Working Remote

If you are lucky, you work for a company that is understanding of employees lives outside of work.  For some of us, especially those of us with kids, you need flexibility in your schedule at times.  You don't want to take a vacation day for every snow day or cold.  So hopefully you have the opportunity to work from home.

When you work from home, it takes a lot more discipline than when you work in an office.  I worked from home for years and now I work from home occasionally when I need to.  These are my fool proof steps to working from home:

• Stick to a work schedule.  Feel free to wear your pajamas all day.  But if you work 9am to 5pm in the office, try to work a similar schedule at home.
• Make a set office "space" for yourself.  If you don't work at home all the time, you might not have an office.  I tend to work at my desk because it is near the printer and it is in my bedroom, so I can shut the door if necessary.
• Make sure you have all the tools to work from home.  Do you have a laptop?  Do you have a printer?  Does the printer scan?  If you don't have these things, working from home will be impossible.
• When in doubt, get out of the house.  A lot of people who work from home actually prefer working from Starbucks or a similar type of establishment.  Getting out of their homes allows them to focus more.

The best way to get your boss to agree to letting you work from home is to be reliable and get the work done.  Everyone expects you to goof off and lay in bed all day.  Prove them wrong and you will be sure to have more flexibility going forward.