A good telecommuter requires several traits.
She should work well independently, but be an ace communicator.
She should be flexible and have a knack for prioritizing tasks and projects.
She should be able to recognize the distractions at home that differ from in the office — and be able to minimize them.
Most important, she must be self-motivated and self-disciplined.
There is no cubicle mate to chat with and help organize the thoughts in her mind.
There is no manager to see her slacking and give her a kick in the … er, gentle nudge in the right direction.
Heck, our ability to be productive with minimal supervision is one of the top reasons we are the chosen ones.
Without a healthy amount of discipline, we would underperform and thus endanger our ability to work from home.
It’s easy to flop on the couch for a dose of Netflix binging.
It’s easy to lose ourselves in folding the clothes or sweeping the dog hair up off the floor.
It’s easy to chat away some time on the phone with Bestie or Mom.
Maybe you just got distracted.
Maybe the next task on the to-do list seems daunting or maybe forgettable.
It needs to be equally as easy to get yourself back on track, though, and that’s where self-control kicks in.
A good idea might be to use those easy, distracting moments as rewards.
Give yourself a chance to watch a couple of shows or take care of a few dishes but only after you’ve plowed through that daunting task on the list.
Call a friend to go for lunch or coffee but only after you’ve let the boss know the job is getting done — and done well.
Tackle that next project and you’ll feel better for it. You know it’s off your list and you can relax, even though you know more to-do items are likely sitting in your email inbox or project-management assignments.
Working from home will only work if you make it work.
Our managers and companies have given us the trust and we can’t break it.
