Employers are, everywhere, urged to introduce family-friendly practices and allowing staff to work from home is one that is often cited. Quite apart from the potential cost-savings (office space) the ability to cut out the daily commute combined with the additional ‘empowerment’ away from the boss is supposed to bring greater motivation and loyalty. A report in ITPro offers its top 10 most common distractions for working at home. As someone who permanently works from home I recognise most of them.
Drawing on their list, here are my own hints.
- Time allocation. Do not stay in bed. Do a full day. Get up at the time you normally would or, at the very least, be ready for a prompt 9am start. Similarly, be conscientious about the finishing time.
- Structure your breaks and go easy on the entertainment. Just because the cooker is nearer than the coffee machine that is no excuse to jump up as soon as the previous cup is empty. And, whatever our teenage children claim, most of us do not work better with music playing or Countdown on the TV in the corner.
- Ration the technology. At the office, colleagues passing by are a natural restraint on personal web searches but at home the temptation is that much greater. Ditto FaceBook, Myspace, Twitter and the rest. (Though I have come across some offices where staff do not feel quite so restricted.) Emails are a constant distraction at the office so if you have stayed home to finish a specific piece of work turn it off – just check once or twice a day.
- The others and the chores. Unless you live alone make sure that you can work away from those you live with and resist the temptation to remember all those errands and chores you would otherwise do at weekends or after work.
- Sunshine. A great distraction at this time of year but very few of us can work just as well in the garden as at our desk.
If you are an employer reading this you may be tempted to rethink your attituide to working from home. The trick, of course, is to make sure people have specified outputs. In my own case it is promises to clients that keep me at my task. If a manager is staying home to finish a report then there needs to be a report to show for it. Staff whose work is entirely responsive (help lines or telephone sales, for example) can work very effectively at home with the right technology. For the rest, you need some way of establishing defined results if working at home is not to degenerate into surrogate days off. But then, do you actually have those disciplines in place back at the office?
