Setting Work Hours
Many new telecommuters expect to work less, since their time will be spent more productively. While that certainly can be true, if you aren’t careful, you can also end up working a whole lot more. The reason is that although telecommuting is generally described as working from home, an equally accurate description would be living at work.
Unless you set work hours for yourself, you might find it hard to leave at the end of the day. You might be tempted to work until dinner is ready and then jump right back into it as soon as you finish eating. Or you might start putting in a extra few hours at night instead of reading, watching TV, or spending time with your family. With your work area only a few feet away, you can have trouble getting away from it.
I once lived in a loft apartment while I was telecommuting. It was a great place, right in the city, with as open a floor plan as you could hope for. Therein lied the problem. No matter where I was in my apartment, I could see my work desk and was reminded of my job. After a few weeks it started to drive me a little crazy and I realized that I needed to make some kind of change. Setting work hours was just the trick I needed.
Now, I follow a morning and evening routine just as if I had an office job. I wouldn’t go to the office before I got showered and dressed or had eaten breakfast, so I avoid my work area until those things are completed. When lunch time comes, I step away and take a real lunch break. (Even 10 minutes away is a nice pick-me-up) When quitting time comes, I shut down my computer, turn off my work phone, and walk away.
I do, of course make exceptions to my work hours just as I would at the office. If I have a big deadline or important meeting I’ll start early and stay late. During those busy times, it’s great that I work from home, since my work is right there. But for the rest of the time, having set work hours makes my telecommuting much more enjoyable. It actually increases my productivity as well. Rather than half heartedly working in the early morning and late eveneing, outside of my normal work hours I’m totally off and during my work hours I’m 100% committed to getting my work done. Twelve half-assed hours are much less productive than eight (or less) in which you use your entire ass!
