Starting out working remotely can feel like jumping into the deep end of the swimming pool, but once you get into the swing of things, it can really work for a lot of people.
Instead of waking up to a long commute, for example, you only need to walk into the next room and flip the light on. There are lots of benefits to working remotely, but before you can reap them you have to adjust to the challenges that are inherent to working from home.
Getting Started Working From Home
People who have never worked from home often imagine that it’s all working from the sofa in your PJs, but the truth is that it’s anything but. The best work-from-home professionals are just that: professionals.
With that in mind, be sure to start your work from home experience on the right foot with these tips:
- Dress for work. Yes, you’re still at work and you should dress like it. It gets easy to get sloppy if you’re suddenly making no differentiation between work time and non-work time, wardrobe is a big mental signal. Plus, if your boss happened to want to have a conference call on short notice, you don’t have to pretend like you’re working on a sick day.
- Establish a permanent work space. For many work at home jobs, including titles like customer service representative, you’ll need a work space that’s quiet and secure. That means a door should be between you and the rest of the world as much as possible. But depending on who’s home during the day and what your space looks like, your office could be anything from a large closet to that creepy room in the basement that no one goes into.
- Plan ahead. Plan out your weeks and months as far out as you can. It helps to have a schedule for the day, and really quite soothing to check things off that extra long list. If you’re not that great at organizing, you can find a virtual assistant for a reasonable fee to help you get everything set up. You’ll still get to check the boxes, though, as things are accomplished.
- Develop a daily routine. Having a daily routine is another way to help you get into work mode. Your work routine might start with getting out of bed and having breakfast, then going for a run during what used to be your commute time, then coming home to shower and dress for work. If you do it enough, it’ll become a habit and help your brain get ready to have a good day.
- Go digital. Physical books are so 2005. These days anything you do in a book you can do on a digital platform. It saves trees, it helps you stay connected even if you have to leave your office and, frankly, it’s all a lot easier to organize anything on a tablet or laptop. Consider your options, but remember that the more stuff you have on a digital platform, the less that you’ll have on your desk or nearby shelves.
Getting started in remote work can be an exciting time in your career, but it can be pretty overwhelming, too. The trade-off for the freedom remote work allows is that you’ll need to get and stay more organized and find some ways to trick yourself into treating work like work.
If you are looking for more information on becoming a customer service representative or part of our great team, be sure to visit our Answering Service Job Opportunities page.
