So after months and years of silently praying, your dream has finally come true: you’ve become your own boss working from your own home. There’s no feeling like it. You can choose your hours, wear what you want, choose your workload, which clients you approach, your ethics and what playlist you ask Alexa to play. It’s the best. Working from home is just the best; an opportunity that comes with a thousand benefits. But there is one almighty downside that has the capability to bring everything else tumbling down and that’s the wiggle room you give your lack of self-discipline.
We can’t stress this enough: discipline really is the foundation of your success. Always. It doesn’t matter what you do or what business you have, you need to put in the hours to make it work and you need to be dedicated if you want to beat your competitors to your customers’ money. So, without further delay, here are our top tips and tricks for boosting your self-discipline as a work-from-home boss of any kind:
Get To Work On Time
We know you have no one breathing down your neck and telling you when to get into the office, but you need to become that person. You need to set an alarm, get up early and make your way to “the office” so that you feel a transition between work and home. It’s about giving yourself a routine to stick to, something that will make you more proactive. What this much-celebrated copywriter does is start at 8 am and then finishes at 4.30 pm and he’s had some huge success.
Dress For Success
We know you may want to roll out of bed and do a day’s work in yesterday’s t-shirt and a pair of boxer shorts, but you need to personify a work ethic. You need to dress the part to feel the part. It’s that little move that will have you feeling raring to go. Take a shower, wash your face, brush your teeth, shave and get dressed into something fun but functional. It will change everything.
Remodel Your Office
Whether you have a spare bedroom, an attic or just a corner in your living room, try and create a dedicated workspace for yourself, one that gets the sun, feels bright and airy and, most of all, a touch cheerful. Make it somewhere you want to work. Fill it with houseplants, get a super-comfy office chair, look at what the best modern desks are for your needs, have a comfy seat you can slip into when you need to think and fill the walls with art. This is the space where you’ll spend a lot of your time, so make it great.
Ban Distractions
Nothing is going to eat into your productivity more than distractions, so ban them all for the hours you work. Get off your social media, put your phone out of reach, block certain websites, turn off your social media notifications – the whole shebang. That doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy breaks, just make sure you always finish the task first. That goes for getting another cup of coffee, grabbing a snack, everything. Make it a reward for getting this or that done.
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