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

Make working from home a positive thing. Do use spare moments and breaks to throw on some washing, prep some dinner or organise an online shop. Anything that makes your family time smoother, easier and more enjoyable. Never start anything that is not related to work or housework (like mumsnetting) as it pulls you away from your important tasks of the day and ruins your focus.

But don't apologise for fitting in housework during lunch break or during the time you would have been chatting with colleagues at the water cooler. I find I do more work at home than in the office AND fit in home related work so that I can relax in the evening properly.

Get dressed, no working in pyjamas, and learn the lines "I am paid to (whatever) not pop to Tesco, hoover, collect your prescription, pay your cheque into the bank"
Try to keep on top of housework out of working hours so it won't distract you and actually if you do manage to do any washing or cleaning around your work don't tell anyone or make it obvious or this will compound the "well, you're at home all day" mentality.
eat proper food, make a packed lunch - otherwise you can spend all day with your head in the biscuit tin. Finally, get out,, even for a walk around the block but try too make sure you always have the basics in milk/bread otherwise if you go out for these it leads again to the "you are at home" mentality your family might think. You have to make clear you are WORKING!

Have set times for meals and breaks. Without peer pressure, it can be too easy to skip meals or do the opposite and spend all day making tea... Neither of which are any good for you.

Routine/schedule make sure have a break. If home alone do not turn on the tv

I tidy up first, then settle myself to work in our shared office. Space is a must. Then I give myself 45 minute slots to work hard and efficiently. I woke solidly for that time, then have a five minute break for a drink of water and stretch, then back to it.. It breaks up the time and means I don't get distracted and work inefficiently.

Accept that you might not always achieve 100% productivity (especially if you only work from home occasionally) but that this is probably equivalent to the time spent chatting to colleagues/commuting/making tea/going out to get lunch when you work in an office environment...so don't feel guilty!! You'll probably find you get twice as much done as in an environment where you are being frequently interrupted, even if you lose focus sometimes.
I also found that on days where I missed being around people having radio 4 on in the background (which I usually hate!) really helped!

I made the switch from a corporate office based, 9-5, job to working with my partner in our own business. I was worried how I would adapt to the change at first but six months on and I've not looked back.
These are my tips:

Have a dedicated office space - so you can shut the door at the end of the day. My partner and I have separate offices.
Be clear about your working hours to stop household chores sneaking in or work creeping into family time.
If, like my partner who works longer hours than me, your office is downstairs and liable to be 'raided' by children set up a system so your kids know when you are available and when you are not. Red frowning face = busy/do not disturb, green smiley face = you can come in. It has worked surprisingly well.

Definitely have a separate office space that you can shut the door on.

Make a to do list and work through it - mine includes kid stuff as well as work stuff though.

Have emergency child care in place to cover meetings/events out of the house.

Take a proper lunch break, and schedule drink breaks (my office is in the attic, so the kettle is 2 flights of stairs away...).

I've worked for myself since Direct Line made me redundant in 2008...no hard feelings...

Make sure you're always on mute (unless talking) so when your toddler runs in with a piece of plastic cake in a teapot shouting 'mummyyyyy, I made you cake', your entire senior leadership team don't hear it.

In all seriousness though:
Don't try and work through the whole day with no breaks for fresh air, tea, lunch etc. Nobody will thank you for it and you'll resent the extra hours put in daily.

Move around as often as you can, if you have a hands free phone then walking whilst on calls will help keep your energy levels up.

Set up a working and functional desk space (where possible), I like to have all of the comforts of the office such as; nice chair, music in background, speaker phone, mouse and keyboard, laptop dock etc.

Utilise webcams (if your business supports this), seeing people 'face to face' helps build relationships in a way which can be difficult when everyone works remotely.

Ha ha at the. Mummy I made cake ......
This happens on a fairly regular basis with my managers kids during team meetings.

Mute is definitely your friend.
My OH once totally lost it at something three rooms away and his f in and jeffing carried onto my call. I went bonkers at him. He's never ever done it again as he never wants to hear ME swear at him like that again (I rarely swear or lose my temper but he got it both barrels that day .....after going onto mute of course lol)

Share a few goals for the day with someone else. Eg "finish reading /typing document, call x, write report on y"- it helps productivity to feel a little bit accountable to someone.

It's really important to have a designated work space (ideally with a door you can close) that all of the family respects.

Our toddler was getting frustrated because she knew DH was home and didn't understand why he couldn't come and play. We made a little sign for his office door so she can now see when she is allowed to come and visit her Daddy's office and when he is busy working. It gives him the odd break and she loves spinning around in his chair.

I have an office at home and it's essential if you work from home a lot. You can shut the for on it so it's not in your face, and also keep pets and kids out.

Have a proper lunch break, keep your workspace tidy. Have a whiteboard for your To Do list so it's looking at you every day until it's done

*for = door ......

Having a set up that is about work even if you don't have an office. I work at the kitchen table. I set out my work stuff, leave the house to take ds to his grandparents before school and when I come back into the house I'm coming into work. Also having kit that allows you to clear away fully is great for creating a bit of distance between home and work. Use tools like communicator and texts and phone calls to make sure you remain visible to staff and also stop yourself from becoming isolated. I get up at the same time when working from home as I do when working from the office - routine is important

Have a set schedule, always work in a designated (even just for the day) space and if all else fails, go to Costa...

Separate room, set routine (although regular breaks which include doing house jobs are fine), and for me, only work from home a couple of days a week max. As a single parent, a life of working from home with very little adult interaction equals the path to insanity.

I usually work from home once a week. I'm so concerned about colleagues thinking I'm 'skiving' that I work non-stop, often forgetting to break for coffee/lunch/pee. Don't be like me.

My DH ocassion ally works from home too, and we've discovered that us both working from home the same day is not a good thing. Distracting each other with phone calls, muttering to our laptops, spreading across my share of the workspace ...

Plan your diary in advance. If I can manage a loas of conference calls at home that is far preferable from doing the same in the office.

Get a dog so that you have to walk it every day and leave the house.
If you answer the door in the early days of WFH always have a phone in your hand, even if you're not on a call, so that you can point to it and pretend you are, so as to politely disengage from chats with neighbours and delivery people if you're trying to crack on with work.
Don't worry if you get through work projects more quickly than you do in the office--it's the lack of distraction.

Get dressed as you would on a work day.
Have a designated work space and suitable equipment to make work as comfortable as possible.
Don't answer the house phone (too many PPI calls!)
Write a To Do list at the start of the day.
Drink lots of tea and remember to walk around at regular intervals!

My DH works from home and my advice for him would be to stop pottering around the house looking for stuff to do when you're meant to be at work, just go back to your office and stop getting under my feet!
(Lighthearted, obviously)

Create some sort of ritual to help you switch between working and being at home. So, for example, light a nice scented candle when you've finished for the day, just so symbolically and then psychologically that helps you switch off.

Make sure other people understand although you are home you are working & therefore unavailable. I find establishing that boundary difficult.

I've run my own business from home for over 10 years. What has worked for me is having a small home office with all stock, paperwork etc for my business so I've got a dedicated area to work in, but I can also close the door mid-task if real (family) life dictates I have to take a break.

I enjoy the flexibility being my own boss gives me, so if I want to do a few tasks in front of the TV in the living room, I will! I always dress dress for work though... not necessarily power suits, but by the same token I never work in pyjamas, it just doesn't feel right to me