How to reap the rewards of working from home
Increasing numbers of people are working for themselves. In 1996, management guru Peter Drucker predicted that, by 2004, more than half of the working population in the United States would be self-employed. Others, for a variety of reasons, would establish home offices but continue to work for the company - but from home. Working from home, therefore, will continue to be the preferred option for more and more people. Here’s the information that will help you to make and benefit from that decision...
1. Weigh up the pros and cons.
The decision to work from home has four main advantages:
- You are in the driver’s seat in terms of focus, short- and long-term priorities, and how you spend your time.
- You will save time commuting, and avoid peak-hour traffic and getting caught up in endless office meetings.
- You will save money in a variety of areas like rental, travel, and parking costs.
- You will have increased flexibility ranging from the number of hours you need to put in to the way you manage short-and long-term projects.
On the other side, three of the main disadvantages include these:
- You can be interrupted or distracted by the everyday life in a home.
- You may be tempted to overwork and rob yourself of relaxation.
- You can become less visible in your business community.
2. Manage yourself.
Your self-motivation, planning, and preparation are the keys to maximising the benefits of working from home. Self-motivation will come from the picture or vision you have for your future - what you want to become or the way you see yourself operating in, say, five years’ time. Planning means translating your vision into actions supported by reasonable time lines. Preparation entails activities leading to the achievement of those plans. You will find plenty of tools to support these three essentials. Your aim will be to find the ones that best suit your operating style.
3. Manage your time.
Dan Sullivan proposes an innovative approach to time management - Free days, Focus days, and Buffer days. Adopt it, says Sullivan at an AIFP Success Forum, and your productivity will experience exponential growth:
Free days are when you take total time out from what you are doing. This full twenty-four hour period should be free from any work-related information or activities, giving you time to recharge and come up with a fresh perspective on things. Free days become your reward for successful task completion.
Focus days occur on about one hundred days a year and are periods set aside for completion of one or more particular tasks. Sullivan advocates 80 per cent focus on these days with minimal interruptions. Focus days will be your main fee-generation days.
Buffer days are when you do a little of this and a little of that - a little free time, a little focus time. Buffer days are essential for focus days to happen. Tasks can be delegated, staff know what is required of them, and you tidy up a myriad issues requiring your attention. *
Others will soon learn your habits associated with free, focus, and buffer time, allowing you to reap the benefits of this simple but effective time-management technique.
