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

Be strict with yourself, set a start and finish time and remove yourself from distractions

Other than working in your pj's, think "would I do this if my boss was here/I was in the office"

Be disciplined. Have a schedule of what needs doing and by when and stick to it. Have a separate email address if you can, or separate work folders within your inbox. Ditto computer files and folders.

Have a dedicated office that you can close the door on when you are not working. Make sure it is comfortable and suitable for purpose, eg, have a proper desk chair and not just a dining chair, make sure the monitor is at the right height etc, just as would be the case in a proper office.

Back your work up. You don't need an external hard drive or usb stick, you can use cloud storage (I use Microsoft one drive) which has the added bonus of being able to be accessed from anywhere so you can use different computers or devices.

Keep receipts and statements. Also keep a running spreadsheet or similar or work in progress, work that has been invoiced, work that has been laid and work that has been scheduled. It not only helps you have an overview of what you as doing, but makes doing your tax return a doddle.

Make a note of your hmrc login details so you don't have to have them reissued each year.

If you have kids, plan in work time during school holidays so you stay on top of things.

I work from home at least once a week. I'd say don't be afraid to turn email notifications off if you want to get on with work. No one expects a reply straight away when you're in the office so it shouldn't be any different when you're at home. I use my home day to go for a swim at lunchtime and it makes me much more productive in the afternoon whereas in the office I'm usually really tired after lunch.

I allocate a couple of hours each night and plan out what I am to complete in each slot at the beginning of the week.

If possible invest in a sit-stand desk, Ikea do a good one. For anyone who has to work long hours or concentrate hard, it can really help to stop that horrible crampy feeling when you've been sitting down all day.

Have an area set up to use as an office and be strict about working hours. It's far too easy to have long lunches and end up doing very little that day

I'm a freelance journalist working from home now... My tips are:

Lots of tea.
Lots of highlighters.
A big list to tick off.
A MacBook Air.
Radio 2.
Quick access to bog.
Have a break for school run.
Factor in time for social media in lieu of office banter.
Biscuits.

A bit different to the others but I'm a childminder and a lot of my home has to be my workplace. I get up early enough to have time to have my breakfast and a few moments to myself before the early birds arrive. Have routines for breakfast and school runs and trips out. At home there are areas where messy play is allowed and areas the children aren't allowed to play in. Toys are put away in baskets and drawers at the end of the day and out of sight so it feels like our home again.

I don't work from home during the day but often bring home work in the evening. My husband is studying outside work so I work while he watches lectures. As soon as he's finished I stop. Then that's our time.

Have an organised workspace, free from clutter and distractions. You will less productive if you keep looking at that pile of ironing/home paperwork etc.

I work from home four days a week and it works really well, it enables me to work while the children are at school. However, I do find it hard to switch off in evenings or weekends - a case of just checking emails, adding some info that I've just thought of, when I should probably just switch off from work altogether! My problem is I'm a completer/finisher, so like to clear my to do list!!

I run my own business from home. I turned the dining room into my home office. There's no way that not having a dedicated space would work.

Initially I also had two separate telephone lines. One for business and one for 'home'. However that didn't stop family members ringing either phone for a chat mid-morning. They would get the hump with me when I wouldn't pick up the home phone, as they knew I was in and couldn't see any reason why I wouldn't answer it. In the end I ditched the home phone and just kept the business one, hoping that by answering it in a business-like manner, family would get the message that I'm working. But to no avail.

Couldn't go back to working outside the home now though, don't miss the commute or office politics.

I do find that making myself go out during the day does help with concentration and feel part of the world, as it can be very isolating working from home full time.

I still dress for work - so I get into a work frame of mind.

Be disciplined about settling down to work and not getting distracted by your surroundings and the jobs that you can see need doing.

Force yourself out for a walk at 'lunchtime' - it's easy just to get caught up at home. You need the fresh air - and a chance to see some other faces - it can get very lonely working from home.

I work regularly from home and the key things for me are

Dedicated space
proper work chair and desk - make sure the ergonomics are right, just like you would do in an office
Take breaks and give yourself time to take a lunchbreak or to speak with people in a social way - if can be isolating if you don't realise the importance of "having a chat" with colleagues

To stop yourself procrastinating, set yourself a certain time limit to get housework done each day. I find I can always find something that NEEDS to be done and time can run away with me until I have to work in the evening to catch up. I have a separate office at home and I give myself an hour each morning after dropping the kids off, to get household bits and pieces done. Once my hour is up, then I can go to my office and crack on with productive work!

I work from home and my tips would be to be almost unreachable via phone and social calls. When I first started, everyone I knew seemed to think I was free anytime and always on hand!

Be strict with yourself about start times / breaks / finishing. Treat working from home like a 'normal' working day, in an office for example. If you worked outside the home you wouldn't keep pushing the start of the day back by 30 mins for 'one more coffee'...

Ensure family and friends understand when your working time is and that just because you are at home you are not available for chats/errands/taking their cat to the vet etc!

I have work clothes for home, comfy but workwear at least on the top half as we sometimes video conference.

I 'go' to the office and follow the same routine if I'm at home or work.

Dedicated work space. Mine is the corner of the playroom, ideal as I only work term time.

Long walk at some point during the day or cycle / run.

Dh and I have been running our business from home since 1999. My top tip would be to get an extra phone line installed and only give that the clients. Kids aren't allowed to answer it and you can ignore the "home phone" when you're really busy.

I work from home a lot. My tip is to never work from your sofa in your living room. It's so easy to get distracted. Have an area that you can work in with no distractions. Do also give yourself a set break for lunch and a cuppa, just as you would do in the office. I try to be strict with timings otherwise I get up at 7am and work until at least 6pm, getting less productive throughout the day due to not having a break from work.

Schedule in breaks so that you aren't working non stop (or in my case procrastinating by having a million tea breaks).

Even if you won't be seeing anybody don't work in your pyjamas. I'm always more productive if I'm dressed and looking smart

Have a group of other people who work at home to occasionally meet up with and with whom you can have some banter, even if just on email. I work flexibly so if I am awake at 5 I might put in an hour or two and then have time to go to a class assembly later etc.

Keep reminding people (esp OH) that a different job would not be anywhere near as flexible, will require more childcare and might not pay as much.

have a proper desk - easier to work at a desk than on a sofa, make schedules and stick to them - time management is crucial, concentrate on work - no wandering on the internet. I also tend to use early morning hours for planning the whole day when the other members of the family are still sleeping and I can have my coffee and thoughts undisturbed.

Staying organised (I know, I know...not always easy!) and disciplined, otherwise things start to build up. Make your work area a nice place to be...nothing worse than having to clamber over a pile of boxes to reach your work table.