Home Office Productivity

Creating a workspace in your home...physically and mentally...

I got some great feedback on the topic of working from home from Debra Helwig, a reader of one of my newsletters.

Happily, she agreed to let me post her comments here. I think she has got the discipline of working from home figured out pretty well.

"I actually have an honest to goodness Herman Miller cubicle in my basement - salvaged from when my company went "virtual office" and sold off all the office furniture.  I have it set up in such a way that it's a completely contained work area, with all the equipment and supplies I need to work within two steps' distance and completely separated from my personal stuff.  When I go to work in the morning, I go downstairs to the office and really "go to work" - it's exactly the same as when I worked in a big office, just 10 steps' commute instead of 40 miles. 

I've discovered that I really do have to keep the two parts of my life (work and home) discrete; my focus & mindset for each is very different, and if I try to blend the two they both become muddy and less efficient.  So when I work, I work - and I work hard.  When I'm home, I'm home, and I don't check email every 10 minutes or try to do "one more thing" in between dinner and the baby's bath. 

I tried that for a while and just wound up working 24/7 and became exhausted.  Successfully being productive in a home office environment requires the right mindset than anything else - but having a completely separate physical space definitely helps too."

Where and how do your set up your work area at home?

Some time ago, through one of my newsletters, I asked people how they set about creating a work area in their homes.

The variety of responses was amazing. People can get pretty creative when deciding where and how they want to work in their homes.

Here are some of the replies I received...

“I have a separate building for my office. It's in an old logging shed that was here on our property in the woods when we bought it a few years ago. The whole thing (11x19) is on 'skids' so it was easily put on a truck and moved. It gets chilly sometimes, but it's away from the house, so I can Rock out and talk on the phone, while others are asleep or whatever. I love it!“

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“Over the years I have worked a lot at home, both for my daytime employer and for my own more immediate cash flow. Whenever possible I've tried to keep the computer out of the bedroom (to keep the amount of dust inside the computer as low as possible). A separate office whenever possible (to keep the amount of noise and annoyed comments as low as possible). As for laptop, I've always coveted one but when it comes to the crunch I still go for power over portability (Still an engineer at heart, I guess).”

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“I'm a freelance print and web designer - I live in a townhouse that had a basement apartment in it when I bought it. I've since enlisted the help of my husband to renovate the apartment to create a studio with a separate entrance for clients. This works out great for me - I work at home, but it still has the feeling of an office so I'm never tempted to veg on the couch watching TV all day (like so many people assume when they hear you work from home).”

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“I started out in the dining room, then took over a spare bedroom.“

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“In truth my entire house is my office - I run 4 small biz: 2 clothing/quilting pattern companies; one selling novelty/sewing buttons; and my Web design stuff. All online and shows - no brick and mortar. I work alone except for the 3 fur-kids helping (we offer free cat fur with every purchase!). While there really IS a full office and sewing room, the garage also has stock and displays; in fact everyone room has something relating to work. Impossible not to.”

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“In the kitchen where I can be available for my 15-month-old twins, but behind a baby gate where they can't reach the laptop. Oh, to have a separate room for an office....!“

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“I have the loft in our A-frame overlooking the Puntledge River just outside Courtenay BC.“

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“My house is a one room place, so bedroom is sitting room is kitchen ... one table I call desk. Too bad my laptop screen does not show anything I can read outside (therefore, the publicity of happy people with their laptop sitting at the lake side, really irritates me, as I get a headache trying to read my LCD screen outside).”

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“When I started my home-based copywriting and communications consultancy a few months back, the original plan was to create a separate, dedicated work area in the basement (for access to the family printer, and to maximize privacy while minimizing impact on my wife and daughter). But once I learned that my new cellular was essentially useless in the basement, everything changed. I got a laptop, and we set up a secure wireless network, so now my office is wherever it needs to be. The basement for land-line phone calls (interviews for articles) and printing; the living room and dining room most of the time; and the master bedroom when my wife wants to chill out and watch some TV. I can literally be anywhere in the house, with or without a power cord, and continue my work without interruption.”

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“We have a separate room that serves as an office. However, our 1 yr old daugher doesn't like to play in the office so we often work on our laptops from the living room or kitchen.”

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“I work full time at home, and a separate office is the only way to escape our determined dog, and my wonderful wife and kids who find endless ingenious ways to disrupt my productivity.”

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“I have a desk in an office space at home, but I find that most of the time I work either from the living room (where the light is good) or from the coffeeshop downtown, where other people's conversations make great white-noise (and where I'm not tempted to do laundry).”

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“I do have a home office, where I keep records, work at the computer and attack the email. But I also like to work in my comfortable lounge on occasions - specifically, when I'm reading research and brainstorming concepts. I find that it helps to be in a different state when I want to switch on that part of my brain that makes odd connections and sparks new ideas. (I'm a freelance copywriter, so it's an important part of my job.) Different space, different brainwaves. I'm fortunate to have options for both work modes.”

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“The hardest part is keeping all of the home and family stuff out of my office!”

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Where and how do YOU work at home? Feel free to add a comment...

Do you have a best time of day, when you can get the most work done?

People working from home have all kinds of individual quirks when it comes to their working environment. Some work best early in the morning, while others get in their "zone" late at night.

Some need the formality of a neatly organized work desk, while others prefer a laptop on their knees in the living room or even outdoors. Some even prefer the noise and quasi-companionship that comes with taking their laptop to the nearest Starbucks.

One thing is certain, many of us have that "zone" - a time, place or mood that enables us to work faster and better.

Pay attention to your environment, internal and external, and identify the factors that influence your productivity.

Find your best work environment, and use it.

And one more thing...if you do have a “zone”, at a certain time of day in a certain place, use that opportunity to address your most important or pressing tasks.

It makes sense to tackle to most demanding tasks at the times when you are feeling most focused.

By the same token, if you typically have times of day when you feel a little blah, use those times for tasks that are a little less demanding.

Like filing, or cleaning the cookie crumbs from under your desk. : )

Are you ready to quit your day job and work from home?

I have been busy...writing a short e-book for people who are thinking about quitting their jobs and working from a home office.

There will be more in the series (one on productivity, for sure), but this first guide is for those who are at the planning stage.

If you are thinking of quitting your job and working from home, there are some key issues you need to address...BEFORE you quit your job.

Before you take the plunge, you absolutely have to ask and answer some key questions about your plans.

Without getting clarity at this planning stage, your chances of succeeding with your home business will be significantly reduced.

This short e-book takes you through 7 key questions, and helps you find the answers you need in order to ensure your success.

Find out more here...

In terms of billable hours, how productive were you today?

Here’s something you should do from time to time...keep track of your actual billable hours.

Working from a home office means you have to tackle a whole variety of tasks: working on projects, doing your own office admin, handling your accounts, buying office supplies, phoning or emailing prospective clients...and so on.

The unbillable hours can add up pretty fast. So some days you feel like you have been run off your feet, but have earned very little money.

The other tasks need doing, but just keep an eye how much time they take.

There is a second side to this as well.

In addition to tracking your billable hours, keep track of how profitable your various clients are.

Some clients lead to a good income for the time you spend on their projects. Other clients are more demanding, perhaps less efficient, and end up taking up too much of your time.

To track this, work out your actual income per hour per client. And include all your administrative and phone time for each client.

You’ll probably find some significant differences between different clients. Some will be much more profitable than others.

Now look at the one or two least profitable clients and think carefully about whether it is worth keeping them.

Perhaps you should let one or two go, free up some time, and get some more profitable clients to take their place.

Whatever you do, if you don’t keep track of both your billable hours AND the profitability of each client, you are not optimizing your time, not being fully productive and not making as much money as you could.

Know when to walk away from your desk.

When you work from home, it’s all too easy to equate productivity with the number of hours you spend at your desk.

In other words, many solopreneurs end up working twelve hours a day or more...simply because their desk is right there, at home.

There may be times when you do have to work long hours. But don’t fool yourself into thinking that sitting in front of your desk for twelve hours necessarily means you are being productive.

In fact, in my own experience, unless I have a pressing deadline, I often find that the longer I sit in front of my computer, the less productive I become.

Here’s my tip:

Set yourself a start and finish time for each day. Just like in an office. And give yourself a real lunch break. Step away from your desk every couple of hours, even if only for ten to fifteen minutes. Walk around. Stretch. Give your mind time to slow down.

And if you set your finish time for five in the afternoon, for example, stick to it. Walk away from your desk and enjoy life.

Like I said, there are times when you have to work longer hours to meet a specific deadline. But for the rest of the time, you will likely be a lot more productive if you set a clear schedule for yourself.

When you are scheduled to work, work hard and stay on task.

When you are scheduled to stop working, stop. Really. Just walk away.

Productivity tools to help you manage your daily tasks.

One way or another, your productivity at home is going to be influenced by how efficiently you manage your time and your daily tasks.

You need to keep track of what is urgent and important. You also need to keep track of your jobs, time sheets, clients, prospects and other key contacts.

Over the years I have used a variety of tools to help me with my “to do” lists and contact lists.

For a while I depended on the tools that come packaged with Outlook.

I also tried ACT, back when it was a reasonable piece of software that actually worked.

I also used the FranklinCovey organizational tools for a while.

What do I use now? It is the simplest thing I ever tried. I signed up at Backpackit.com, pay $5 a month to get enough pages (the basic package is free) and then customize the pages to suit my needs. I have to-do pages, pages with contact information for my various clients. I use the calendar to manage my workload, and more. It’s very simple and suits me just fine.

And I think that is the key. There are plenty of different tools out there to help you manage your tasks, time sheets, contacts and more. It’s just a matter of finding the tool that matches your personality and work style the best.

But if you are serious about building a business at home, you do need to find a way to get organized. If you don’t, your productivity will suffer.