Routine & Discipline  

Suggested Video.
Working From Home//Tips for Staying Organised and motivated.
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​Ingrid Nilsen is a successful broadcaster with around 4 million YouTube subscribers.  The video highlights -
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  • Separate the personal and professional.
  • Routine is important.
  • Get dressed.
  • Dedicate a workspace.
  • ​Make Lists.
  • Take breaks & power naps.
  • Eat well.
  • Define your work day.
Wellness.
Graphic suggesting daily routine of, sleep, eat breakfast, drink water, go outside, get up from computer every 30 minutes, take a nap, exercise and relax before bed.

What's Next?

  1. Write down what you want to achieve by working from home - AIMS.
  2. Write down the steps you think you will need to take to achieve your aims - Objectives.
  3. Review your aims and objectives regularly and make changes as required.
Planning how to work from home is not unlike planning a project.  You know what needs to be done (the aim) and you break it down into manageable stages (the objectives).

The aims often come quite easily, breaking those aims down into objectives can be more challenging.  I find using 'SMART' objectives is helpful. Objectivists should be - 
  1. Specific:  the more detail you include the better. 
  2. Measurable:  have a way of knowing when you have reached your objective.
  3. Achievable:   stay within any practical restraints. 
  4. Realistic:   make sure you have the resources/skills needed.
  5. Timely:   set a time limit. 
  • Value your work and prioritise your career:  I am not a fan of building 'hard boarders' between work and everything else. Over the years, having managed hundreds of people I offer the simple equation of: WORK + HOME = LIFE.  Understanding this makes it easier to accept that people may be at work and working but they are also being influenced by what's going on outside of work.  The level to which this affects work determines a person's productivity on any given day.  Good managers know their people and can recognise 'problems' and lend support that not only helps the individual but mitigates the effect on the business.  Working from home places you as the manager and worker.  This means that you have to impose a routine on yourself that makes your LIFE sustainable.
  • Recognise when you are tired and need a rest:  One of the problems of working from home is the constant temptation to do "one more thing".  Most people who work successfully from home are 'self-starters'.  This combined with the pressure getting things done can create a situation where people ignore the fact that they are tired. Long-term this becomes an issue. No one can work constantly. Work without rest is unsustainable.
  • Have the resolve to rest when you need to rest:  Recognising that you need to take a break is only the first step. When you know you are tired you actually have to take a break. One of the major reasons people work to exhaustion is fear.  What they fear is not important because, whatever it is, working to a state of exhaustion will almost certainly make those fears a reality.
  • Be happy:  Regarding the fact that we only live once; Mae West was of the opinion that done right once is enough!