25 Mar 9 Tips For Newbies Working from Home

9 Tips For Newbies Working from Home

With everyone working from home now and some starting new home-based coaching & consulting businesses I thought it appropriate to share some tips that have helped me successfully work from home over the past 10 +years. A lot of these tips are common sense but we don’t consciously think to do them. Use this list to make some work habit changes, avoid burnout, and successful work from home.

New to Working from Home?

1. Keep a Regular Schedule – This includes a regular lunch break, waking up and going to sleep at relatively the same time. It can be easy to stay up watching tv or playing video games when you’re home so much. When you first start out your initial schedule may not work and that’s ok. You’re going to learn what hours and times work best for your lifestyle. I suggest using alarms and your phone’s calendar to help better stick to your schedule. Put time cushions in between meetings to make sure you have enough time to prepare for your next meeting or call.
2. Get Up & Get Dressed – Dressing up and not staying in your PJs does something to your mind. We usually associate PJs with nonworking and relaxing time. When we start mixing things up it becomes easy for work to bleed into your personal life. As tempting and as comfortable as it is, don’t stay in your underwear all day! Getting dressed tells yourself you are prepared, sets the tone for the day, and is a way to practice self-care.
3. Take Breaks – When working from home you got to get up once every hour and walk around, go outside, have a glass of water and treat yourself well. Taking regular breaks will help you make better decisions (by thinking more clearly) Breaks spark creative ideas and new solutions. Taking breaks helps you stay focused over long periods of time. I believe it also contributes to improved emotional health and well being.
4. Use Online Communication Tools – As your colleagues, employees, or team transitions to working from home it’s important to stay just as productive as you are in a physical office.  With a combination of online communication tools, you can maintain productivity and increase your team’s efficiency by using these communication and scheduling tools. Here is a shortlist of some of my favorite tools anyone working from home can use. (Mostly Free)
   

   My Favorite Work from Home Tools!

   1. Skype – Live video conferencing, chat, and international calling. Skype is a telecommunications application that specializes in providing video chat and voice calls between computers, tablets, mobile devices, the Xbox One console, and smartwatches over the Internet. This tool also provides instant messaging services. Users may transmit text, video, audio, and images.
   2. Slack – Real-time team communication group chat tool. Slack is a collaboration hub that can replace email to help you and your team work together seamlessly. It’s designed to support the way people naturally work together, so you can collaborate with people online as efficiently as they do face-to-face.
   3. Zoom – Live video conferencing.  It provides a remote conferencing service that combines video conferencing, online meetings, chat, and mobile collaboration. It is pretty much the #1 work from home tool, period.
   4. Aweber – Is an email marketing service provider with over 100,000 small business clients worldwide. This tool allows you to send out mass email communications to a list of email address you acquire.
   5. Digital Marketer Labs – #1 Online community for online marketing education and execution plans. Click Here to get access for Free.
   6. Book Like a Boss – Is an online platform for scheduling appointments and selling products and services online through a custom, all-in-one booking page. Users can connect with PayPal, Stripe or Square to collect payments, and sync with third-party calendar apps such as Google Calendar, iCloud, Outlook, and more. It is amazing and is currently my favorite out of all my online tools. You can get free access to it here.
   7. Coffee – Always have an ample supply of coffee! Gotta fuel up! I drink 1-2 cups a day and have a fancy ember mug that keeps my coffee warm. This tip is kind of a joke but not really, can I get an “Amen” from my coffee drinkers in the comments below?
5. Plan Social Time – Working from home can be isolating and lonely at times. Have regular social interactions with friends, family, and colleagues. This is pretty much so we don’t lose our minds and become depressed hermits behind our laptops.
6. Plan Your Work – Working from home requires a plan otherwise the craziness of life, the phone ringing, the kids screaming, and the feeling of not having enough time occurs and we waste our time. Create a plan that has flexibility for the unexpected in life. There is always more you could do and without the confines of punching a clock, it can become easy to not work or overwork. What I’m saying is plan your work projects and plan out in advance when you will do what and stick to it. What helps me most with this is combining it with my calendar schedule and making written lists of things to do. A lot of people even hire accountability coaches to help stay productive and on track
7. Start Your Day With God – You now have the gift of more time. Spending time in prayer, meditation, worship, or reading the Bible fills my tank and prepares me for the day. Spiritual fitness is often underrated and ignored. This practice, when done consistently, makes a dramatic difference in your attitude, communications, and your actions. A lot of clients do this with us by participating in Biblical Affirmation Mastery. A 31-day video devotional on identity in christ for Christian Entrepreneurs.
8. Exercise and 3 Meals – This sounds pretty basic and common sense and perhaps it is. A lot of entrepreneurs run on coffee-fueled work sprints and forget to eat or overeat. Planning your meal and exercise time and actually sticking with it makes an incredible difference. Exercise for me is part of my morning routine to help set the tone for the day. When you are taking care of your body and nutrition you are combatting the temptation to slip into a more sedentary lifestyle. The fact is that physical movement boosts health, so get active my friends!
9. Create a Dedicated Workspace – This means pick a specific place at home where it is your work zone. You still need to have some separation from home life and work life. Picking a dedicated spot helps you mentally unclutter and be able to separate work time from home time. Otherwise, it easily bleeds over into family time at home. Everyone in the house should know that this is your dedicated space. Some people set up a screen to use as a divider. If your budget allows it, I would invest in a standing desk or an ergonomic chair. Do what works best for you to feel comfortable, focused, and productive.

We hope you enjoyed these 9 work from home tips. Leave some of your own tips in the comments section below.

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Rev. Ron Gelok III, MBA

 

 

P.S.  Need a Christian Business Coach to help you get clients? Watch: 3 Secrets to Create a 6 Figure Coaching Business