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

Have breaks and a set start and finish time. It can make you feel more productive to dress for work too.

For me the non existent commute and quiet environment to work without distraction are a plus.

My essential rules are ....
.schedule and take breaks - I tend to make sure I get fresh air - whether it is taking a cup of coffee into the garden or popping to the corner shop. If the weather is bad I make that "dead time" work for me and use it to prepare an evening meal - I can now prepare and get into the oven a selection of meals in ten minutes so I don't spend time after I've finished work cooking and have reclaimed some of my evenings.

Really good coffee (and no biscuits - far too tempting)

Dressing for comfort - shorts and a t shirt in summer (I have a colleague who always works in boxers in the winter with the heating on and nude in summer ....and another who always works in a onesie) I love that I can wear my leopard skin slippers rather than heels.

I have a designated work space - when I sit down in that area my work head goes on - when I get up and walk away from the desk the work head comes off and I don't think about work again. For me- I need to draw a clear line between work and homelife.

Finally when you first work from home you have to retrain your friends and family that where you are is simply geography and you aren't available if they fancy dropping in for a coffee, need an errand run etc. You are AT WORK.. (I perhaps over-did this a bit as my teenage son waited til my break to tell me a tree had caught fire in our (tiny) front garden so well was he trained not to interrupt me whilst I was working ! :D

Take advantage of the situation and get a dog. It means you have some company during the day (even if it is snoring in it's bed) and also means that you have to get out at some point to walk it. You will invariably find others in your situation walking their dog which will provide you with much needed human company. And if a work situation gets you cross, it's always useful to have something to vent at and to empathise with you.

Stick to a strict schedule so you don't get distracted and sidetracked by housework etc. Also turn the T.V off, and mobile (unless essential for your work) so updates from social media or text messages don't get in the way.

Have a to-do list and work through it diligently taking a few minutes between each task to tick off a household chore on a separate list be it putting on the washing or renewing your car insurance. That makes me feel much more productive. I love ticking things off a list! And switch off personal e-mail, social media and Mumsnet!

I used to work from home and running a business that way had massive advantages and of course, challenges. I had the huge of pleasure of working around my children, being there for drop offs and pick ups and never missing school events. Having already worked in an office environment I can't say I missed it. However, distractions were easy! A routine was essential but,once established, was reasonably easy to stick to because the advantages of the situation were too good to be missed. A separate office type room is a massive plus.

Do the things you would do if you went to an office. Get up at the same time, have breakfast, get dressed and set a specific work schedule with breaks.

Get up and get dressed. Whatever you dress in, you need definite transitions from "home mode" to "work mode"

Make sure you get to see real people sometimes. My job is mobile rather than permanently home based, but I find I go stir-crazy and my productivity (never great) falls further if I have done more than 3-4 days in a row without getting out and seeing people (other than on the school run or in Tesco).

Make social time and connections in work. There is no harm in spending a few minutes chatting to colleagues - by instant messaging, or by phone. You would do it if you were in an office, and it makes the person at the other end of the phone/email a lot more human. I have a whole mini-network of colleagues with whom I talk cakes....

I agree re having a separate space. That is critical for me.

Turn off your laptop and spend your evenings with your family or hobbies.

I often have brainwaves at night or weekends, so I just pop off an email to my work address and pick it up in the morning.

I disagree with the seperate work area, schedule and getting dressed. Dropping those was one of the perks for me. I do always keep a couple of documents I'm working on open, so I can do something even for a few minutes.

Prioritising is important for me, on a simple to do list all ticks feel equal. I have a couple of must-dos, a couple of should-dos and the rest.

To get started I force myself to do something, anything, on the most important point of the day.

Do the hardest task during the most productive time window, for me that is early in the morning and late in the evening.

And I do that in my pjs drinking from a star wars mug, because I can. I don't need to do 8h anymore, because I don't ever sit in pointless meetings, fill in fire safety forms or fight pointless office politics battles.

A separate office space is a must, spend some time and thought setting it up to meet your needs, even have someone come in to do a desk inspection if you can.

And make sure you get out on the weekend and evenings if you can.

Have a designated space however small. I don't work to a schedule but have a list of what I need to achieve each day and I" eat a frog for breakfast" - i.e. do the thing I least want to tackle straight off. I am a morning person so work with this and often start at 5am as twice as productive.

Lists and things to do, along with a regular routine. Try not to get distracted. Turn off wifi or install a programme on your computer that only allows certain things at certain times.

Connect with others - loneliness is the hardest bit. Phone and e-mail are not the same as human contact.

I always say bye to my dh and DD and that I'm going to work. Then head upstairs and close the door and that's it I'm officially not there! Unless I come out for a sneaky tea and snack!

Have a dedicated office or workspace in the house that is quiet and inaccessible to anyone else.
Structure and routine - I log on at 9am as I would in the office, take a lunchbreak, try to keep to the same sort of plan/ work as in the office.
Decent equipment - a proper ergonomic chair and desk.
Make sure I get out for a walk at some point.

Create own space and working hours it's a bonus time and you have to make it work or what's the point

I use Google diary and schedule tasks through the day so that I know what I need to do and allocate time to it. Look at emails at planned times in the day otherwise your day gets swallowed up answering messages rather than getting the big tasks done.

Dedicated work area is key so you can go to work and leave work as you would in an office. Always get dressed!!!

Most definitely a dedicated workspace, and allow yourself a break as you would if you were in an office. For me the most important thing is self-discipline - that, and making sure friends and family are aware that even though you may be at home, you're not 'available' to them. Working from home is a godsend for me, but it's a lot harder than I imagined it would be.

For me I find I need a dedicated work space, some nice music and no distractions
Get dressed for work, make lists and set small deadlines, take coffee breaks but don't get distracted by turning on the telly or doing chores.
If you work FT on your own from home belonging to professional online chat groups and regional forums can help support you and act as a sounding board to stop you going crazy

I agree with everyone who's said a separate office space is important. My job involves work at all sorts of funny times, and I think it's essential to have proper breaks, and to not feel guilt for watching TV for an hour in the afternoon if you've worked all morning and will be out late into the evening at meetings.

Making a time table, and sticking to it! Rationing cups of tea so I'm not constantly making one.

have an office space. its can quickly mould into office/home life and it should never be this as you quickly then forget whats important in the working day...coming home to your loved ones. you can take them for granted. so once at work be like your in your office. do not answer the phone. the mother in law likes to chat!
you can get distracted when coming down for a coffee so avoid all newspapers haha.
have a discussion with the whole family so they know that this means your still at work. being in the ame home they will rightly assume daddie or mummy is available all the time. but don't just be nasty and tell them to get out,have the talk before hand so everyone knows.
make sure its the right thing to do. sometimes going out to an office especially for people who suffer home work life balance issues can be better. if its around you all the time it can if you let it become a stresser not a help

I don't tell people I work from home if I can help it. From past experience I found every man and his dog expected me to be there to take in parcels for them or collect something from the sorting office or run them to an appointment.
I would answer the phone only to hear "Can you just..." and I know I put a few noses out of joint when I said no, I can't, I'm working.

I have a strict 'no television' rule and try to only check personal emails/ texts three times a day. Absolutely no Facebooking.