Working from home – making it work for you

Many of us who are used leaving the house to go to work in an office every day will find it difficult to adjust to home working. Home can be full of distractions and it can be difficult to enter work-mode or switch off at the end of the day without a commute to break things up. It can also be difficult to see yourself as a dynamic, professional grown-up when you are working at the kitchen table or crouched over a desk in the spare bedroom. Rachel Bridge is a bestselling author, journalist and consultant who has been working as a freelancer for many years from her home. Here are her top tips on making working from home work for you.

1. Create a space to store all your work documents, so they are not constantly getting lost around the house
2. Make your work area an appealing place to be. Get a comfortable chair and good lighting and try your desk out in different positions to see if you prefer to be facing a wall, door or window.
3. If you think you might be distracted by household chores, close the door on the mess and work in a different room. The same goes for the television and the fridge. Put doors and space between you and them.
4. Accept that you might be interrupted by couriers. If you really don’t want to be disturbed, unplug the doorbell or put a polite notice on the door.
5. If you have a flatmate, partner or children sharing your home, establish some house rules. Agree which room you can use to work in and make sure that this is not going to cause resentment. If your children have been used to having a playroom of their own, they might not appreciate you turning it into an office.

Rachel says: ‘I work from home and I absolutely love it. I love the fact that I’m already here, and that I don’t have to spend time or money travelling anywhere else. I love that I can write at 5a.m. or 11p.m. and I love that I can do something useful – mow the lawn or hang up the washing – when I need a change of activity to provide inspiration. I love that I can arrange my working environment to exactly suit my needs, so I can have it as hot or as cold as I want, quiet or with music.’

For more top tips and advice from Rachel Bridge, read How to Work for Yourself: Everything You Need to Know About Becoming Your Own Boss.

How to Work for Yourself

by Rachel Bridge

Working for yourself can be an incredibly rewarding way of making a living, giving you more freedom, control, fun, satisfaction and even money, than you could have imagined. But if you have never done it before, it can be difficult to know where to start, how to get established and the pitfalls to look out for along the way.

This book is a step-by-step guide, showing you how to do it in an effective, fulfilling and rewarding way. Drawing on Rachel Bridge's extensive experience and those of many others who already work for themselves, it contains practical advice and information, real-life examples and essential top tips to help you make a successful transition to working for yourself. You'll learn how to decide if this is the right path for you, how to get started, the key issues you need to think about and how to overcome obstacles and setbacks - not just from a practical point of view, but from a personal, financial and emotional perspective too.

So whether you are currently in a salaried job and exploring the idea of going it alone, about to take your first step into the workplace after school or university, have just been made redundant or are already working for yourself, but need help and guidance on how to do it better, this is the book for you.

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