Tips on telecommuting

If you have the discipline to make it work, there are few things as nice and comforting as being able to roll out of your bed, chill in your pajamas, and go to work.  Telecommuting can be great for many - it can save you travel time, keep you close to home, provide for a more flexible working environment and save  aton on travel costs.  That being said, it can also absolutely destroy your work ethic and productivity if you aren't prepared for it.  So, how can you better work from home?  Here are some tips:

• Commute:  Yes, that's right, destroy one of the main benefits of working from home.  Okay, this doesn't mean that you get in your car, get stuck in traffic, spill coffee on yourself and show up late for work anyway.  Take a walk around your house or your block at the beginning/end of every day.  This can help you ease your way into a telecommuting environment by still giving you the sense that you are arriving at work and then leaving at the end of the day.  
• Make your office sacred: Your office should be totally free from distractions that you would never accept in an actual office environment but wouldn't think twice about at home; TV, kids, washing machines, etc.  
• Need to do errands?  Block out time:  Telecommuting does allow for doing errands at home (dishes, laundry, etc), and this isn't necessarily the end of the world - after all, every one of us takes a break at some point during the work day to make personal phone calls or check Facebook.  The issue with doing these at home is that you can wind up getting sucked into more chores than you realized.  According, it might be easier (particularly in the beginning) to actually block out times for errands, just like you would any other work meeting.  This can help you create and maintain discipline in your work day. 
• Get dressed:  Working in PJs can be so, so comfortable - the problem is that this can trick your brain into thinking you can just chill.  Don't fall into this trap - get dressed, shave, and do whatever you would do if you were normally going into the office.  It can help make you more productive and energetic.  
• Separate:  If you are working from home, create a new computer user name/profile that has different links/bookmarks from your personal profile.  This can help to maintain that wall between your work and personal life that you'll need to keep active if you want to be successful.

Any tips to add?  Let us know in the comments!

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