There have been many various postings about what to do to succeed at working from home and how you need to effectively run a home business. In this posting, work at home job 101, I'm hoping to provide a basic outline of what ANY home based employee needs to know and do to succeed in their work at home jobs, no matter what profession or career field you specialize in.
Work at Home Job 101
Step One: The first step to having a good chance at succeeding in a home based position is to prepare yourself. You need to ensure that you understand and are prepared for all that working from home takes. For example, if you have a difficult time completing tasks at the office, even with the boss breathing down your neck, working from home might not be for you. You need the following characteristics to have the best chance of success in working from home:
- Commitment
- Motivation
- Drive (to succeed no matter what)
- Self-starter
- Focus
- Determination
Without these traits, you risk failing at your work at home job before you even get started.
Step Two: The next important aspect of work at home job 101 is that you have an adequate office space, depending on the job you are doing. You need a space that is separate from the rest of your home, so that you can concentrate on work. You need a computer, a phone line, and a fax machine (not necessary but helpful) that are dedicated to your work. You can use a personal computer for working at home, but purchasing an external flash drive or hard drive is a good idea to store your work and work-related files.
Step Three: Realize that working from home isn't an excuse to spend your days doing laundry and other household tasks. If you're working from home, you need to be working. You might have a little more free time, but it's a good idea to schedule your work day just as if you were going to the office. Then, once you're done for the day you can worry about dishes, laundry, and running errands. A schedule may mean the difference between success and failure in a home business.
Step Four: Talk with your spouse/partner/family. This is probably the most important part of work at home job 101. They will not immediately understand how much extra work it is going to take on your part to work from home. You need to sit down and explain to them exactly what is going on and when you'll be working, so that they don't expect you to have all this free time, and question why the house is a mess when they arrive home from the office.
I battled for a long time with an ex about my "internet job" and how I needed to get a real job, or since I was home all day, why weren't the dishes done. Two things that were never understood: I am a writer, the internet is not my job, it is merely my means of communication with my employers, and even though I was home all day, I was sitting here, working, and had no time for dishes. It's important that you talk with your family and/or spouse so that everyone is on the same page about your job, so you don't end up in the mess I was in.
Working at home is a great option to have. I am eternally grateful that I was a product of corporate downsizing, because I was able to pursue my writing dreams and now have a job that I love. However, it has caused a lot of stress at times because I do a lot of contract projects, so it wasn't understood that I was working and not just sitting around, and some weeks there'd be a lot of work and other weeks there'd be none. Now, though, I've got steady gigs every week, and steady income every month. It took a little over a year to get established, but I'm living proof that it's worth it, and it will work out in the end.