10 Work from Home Tips to Get Things Done and Be Successful

Did you know that almost 4 million people work from home at least half of the time?¹ It’s a growing trend. The freedom of working at home brings many advantages, but at times it can become a balancing act between work and home. Our work from home tips help with productivity, efficiency, focus, and even peace of mind.

Being a veteran means you already have organizational and work ethic skills that will help you with your job. But those same skills often mean you have worked with others most of the time. Our work from home tips are for everyone but especially for military veterans that are transitioning to civilian jobs.

10 Work from Home Tips for Veterans and Everyone that wants to Succeed

1. Have a schedule. Ask any work at home employee or entrepreneur to choose from their most important work from home tips and they are likely to say keeping a schedule is the most essential. If you had a late night, don’t take the easy route and postpone the start of your workday. Assume you are going to an outside office and get to work.
2. Take a shower and get dressed. Yes, staying in your pajamas all day is very tempting. But we guarantee that getting dressed (don’t worry, it can still be comfortable) will help set the tone for your workday. A military background might make this one a little easier but don’t let civilian life be a bad influence!
3. Avoid your friends. That’s right, even though your best friend has something to tell you, you need to restrict your visiting, phone and texting time to after your work hours. Social media is not allowed during work hours either!
4. Use a headset. While speaker phones serve a purpose, a headphone lets you work hands-free and talk on the phone while providing anonymity and privacy for the person to whom you are speaking. A client doesn’t need to think your kids or spouse are hearing their conversation.
5. Use your mute button. If you have a dog or small children, you know they can get pretty noisy sometimes and usually at the most inopportune moments like when you are on the phone. Use your mute button to block that noise out stat!
6. Communicate often with your teammates and bosses. Working from home means no physical encounters, and these can be helpful. You can help make up for this by Skype, Google Hangouts, or even Facetime.
7. Have set times for breaks. It’s easy to work, work, work, and not take a break. Don’t overload yourself and get burnt out. Schedule several breaks throughout your day. Taking a short walk, playing with your pets, or having a snack, will have you back at work with a better, fresh, outlook.
8. Keep your desk and workspace neat and clean. It’s easy to have stacks of paper, receipts, business cards, and other items spewed across your desk. You’ll work better in an organized environment.
9. Get a bulletin board. While putting everything on your computer is the norm now, an old-fashioned bulletin board is a great way to remind you of important things to do, have inspirational quotes, or even that adorable painting by one of your kids.
10. Have great lighting. If you can place your desk by a window, the natural light will help boost your productivity. If you aren’t lucky enough to have natural light, go for lighting that illuminates your entire space but doesn’t create any undue glare or shadows.
11. BONUS WORK AT HOME TIP. We couldn’t end this list without a work at home tip for ending your day. When it is time to call it a day – do just that. Separate yourself entirely from your work. Close your work programs and emails and shut the door. If you don’t you run the danger of not completing powering down and getting burnt out. Be thankful you can work from home and enjoy your life.

More and more industries are hiring virtual employees. Medical, computer, sales, and customer service and just a few of the industries hiring at home workers. If you are lucky enough to be one of the millions of people that work from home, the above work from home tips will help your productivity and make your work the best it can be.

¹  https://www.flexjobs.com/blog/post/state-of-the-remote-job-marketplace/