You have arrived.
No more office hours, no more dress code, no office politics, no commuter traffic nightmares. You are the boss. You decide what you’ll work on and when you’ll do it. You have joined the ranks of the work-from-home professional.
Once you’ve gotten over the giddiness of being able to spend all day in your “workout” clothes (yeah, we’ll go along with you and call them workout clothes, but we all know you’re wearing your pajamas), you may realize this working-from-home gig has got some drawbacks. The primary one being that if you don’t work, you rarely get paid.
Whether you’re a writer or a researcher, a consultant or artist, an inventor or programmer, when you work from home there are essential survival skills required to achieve the career nirvana you seek.
- Self-Discipline. Set a schedule and follow it. If you know it is going to take you 60 hours a week to accomplish your goals, you cannot afford to surf the net the first three days before trying to cram 60 hours into the next four. You’ll end up working 20 hour days—because everything takes longer than you think it will.
- Covert Operation. Don’t broadcast to friends, family, neighbors, or your church group that you work from home. While you may like to “brag” a little about your independence, it’s an open invitation for people to call or drop by or ask for emergency day care. There is no distinction made between someone working at home and someone at home.
- Deadlines. Set deadlines and meet your commitments. Whether the deadline is to your client, your editor, or yourself, meeting them is essential for your credibility and future opportunities and growth. No one to commit to? How about a spouse, a friend, or family member? Be accountable to somebody.
- Contingency. Always include a contingency when setting your deadlines. Problems will arise, even under the most ideal of conditions (which never exist anyway). Give yourself enough time to complete a project while also doing an excellent job. If you are balancing work at home with parenting, then you already know the contingency should increase. It will vary depending on whether you need the six-month old contingency or the twelve-year-old contingency. The key is to give yourself enough time and remember the age-old mantra: under promise and over deliver.
- Balance. Working from home means you don’t walk away at 5:00 pm and leave it behind for another day. It’s tempting to spend just a couple more hours on something and the next thing you know, everyone has gone to bed and you’ve missed an entire evening. The beauty of working from home can be lost if you don’t keep a life/work balance. Take time for family, for yourself, to walk the dog, enjoy the day. Make the most of this great opportunity.
OK. You’ve taken time to read this blog, now get back to work!
Our newest assistant editor, Heidi Birch has wrapped her maiden project, Vivatera by Candace J. Thomas, which will be released April 19, 2013. Her current endeavor, Machanized Masterpieces: A Steampunk Anthology, is slated for release April 30, 2013.