Share tips on working from home with Direct Line for Business – win £300 voucher! NOW CLOSED

[RebeccaEMumsnet]

Whether you run your own business or work for an organisation, working from home can sound like a dream. Without being tied down to a traditional office or workspace, benefits of home working can include a non-existent commute, a better work-life balance and the ability to be closer to your family.

However, working from home comes with its own challenges, and Direct Line for Business want to hear your tips on how to make it work for you. How do you separate your work from family life when you’re based at home? Do you stick to a strict daily work schedule, or have a dedicated ‘office’ space?

We’re also interested to hear from Mumsnetters who run (or are thinking about running) their own businesses from home. What were/ are your main considerations when starting up a company from your spare room?

Whatever your tip on working from home, Direct Line for Business want to hear it.

Everyone who posts a tip on this thread will be entered into a prize draw where one MNer will win a £300 Love2Shop voucher.

Standard Insight T & Cs Apply

Organisation is key and ensuring that you have a place set up in your home that is dedicated to working without distractions.

I have a dedicated office space ( small box room ), my children know that's my 'office' and I generally don't get disturbed :)

Build a study otherwise it is pointless, especially with young kids!

I worked from home when my older ones where both born but it was hard as my husband worked long hours back then as well . I had a template on my computer which i would update and print each Sunday with a planned schedule for the week ahead. When the going got really hard (things were not going as planned) and i had a deadline to meet i would call on my mum for a few hours so i could finish .

I used to work from home, but work tended to take over the house. Not good.

Get up at a decent hour and start work as you would in a 'normal' day job - I like to shower, get dressed and start work at 10am so I'm in 'work mode'.

If you're struggling to stay motivated, try taking your laptop or paperwork to a public library and working there.

Don't absorb the time saved by not commuting into your working day (unless you need to work compressed hours).

I take those hours and spread it throughout my days so I can go for a run/have an afternoon nap/get my hair cut/attend a GP appointment. That way I feel like I really get lots of benefits working at home and I also have some spare capacity if something crops up or kicks off work wise.

Good, reliable childcare is essential.

Make sure your stocked up with chocolate biscuits!

I always find reminding myself im working helps alot otherwise you will get distracted, have a seperate office space and dont get distracted by daily household chores etc

Plan your day, set your targets, set up your workspace, and schedule the 'rewards' for your short term goals (i.e cup of tea once you've achieved a certain number of tasks). At the same time, I take advantage of the days I'm at home to be able to add home tasks to what I'm doing. For example, setting the laundry.

Have a routine & stick to it. Always get dressed ready for work. Schedule in all breaks ( no extending!) Finish on time & shut the door on work to ensure it does not encroach on family time. Have a dedicated office preferably, or if not office space. Ensure everyone understands working time means you are unavailable unless it is an emergency. Try to deal with all telephone calls en block, & email whenever possible for speed.

Set up a seperate space for working, this helps to avoid distraction and also helps you to get into a "working" frame of mind when you enter whereas if you don't its very easy to stay in "home" mode because you are in your house. Also I find that a schedule helps me, I work between 9-5 with a one hour lunch break in the middle, just like I would at another company. This helps to stop working into the evenings because you started late and helps to make a clear definition between work and home life.

I do know someone who wears a three-piece suit, shirt and tie when working from home. I think this is - ahem - a little excessive. But agree with getting dressed not working in PJs, keeping your work area tidy and trying to avoid distraction.

I also think my Fitbit has been a great help when WFH - without it I could easily do almost no activity on days without the school run.

Make sure you use technology to stay in touch with people; I start to lose my mind if I have an entire week at home so will often arrange lunches to make sure I have human contact at least once a week. But using Slack is proving very useful in a remote team.

Like MovingOn, I like to feel the benefit of the hours not spent commuting so will go to the gym after the school run some days, if I'm not needed in meetings.

I've just had a spell of working in an office after WFH for several years, god it was exhausting (and expensive) to be there every day.

Try to keep all your work things to one area,maybe screened off or in their own room and set aside so long each day for being in there.That was you can actually switch off without feeling like you need to still be working if everything is closed away. A work/life balance has to be found for it to work for everyone.

I work from home. I'm quite good at getting down to it but as other have mentioned, beware family and friends who don't really see working from home as a "real" job. Get tough and make it clear that you have a schedule too and can't be permanently available. Also, set yourself an achievable workload for the day and stop when you are finished. It's all too easy to get back into it in the evening and do more. If you start to feel isolated, especially if it's just you and your own business look for groups or networks in your area that you can join to be around other people in the same boat.

I work from home as a freelance designer. The 3 things I find most helpful are:

Getting dressed - This helps me get into the ‘working day’ mindset and helps me be more productive.

Planning - Having a plan of what I need to achieve in the day/week focuses my attentions and gets things done.

Remove distractions - Its far to easy to get distracted. I have an office dedicated to work with no TV etc so I can concentrate on my work.

I'm the exact opposite of lots of people because l'll work quite happily in pyjamas

Once I'm washed and dressed I feel obliged to do all the other stuff I need to get round to like shopping, mailing stuff or opening the door or meeting someone for a non-work coffee. But I can't do any of that if I'm not dressed. Quite often I'll stay working until 20 mins before school run when I'll leap in the shower and tear around getting ready to go out.

Treat work time as work time, not too many tea breaks! And then make sure you switch off when work is over.

Factor in a break or Two and leave the house for at least 15 minutes

make an office space- set a routine- keep your space organised and tidy.

Have a room dedicated to work. Don't do anything leisure related in that room, that way when you're in there you'll only be thinking about work

Have a separate office which you can shut away at the end of the day.
Have a start and finish time to prevent you from working all hours.

I found working from home in the winter difficult. Being on a tight budget, I was reluctant to run the central heating all day, therefore investing in some energy efficient portable hearing is a good idea.