alan
Alan | Life’s Too Good created this awesome post: The “Forming, Storming, Norming, Performing” Business Model
I agree with you idea that we should not treat the work we do at home less than an office job. In fact, we must be more proactive in making sure that we are more professional than ever because it is so easy to be complacent when at home.
Charlotte created this awesome post: acrylic painting techniques
Exactly. It takes MORE proactivity to be professional at home because you get less prompts for all of this stuff.
thanks for the comment Charlotte,
Alan
Alan | Life’s Too Good created this awesome post: The “Forming, Storming, Norming, Performing” Business Model
This is a very good article. I in particular lacked discipline. There was no time frame to do things, did things when I wanted how I wanted, was not able to deal with distractions, used set hours etc; basically did not treat this as work but as a hobby – there was no respect. It was some years later that when I realised that there has to be sort of discipline otherwise things can go out of hand. Now I do things differently; now I plan, treat it as a business, keep a record of expenses, try not to get distracted and the rest of it. Rightly pointed out by you, there has to be some business habits.
Shalu Sharma created this awesome post: 1. Why are Biharis so arrogant and selfish?
You know, I am from Bihar and that link here is a little offensive I must say, where are you from?
Hajra created this awesome post: Will they call you over for a Bloggers Party?
Hello, If you care to have a look than you will realise that there are 2 Bihar’s, one in Hungary and the other one in India. I am from the one in India and proud of it. Thank you.
Shalu Sharma created this awesome post: 1. Absent Doctors in government hospitals
I understand. Just that having people from a society labelled is just sad. Glad to know you are proud of it! Thanks!
Hajra created this awesome post: Will they call you over for a Bloggers Party?
You hit the nail on the head Shalu,
you need to treat your business like a business. Respect it and be professional about it. Ask yourself for everything you do if you would do it the same way if you were working in a company or professional environment – and if you can answer yes to that then you are probably on the right track.
Of course then there is a whole different discussion about WHAT you work on, which is more about thinking about what truly adds value to your customers but that’s slightly off topic – this post is about getting the right attitude to get the work done well and get the respect for your business that you deserve. First you have to treat it with respect yourself.
Thanks for the comment…
Alan | Life’s Too Good created this awesome post: The “Forming, Storming, Norming, Performing” Business Model
nice tips of becoming professional at home business……..thanks for sharing it…….
Prakash created this awesome post: Simsimi: Online Simsimi, Get Simsimi for Android Download
No probs Prakash, thanks for commenting & really glad you found it useful,
take care,
Alan
Alan | Life’s Too Good created this awesome post: A Very Simple Thought That’s Helping Me To Be More Healthy
I have been working from home for quite sometime but not fulltime. I just quit my regular job last month and on my first few weeks it was just stressful. I was stressed out because I hadn’t planned my schedule really well. Now I have slowly worked on my schedule and it’s starting to fall into place.
Reese created this awesome post: Discover Student Card Review: Intro APR on Purchases
Reese,
Those first few weeks (and for me it was months because I was not ready for work at home at all) are very stressful, especially if you are leaving a paid job behind with a set schedule to no/little pay and your own schedule.
Like you said, things start to fall into place and you find your blogging and business groove online and off. It is such a great feeling to know you are improving and being productive at home.
Good luck with all your endeavors.
~Allie
Allie created this awesome post: Hootsuite for Twitter
Hi Reese,
there are so many reasons stress can come into it too – particularly if you have had a significant career change. A lot may be to do with expectations you either set yourself or set by others. Or it could be to do with limiting beliefs that you don’t know are holding you back because it’s all so new not having people direct you anymore as perhaps they did before in your job… well, it’s another big discussion topic.
I agree with Allie – it definitely gets better and before long you will get a kind of ‘groove’ which makes things a lot easier.
If you are struggling with the psychological/life/human side rather than the business side we do a lot of coaching on that side too and also have lots of free content at lifestoogood.net so feel free to check some of these out (in the ‘Life’ section) – they may help with some of the stressful aspects of change. Or feel free to get in touch via our contact form and if I can help you, I will,
take care & best wishes,
Alan
Alan | Life’s Too Good created this awesome post: A Very Simple Thought That’s Helping Me To Be More Healthy
These are great tips for anyone making the transition from a J.O.B. to their own business and I remember some of them very well when I first starting working from home. For me, the first one became the most important otherwise, I’d start work everyday right after breakfast, find myself showing at noon when I forced myself to take a break but it just never felt right. Now I get ready in the morning just as if I was going to work and the whole day seems to go smoother.
Kimberly
@justmyscents
Kimberly created this awesome post: Scentsy Gifts – Baby Shower Gift Basket
J.O.B. lol that abbreviation always makes me laugh.
Great – glad to hear that you have that morning routine. Just that moments pause before you get started, to respect your time, have breakfast and show up for work 100% ready is HUGE.
great to hear you echo that,
thanks Kimberly & best wishes,
Alan
Alan | Life’s Too Good created this awesome post: The “Forming, Storming, Norming, Performing” Business Model
Excellent tips, Alan!
I agree with every point. While these tips are written to guide those who work at home, I have to say they all apply to those of us in full time day jobs, too. Of course you know this, but I’m surprised how often I see time mismanaged in my day job including putting phone calls before other work, dealing with distractions & interruptions and more. In our do more with less mentality, it’s easy to get off-track at a day job or work at home job.
Have a grateful day!
Chrysta
Chrysta Bairre created this awesome post: Simplify Your Digital Life
Good point Chrysta,
just because people are in full time corporate jobs it doesn’t mean they are doing all of these things, though they should be!
I’m glad you liked the post and thanks for commenting,
take care & best wishes,
Alan
Alan | Life’s Too Good created this awesome post: The “Forming, Storming, Norming, Performing” Business Model
Hey Megan,
thank you for your kind words. I’m glad you liked the post,
take care & best wishes,
Alan
Alan | Life’s Too Good created this awesome post: The “Forming, Storming, Norming, Performing” Business Model
Great tips here, this several ideas can surely bring a huge help to all of us, especially for those who are planning to engage in a home base business…
Lois created this awesome post: Maigrir du ventre : ce que vous devez savoir
Home base business is one of the interesting stuff to have, but you need also to consider different factors and resources to workout effectively… Thanks for sharing several tips here.
Laura created this awesome post: Maigrir des cuisses en 3 étapes
Well-meaning people have a lot of misconceptions about what it means to work at home, and, as you suggest, they need to be tactfully educated. It’s a good idea to know what you’re going to say in advance, though, to reduce the chances of getting flustered or not getting your message across clearly.