Making the Transition from Working in an Office to Working at Home

It can be rather difficult to make the transition from working in an office to working at home, but it can also be very rewarding. To make the process of transitioning from working in an office to working at home a smooth one, there are several things that you can do.

One of the first things that you can do to make the transition smoother is to make sure you have a work space at home that is used, at least during the day, only for work. In an ideal situation, this space should, like space in an office, be ergonomic, efficient, and free of distractions. If at all possible, this home office should be sequestered from the rest of the house. It should also be off limits to your family while you are working, if possible. The furniture in your home office should be quiet and comfortable. You should be able to feel like you can leave your concerns at the door when you enter your home office.

Obviously, one of the main reasons that people want to make the transition from working in an office to working at home is so that they can be more accessible to their family. Because of this, it is very often not realistic or even desired that your home office will be so separated from the rest of the family and the rest of the house. Still, you need to establish whatever reasonable boundaries will work for your family. It doesn't hurt to have some sort of procedure, for example, that your family needs to follow before entering your home office. If you have children that are younger and may not be able to follow these guidelines, you may want to schedule your work time during times that the child is napping, or at times when your husband is home. You might even consider taking your young child to day care for just a few hours a week, assuming that you are making enough working at home to afford it.

Finally, it is important to keep up on socializing when you are making that transition from working in an office to working at home. When you were working in an office, you bumped elbows with coworkers often, if not constantly. Working at home has been known to lead to loneliness. You need to make sure that you schedule time during the day, either before or after work, when you can be social, whether this means time on the telephone or a regular lunch date or whatever.

Making the transition from working in an office to working at home can be very rewarding and successful, as long as you keep in mind that there are important differences between the two, and that you make appropriate plans to compensate for the differences.