Office life is a real drag. If you’re tired of coming into the same drab space to do work that, frankly, can just as well be done from the comfort of your own home, you’re not alone.
The good news: making the transition to working full time from home isn’t as tough as many make it out to be. That’s doubly true for at-home workers who plan to work as their own bosses once they’ve high-tailed it out of the office.
Ready to make the leap? Use these five tips to smooth the transition.
1. Sell It to Your Betters
First things first: you can’t very well work from home if your boss doesn’t allow it.
Prospective work-at-homers using the transition to the home office as an opportunity to launch a new business can skip to the next section.
Those planning to take an office job home, as they say, don’t have that luxury. First, they need to outline and write a convincing telecommuting proposal that convinces their superiors to permit them to work from home at least some of the time.
You’ve got to sell your work-at-home idea, in short. Half-measures won’t cut it.
2. Choose a Job (or Side Hustle) That’s As Flexible As You Are
Not yet sure what you’re going to do once you’re working from home full-time? Choose a job that accommodates your busy schedule and lifestyle. Or, if that’s not an option, choose a suitably flexible side hustle to supplement your income.
Plenty of work-at-home opportunities fit this bill. For instance, ABC Fundraising says that fundraising distributors — who sell fundraising products that help organizations raise money — can earn anywhere from $500 to $5,000 or more per month working full-time at home. That’s real opportunity.
3. Set Up a *Real* Home Office
Don’t settle for working from your couch or kitchen table. Set up a real home office and actually use it. Your home office could be a spare bedroom, or disused alcove, or even an oversized entryway. What matters is how (and how often) you use it for work.
4. Organize and Optimize Relentlessly
Truly successful work-at-homers are well-organized and relentlessly optimized. Among other productivity hacks, productivity expert Abigail Hess recommends ditching your phone before the workday (unless you need it for calls, in which case you should use it for nothing but) and “dressing for success.”
5. Treat Your Workday Like, Well, a Workday
Speaking of “dressing for success”: the fact that you’re working from home doesn’t mean you get to stay in your pajamas all day. Maintain the same morning routine you’ve always had, absent the commute, and keep other aspects of your workday the same. Don’t linger over lunch or punch out at 2pm “just because,” for instance.
Take the Leap
Armed with these five work-at-home tips, you’re now ready to do what you’ve been waiting on for so long: take the leap and begin working from home full-time.
Whether you’re launching your own business from the ground up or turning a 9-to-5 office job into a wherever-whenever remote work engagement, you’ve got a lot to look forward to.
You’ve also got a lot to keep track of. Here’s to a productive, well-organized, and ultimately successful work-at-home career!