Working from home interview

I was delighted to get a call recently from Margaret Adams, who works with professionals to help them to attract more business and win more contracts. Margaret is also the author of no less than four books and many training manuals and articles. We had a chat over the phone on the subject of professional freelancers who work from home and here is an excerpt from her transcript of our conversation, which you can read in full on Margaret’s website.

How can people working at home motivate themselves?

‘It’s important to develop a structure for the day and a routine around family commitments. Plan the day ahead rather than having to figure out what you’re going to do first thing every morning.

‘Also be prepared to vary your approach if you get bored. Adapt your schedule to suit yourself and your preferences.

‘Allow yourself to take a break, too. When you’re working on something important, let yourself stop. Pop out at least once during the day. You’ll regret it, if you don’t, because after working on something for a long time, you can lose your perspective on things and just not work effectively.

‘Don’t worry about not doing enough work. Most professionals have a conscience that will bring them back to their work, if they take a break and go out.’

How do you turn off from work when your home is your workplace?

‘If you have family commitments, then there will be times when you have to switch off. You have to deal with your responsibilities at particular times.

‘It’s harder if you don’t have these sorts of commitments. However, if you’re passionate about what you’re doing, you can allow yourself to work on into the evening. It’s not a problem if you work late. That just means you can also give yourself permission to get up later the next morning. You don’t have to work a nine to five day.’

I’ll be posting more of our conversation soon, and in the meantime both Margaret and I would be interested to hear your own views and experiences.