Working from Home/Working Remotely. Is it for me?

Three Things No One Tells You About Working From Home

Working from home is a dream come true. You don't have to commute or dress up if you don't want to. You don't have to deal with corporate politics. However, there are a few things people don't tell you about working from home.

Most people won't believe you're working.

If you don't set clear boundaries, people will call or drop by unannounced and ask for favors. They'll say "You're not doing anything important, can you....?" It starts to irritate you after a while; people assume since you have a flexible schedule, you can do things in the middle of the day. They reason that if you were "serious," you'd be working at an office outside your home.

Tips for making people understand you're working:

Start calling your home office "the office". Choosing language people associate with a brick and mortar office helps them take you seriously. If you have a meeting or conference call, tell the person who called when you were getting ready for it you're walking into a meeting and will have to call them later.

Some people are tempted to work long hours.

When you work from home, it can be tempting to work longer hours because there is no longer the boundary between work and home. Wanting to get more work done, you can end up working until the end of the day rather than the end of the workday, which can leave you with little time for yourself.

How to resist the temptation to work long hours:

Set a definite start and end time for work every day, and schedule yourself a few short breaks and a longer break for lunch. If you know you have to finish a project by a certain time on a certain day, make sure you arrange your schedule so the project is complete when it's supposed to be.

Working from home can get lonely.

One of the biggest things no one tells you about working from home is that it can get lonely. While you're able to focus more, you also don't have regular interaction with co-workers or others who do the same type of work.

How to deal with this situation:

Find places to network with others. LinkedIn has some great groups for people who work in different professions. Writers might want to search for writing groups in their city or town.

These are three situations remote workers encounter. We hope the tips provided help remote workers deal with them so they can be productive while working from home. Keep your eyes on our blog for future posts featuring career advice for remote workers.