Shared by Anthony Dwyer, Gaslight Media’s Search Engine Registrar Professional.

For the last 20 years I have worked from home as an Internet professional. In those 20 something years, I have learned how to deal with the different challenges presented in staying organized and keeping a consistent schedule.

I thought this might be a good time to share some simple tips about being more productive working from home. Everyone finds that there are both good and bad things about the home office. The good include being around for kids and significant other when they need you and skipping the commute. The bad are sometimes not feeling included in office camaraderie and perhaps feeling out of the loop. It is completely normal that you may feel stuck in the house.

Here are my 5 tips for working from home.

1. I know this may sound silly, but I always dress for work. Well, let me explain a bit. I don’t wear a suit and tie or anything like that, but I dress for the day. Long pants, a decent shirt and never shorts. (my wife thinks I am nuts for that one especially if is hot out.)
2. Have a routine. I turn on my computer, get a cup of coffee and start my day at a specific time. Take a few breaks at specific times, and of course eat lunch. (tip* you can eat at your desk quickly and take a walk halfway through the day)
3. I write the tasks I have for the day. This sounds simple and something that you may do already at work, but I have always felt that if I can cross off tasks at the end of the day I feel I have been productive.
4. Deal with distractions. I will not sugar coat this. At home things are different. A puppy might pee on the floor, the kids may argue etc. My advice is to not let it fester. If a kid is watching TV in the next room and it is too loud, take two minutes, go talk to them and go back to work. (*Tip* don’t just be angry, festering at your desk, it is both unproductive and unhealthy).
5. Keep in contact. There are many chat programs available. Slack seems to be the chat program of the day, which is what our team at Gaslight Media uses to communicate in ‘real time’ conversations. You can have specific chats with one person or group chats with several members of the team. Sometimes you will just need to be available. Sometimes you may need to reach out with a question or clarification. There are challenges to this too, though not being in the office. My suggestion is to start a conversation with something like, ”hey do you have a second” or “are you super busy right now?”

“Let us realize that: the privilege to work is a gift, the power to work is a blessing, the love of work is success!”

– David O. McKay