by Lou Belcher

Created on: June 20, 2010

Many people dream of working from home, whether you are working for yourself or telecommuting.  Although in the life of your dreams, you may think working form home is the ideal, there are some drawbacks that can rob you of your productivity. Here are some tips to increase productivity when working from home:

If you are working from home and trying to take care of your kids at the same time, this may eat into your productivity. Too many interruptions cause you to have to start tasks over and waste precious time.  For all, or at least a portion of your time, take the children to daycare or hire someone to watch them while you work. You may have hoped to save on childcare by working at home. It generally doesn’t work that way.

Let your neighbors know that you are working from home and what your working hours are. Often neighbors hear that you are working from home and they don’t realize that it means that you are no more available to them than you were when you went to a business office each day.  They drop by to visit or stop by to ask you to go somewhere or do something for them. It’s up to you to make sure they realize that you are unavailable. Be diplomatic, but make them realize that you are only available to them for emergencies during your working hours.

In addition to your neighbors tell friends that you are working from home and make it clear to them  that it doesn’t mean that you are available to visit with them or go places with them unless you schedule ahead for it.

Don’t get into the habit of having the TV on during your working time. Keep the distractions to a minimum and your productivity will increase remarkably.

Devote work time to work. Make it a habit to stay off the social media sites and to limit texting. It’s remarkable how much of your time and productivity can be eaten up by chatting with others on line or through texting.  Keep it to a minimum and you'll watch your productivity increase.

Set up a working schedule for yourself and list out all the tasks that must be accomplished from most important to least important. By prioritizing your workload you will find yourself more productive.

Finally, ensure that you have a work area that works for you. If you are comfortable with your work area and if it is conducive to the type of work that you are doing, it will increase your productivity.

Learn more about this author, Lou Belcher.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.