However, we have 2m freelancers in the UK, with over 82% running their business from home (*Freelance Heroes poll, August 2018).
So who better to offer advice to those who will be working from home for the first time and maybe looking for some guidance?
So, we asked the fastest-growing, award-winning, support group for UK freelancers on Facebook: What is your advice to anyone working from home for the first time?
To help further, these nuggets of advice have been grouped into Starting Your Day, Your Working Environment, Food & Drink, Unplanned Distractions, and The Challenge of Isolation. Let’s kick your new day off then…
Starting Your Day
Your alarm has gone off a little later than usual, and the fear of queuing for a bus, train, or in traffic, is no longer a factor. But it’s no longer a case of “no routine”, rather a “new routine”. Here is the advice of freelancers, to prepare you for your new starts to the day:
1. Make a to-do list with breaks and rewards
2. Make a structure for your day (as much as possible) and then finish at a given time (as if!)
- I never started and finished at the said times, always a longer day BUT that was because I worked when I would normally be commuting to the office, it just felt normal
3. Set a schedule and stick to it.
4. Get dressed
- Also vital in case your boss or a client wants an impromptu video call!
5. I print out a weekly calendar and mark off portions of time, almost like a to-do list. It really helps with planning, motivation, and satisfaction when you check stuff off!
6. Write a to-do list and highlight the top 3.
7. Get up and go to work every morning i.e. shower and dress as if you were leaving the house. Answering the door to delivery people at 2 pm in your dressing gown is not an achievement. And have breakfast.
8. Get dressed properly as if going out. Been homeworking for ten years. Always get dressed properly. Otherwise, your attitude feels less bothered and more Netflix
9. Plan your day around walking your dog
10. Force yourself into a routine (shower, exercise, meditation, or whatever else helps you start the day right) even if you don’t feel like it.
11. If you can go for a walk, cycle or run first thing or for a break it’ll do you well, physically and mentally.
And, what I think is best of the tips in this section:
12. The best advice I’ve ever been given was to talk a walk around the block before starting work (and another walk once you’re done for the day). Your little commute helps to:
a) Get you out the house
b) Put a start and finish to work. Separating it from your normal home life.
Even just a walk around the block is enough for that commuting headspace.
Your Work Space/Home Office/Environment
You may be used to how your desk was set up in your office, as well as all the surroundings of paperwork and people. To be productive, you need to ensure your new office from home is as strong as it could be, from how you’re now going to work to where you now sit. Here are the lessons that freelancers have learned, to help you get it right:
1. Get your internet connection and security sorted now. Look into what your options are. Ideally, you want to be able to connect remotely to the workplace server (via VPN).
2. Choose a space to work in your house that inspires you, brings you joy and not too close to the food cupboard.
3. Break down your work into chunks and make sure you take breaks and set goals. Otherwise, you can become unfocused and stressed.
4. Have a space that you can either walk away from or tidy up at the end of the day so you can compartmentalise work
5. Create a separate space in which to work. It will help psychologically with separating home life and work. Not being able to switch off from work and then being distracted when you are working can really get on top of you.
6. The best thing I did was work as though I was in the office rather than at home. Otherwise, a million ‘I’ll just do this quick job’ tasks take over your day. So my test became - would I be able to do this if I had gone to the office? If the answer was no then it had to wait.
7. Get up and move every 30mins
8. Have a routine and make sure you make time for yourself too.
9. A specific space to work can be really useful when I walk into my office, I’m always in work mode almost instantly.
And, one of the most critical aspects of working from home the comfort and safety of your chair…
10. Buy a decent chair - you probably don’t know how good your office chair is until you have sat on a Tesco or Argos office chair 8 hours a day for a week.
- I bought a cheap desk but a pricier ergonomic chair and as a result, my back improved so much that I didn’t have to see the chiropractor anymore, saving me money and time out of the office in the long run. Sounds silly, but it’s genuinely an investment.
Food and Drink
We often create an eating/drinking routine when working from an office, such as knowing the best local sandwich bars and coffee houses and planning the times we’ll make a drink or snack. Working from home presents a whole new offering of what we can eat and drink, and when.
Here is what to do and, most definitely, what not to do…with is usually based around biscuits.
1. Hide the biscuits. Possibly the bread, milk, and cereal too
2. Don’t eat your lunch by 10am
3. Put a padlock on the fridge.
4. The fridge/biscuit jar is your enemy.
5. Get yourself some decent coffee or tea (don’t start panic buying though, I need some!)
6. Take regular breaks and eat healthy snacks… even meditate for 10 minutes
7. Lock up the biscuits.
8. Don’t eat at your desk.
9. Never stock crisps or cake!! If you do, don’t EVER open them
Of course, you still have to eat and the temptation of snacking may never be greater. So the best advice here is…
10. Enjoy Healthy snacks as they are your friend for brain power and energy dips.
Unplanned Distractions
So far, you’ve got a good chair, Wi-Fi connection, you’re showered and dressed, and have your plan set for the day too. Well done! However, as the following words of advice will testify, we now have a whole new world of potential distractions that we have to take into account. Ignore these at your peril!!!
1. Don’t, at any point in the day, switch the telly on.
2. Don’t tell your neighbours your change of routine as you’ll become the parcel signature for the whole road.
- My office faces the front of the house and I am now security for the whole road as well.
- I wish my office was at the front but I know I’d get nothing done. Probably best I stick with a view of a fence instead
3. Create some good playlists for your different moods and to motivate you
4. Ask your family to leave
5. Don’t work from home if you have a cat
- It’s worse if you have 2 of the little critters. Tag teaming at a whole new level.
The Challenge of Isolation
This is often the biggest surprise to anyone who starts working from home. The positives of work/life balance and the hours saved commuting each day is now replaced by the fact that you are now on your own. And as joyous as that may sound at first, it soon loses its appeal. Here are some tips from freelancers on how to deal with the challenge, and keep strong mental health too.
1. Get a pet, it’s great to have a sounding board or gossip over a cuppa (note the sarcasm here – Ed)
2. Make an effort to chat with people, you might find yourself feeling isolated.
3. Find ways to engage with others online.
4. I also always recommend focusmate.com (I’m not affiliated with them, just a happy user) which is essentially virtual coworking and can make you feel like you have company.
A Few More
There are a few more words of advice that needed including, but didn’t quite fit into the categories above:
1. Turn the radio on
2. Buy extra PJs
3. Watch your heating bill.
4. Find out what’s good on Netflix and get used to doing three days’ worth of work in an hour and a half.
To finish with, you’re most probably either excited or apprehensive about your new home-working experience. So here is one final tip from a freelancer, to help you focus on the positive:
Enjoy the freedom (I hope!) to work when suits you best, wearing the right, but comfy clothes. I love working in phases when I am ready and motivated. Then, relaxing in the middle of the day, in the comfort of my own home, always feels like a treat!
And Finally
Now, of course, you may not agree with all of these. But, I hope it’s opened your eyes to the positives and challenges you may not have planned for when being told to work from home. If you have any more, please let us know by using #FreelanceHeroes. Good luck.
You can find further support for working from home from Freelancers in our Facebook group!