4 Tips for Being Successful When Working From Home
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How to be Successful When Working from Home

Posted by Lisa Cunningham (USA) | August 7, 2018 | Comments (4)

Many coaches run their businesses out of their homes. Being able to work from home successfully requires creating and sticking to boundaries that help you separate the professional from the personal. Here are a few boundaries that may be helpful to you:

Create an Office

An office allows you to have a special, separate space just for business in your household. Having a regular place to “go to” for work can get your mind adjusted for what should be happening in that environment. It also helps to ensure that everything you need for your business is close by and organized, which means you aren’t wasting time searching for supplies or information that you need throughout your work day.

Find a quiet place and set it up so that it can be productive for you.

Establish Office Hours

If you go to work at random times, your mind will never be fully prepared to work. Fixed office hours allow you to get into a routine. This also makes scheduling coaching sessions and business meetings easier.

Once established, be sure to quit when you’ve reached your end time. It’s easy to work over because you rationalize that you aren’t spending that time commuting. Don’t think that. After putting in a full day, quit when it’s time to.

Also, avoid your office after your work hours. Answering one or two emails after hours can quickly spiral into a full evening of work. Once you leave your office, you are in your home, and you should be focused on your personal life. Those emails can wait until the morning.

Set Expectations for Your Family/Housemates

If you live with others, such as a partner, housemate or child, you will need to set expectations with them. Your office should be off limits to them, and they should not interrupt you during your fixed office hours (except in cases of emergency). You’ll also want to have a plan for who will answer the home phone line or the door if either happen to be called upon during your working hours.

If you coach clients in person out of your home, establish protocol for this. Maybe you answer the door in this situation. You’ll also want to consider the tidiness of your home in this instance and establish a cleaning schedule and assignments.

Get Dressed

Staying in pajamas won’t motivate you and changing into other clothes can help you create a mental boundary between your work and home life. You don’t have to dress too formally, but a simple change of clothes for a slightly more professional look can help put you in the right frame of mind. You’ll especially want to be aware of what you are wearing on days when you are meeting clients, either face to face or via video conferencing.

Dressing more professionally can also keep you from procrastinating. For example, you’ll avoid doing household chores during your working hours because you won’t want to risk getting those clothes dirty.

The act of working from home itself does create one boundary that may not be the most beneficial to you: social isolation. Sure, you interact with clients, but they are your clients; it’s important for you to find a professional community. It helps to have peers who you can talk to, develop with and bounce ideas off. ICF Membership is one avenue that can afford you access to many professional communities including ICF Chapters and Communities of Practice.

What boundaries have been most effective for you? If I missed any, please share them in the comments below.

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Lisa Cunningham (USA)

Lisa Cunningham is director of marketing content and communications for ICF. She holds a master’s degree in professional writing with a focus on web content development from Chatham University and a bachelor’s degree in English writing and communication from the University of Pittsburgh.

The views and opinions expressed in guest posts featured on this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and views of the International Coach Federation (ICF). The publication of a guest post on the ICF Blog does not equate to an ICF endorsement or guarantee of the products or services provided by the author.

Additionally, for the purpose of full disclosure and as a disclaimer of liability, this content was possibly generated using the assistance of an AI program. Its contents, either in whole or in part, have been reviewed and revised by a human. Nevertheless, the reader/user is responsible for verifying the information presented and should not rely upon this article or post as providing any specific professional advice or counsel. Its contents are provided “as is,” and ICF makes no representations or warranties as to its accuracy or completeness and to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law specifically disclaims any and all liability for any damages or injuries resulting from use of or reliance thereupon.

Comments (4)

  1. Patrick Francoisse says:

    Hi Lisa, I agree with your recommendations.
    I could probably suggest this: when you face difficulty to keep within these boundaries at home, consider to rent a place to work in a co-working office environment. This is normally at an affordable price and can bring you nice social contacts and networking with peer entrepreneurs.

    • Lisa Cunningham says:

      Hello Patrick,

      Great suggestion! Yes, co-working spaces are definitely a great way to create boundaries (including an actual physical boundary from your home) while also helping to quell social isolation that many feel working at home. Thank you for offering this!

      Best regards,

      Lisa
      ICF Social Media Specialist

  2. Monica Zoe says:

    Get dressed is right! I’m not in the mindset until I’m “ready” I’m new to all this so I do spend quite a lot of time reading and learning my craft, but I’ve designated an office space for it and try to be “dressed for success” so to speak.

    • Lisa Cunningham says:

      Hi Monica,

      Well said! It’s all about setting yourself up so that you can be in the “right” mindset to tackle work. It sounds like you’re on the right track.

      Best regards,

      Lisa
      ICF Social Media Specialist

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