4 key ingredients for working from home

Though you may be running a retail business, it’s not as if you’ll always be at your physical store. You’ll have workers who are taking care of the day to day duties for you, and while you may have an office onsite, it’s not as if you necessarily need to be there every day.

So it’s worthwhile thinking about setting up a home office, which will allow you to get down to some serious business without leaving the front door. Plus, as we’ve seen during the coronavirus crisis, there are many benefits to having a home office that works for you! So what are the key ingredients for successfully working from home? Let’s find out.

The right morning

People often say that they hate their commute, but there are advantages. For one, it wakes you up -- by the time you’re in the office, you’ve already thought of plenty of ideas, structured your day, and more. When you’re waking from home, you lose this -- and it does make a difference.

It’s really important to start the day right when you’re working from home. Rising early, going for a walk or a run, and taking a cold shower will all have you ready to hit the ground running when you finally settle down to work.

Creating a space

Though the kitchen table works just fine for the odd hour of work here and there, it’s not a long-term solution. And if you will ever have to host people for meetings at your home office, then it’s not a solution at all. As such, you’ll want to get to work on creating an office.

You may create one in an existing space in your home, but it’ll be better if it’s its own space. Find an architect to work on the project with you, and you won’t just have a great space in which to work; you’ll have an office that impresses your visitors too.

Ultimately, you’ll find that it’s much easier to get into the groove of work when you have a space that puts you into a professional frame of mind.

Infrastructure

You’ll want to invest in all the infrastructure that your regular office has for your home. That means a high-speed internet connection, laptop or PC, scanner, printer, and the hardware that’ll allow you to have high-quality video and phone calls with other people in your business. 

Discipline

There’s no getting around it: discipline can be difficult when you’re working from home. It’ll be a lot easier when you have an office in your house, but until then, you may find that procrastination reigns. Getting over this can involve a little bit of trial and error; it’s about figuring out what works for you.

On the other hand, you might find that you have the opposite problem: you’re unable to stop. It’s best to give yourself a cut off time so that you’re not working all hours of the day. You’ll only run the risk of burnout if you don’t relax.