This is a topic that I receive a lot of questions, many people interested in knowing how to develop their own business without having to leave home. Working from home or from anywhere remote has always been my goal and I know it can also be the dream/goal of many people!
Nowadays I work full time from home, sometimes I work for some coffee (very rare, because I usually answer and need silence). Nowadays I have Sarah who works with me (my right arm) and she also works online and makes her time and from wherever she wants, we understand each other very well. But, like all scenarios, there are the pros and cons, so I won’t fail to mention both sides here.
It wasn’t something that happened overnight
It was a gradual process, with several stages and that looking back, I consider them essential, necessary and fundamental to establish myself professionally where I am! One of the things that most helped me to create a routine of service in my house was the fact that I worked and treated in offices for 8 years before moving to California. I worked in medical clinics, hospitals and at home too, but always with all the structure: desk, agenda, patient file, etc. When I started with the online health coaching services, I tried to follow the same steps that followed in the face-to-face calls and even organize my schedule in the same way it was organized with the help of my secretaries. That is, for a long time I did all the papers that I wasn’t in the habit of doing before: scheduling, confirming an appointment, buying office supplies, charging control, etc!
Why did I prefer Home Office?
convenience, my lifestyle, money and comfort. I am a very homely person and I love taking care of my house, like therapy. I love plants, candles and silence (trauma de paulistana). Of course, for me, the fact of working online and outside my country has many more positive than negative factors. But it’s not always easy to live in a place with a different culture, stay away from family, longtime friends and have to reinvent yourself professionally. But despite all the challenges I went through (and I still go through), I consider myself very lucky, determined and found very special people on my journey and who helped me a lot (and help) a lot!
Most of the immigrants I know here gave up their careers in Brazil, but this is not always seen as something bad, see? There is always room to discover new talents in our lives. I never stopped studying and updating my resume. In addition, my blog was a great ally in this process and also helped me not to give up working in my area. With that I managed to continue in line with my profession in Brazil, talk about nutrition, everyday practices and other subjects using digital platforms.
Positives Home Office:
- Learn to be more independent and creative. Because I don’t have co-workers right there or the guy who knows about technology around, I became more proactive and developed inside areas I never imagined. Of course I have people who help me in areas that are beyond my scope, but it’s amazing how we can develop more skills when we don’t have such affordable options.
- schedule flexibility. I am my boss and I have responsibilities with my clients, but I can organize my schedule very easily.
- more economical. Less investment in room or office rental.
- healthier eating Since I can have varied choices and easily accessible in my house.
- no traffic. That is, less stress and more time to produce!
- No office policies. I don’t have to follow any office policy: like dressing or socializing with people at work.
- more effective communication. Working without much physical contact with most of my clients made me create a huge awareness of the importance of maintaining efficient communication. Instead of asking those questions I would ask the person who works at the next table, I have to prepare an email or video to communicate, which makes my question or message be asked with more intent and objectivity.
- get less sick. I know this sounds like a symptom of social phobia, but it’s still true. As the physical contact is lower, the chance of catching viruses also decreases.
Possible negative points
- Discipline. Working from home and without having someone charging you is not for anyone and requires a beautiful discipline. Many people prefer to have external motivation to be productive. how do you see yourself
- Less interaction Physics with people. For my personality this is not a problem, but for people who have more need to socialize more often it can be. I have many encounters via FaceTime, Blueajeans and etc. But still in the virtual world!
- waste time working with homework. As I will explain later in the tips, maintaining an always tidy environment is essential to ensure an energetic harmony in your work environment, otherwise, you will end up tidying things up instead of working. In the beginning I suffered a lot from it.
- Don’t disconnect. Just like people who work outside the home, sometimes we have difficulty disconnecting from work, imagine how it is with all your material there close to you. Often I work until later than I would like, but the trend is to improve over time.
- lonely lunches. You don’t have that lunch with the guys from work, but you can very well book some occasional lunches with friends.
Home Office in Practice
Undoubtedly, what makes the biggest difference to having a productive routine or not is the organization. In this sense, I use a lot of calendar (google agenda), notebook, personal paper agenda, post its and so on! In this way I can organize myself, plan my next tasks, have important reminders in sight and to-do-list They help me to be productive and efficient with some tasks that if we don’t pay attention, end up in oblivion or passing by.
Tips for a productive home office
- Set up realistic and simple weekly goals: pending, part of a project, contacting a potential customer, etc.
- Maintain an organized, pleasant and quiet environment.
- Avoid working from your room (I think it is essential to separate as much staff as possible from the professional). Try to make your work environment yourself. Mine is on the second floor of my house, it helped me to disconnect from the rest of the house.
- Dress comfortably (always, right?), but be sure to get ready to enter the \”work mode\”. Believe me, small details count.
- Apps I recommend for meetings: bluejeans, FaceTime and Skype. BlueJeans is the one with the highest quality for video conferences and meetings with more than 2 people.
- Decorate your desktop! I use plants (I never use fake plants), diffuser with essential oils and if I’m not in attendance I like to leave a light sound on.
- Take 10-minute breaks every 2 hours. I usually call my family and friends in Brazil or take a break from the porch for tea.
Schedules
- Set hours of work per day based on your weekly goals.
- Create lunch time avoiding eating by working, at least 30 minutes.
- Create a time limit to end your work, preventing work from breaking into your personal life, especially if you are working from your home.
Minimize distractions
- Leave your phone in silent mode and preferably with the screen down if you are working on something that needs your attention.
- Avoid meeting your friends within your working hours.
home office
I get many questions related to my home office routine, how I started working from home, and especially, how to keep up with my work without having a boss. Having this \”home set up\” was always one of my professional goals and I’m sure that I’m not alone here! but let’s be realistic: there is always cons and pros in any scenario and my idea with this post is to talk openly about my perspective of working online and from home.
how did i get here?
I didn’t happen overnight! my journey into home office was gradual with a few steps that, looking back, i have no doubts that were fundamental to establishment myself professionally where i am right now! ive worked in a private practice for 8 years back in Brazil, which has helped me to create some methods that I make sure to follow with my online coaching as well, such as Agenda, Clients Records, etc! When I first started my online coaching I had to be in charge of all the processes that used to be my secretaries Job: Scheduling clients, Confirming Consultations, Buying Office Supplies..and the list Goes On! but with time I ended up being more and more efficient and productive.
the pros of home office
- learn to be more independent and creative. since there is no help desk or other coworkers to help, you have to solve all the unexpected tasks and Learn how to fix it yourself!
- flexible schedule. It depends on the work, but if you are also self-employed you can manage your schedule as you please.
- save money. there is no need to pay rent for an office which
- Eat Healthier. since I have access my Fridge and my pantry, all my meals are pretty healthy!
- in Traffic. In Other Words: No Stress and More Time to Be Productive!
- no office policies. No dress code, in the Endless Meetings..i.e!
- effective communication. since you are e-mailing people all the time, you need to choose your words wisely and learn how to be more objective.
the cons of home office
- discipline. Working from home and not having a boss around requires lots of commitment and self discipline. many people prefer having someone around, it depends on your personality.
- Hard to disconnect. This already happens when we work in a regular office, now think about having your home as your office! Can be Harder, right? I see myself in this situation sometimes but I’m getting better with practice. sometimes we just need to switch off, no matter what!
- less physical interaction. I don’t see this as a problem but for some people spending that much time alone might be an issue. In my work I still have a lot of social interaction through virtual tools such as: facetime, skype, bluejeans and etc! so it kind of help too.
- lonely lunches. There are no coworkers to go to lunch with, but you can easily fix this situation by scheduling occasionally lunches with friends.
My Tips to Maximize Efficiency in Your Home Office Routine
there go no doubt that organization is key to have an effective home office routine! I Organize Myself with Google Calendar, Notepads, Personal Paper Calendar, Post Its, To-Do Lists, etc! All this together helps me to keep personal countability as a habit. Here my highlights:
- it’s very important to stipulate realistic and weekly goals and stick with.
- Keep an organized, pleaseant and quiet environment.
- Again working from your bedroom (I find it essential to separate as much as possible from a professional life).
- dressing up (comfortably, of course!) to work really helps to get into “work mode”. I never work with my pjs, trust me here: small details matters!
- Find the right apps to work in a more efficient way. I recommend for meetings: BlueJeans, FaceTime and Skype. Bluejeans in my opinion is the one that has the most quality video conferences when you are having meetings with more than 2 people.
- Decorate Your Office! I Use Plants (I Never Use Fake Plants Though), Diffuser with Essential Oils and When I’m Not Doing Online Coaching I like to have some music playing on the background.
- Take intervals of 10 minutes every 2 hours. I usually use this time to call my family and friends in Brazil or to enjoy a tea!
work hours
- Establish work hours based on your weekly goals.
- set lunch time (at least 30min) and avoid eating while working.
- Set a Starting and Ending Time Each Day. Don’t let work take over your personal life! This can easily happen when you work from home or when you are self-employed.
Minimize Distractions
- Put your phone in silent mode and preferably switch the screen down – specially when working on something that requires your full attention.
- Avoid chatting with friend during working hours.