Now that you are officially working from home….Congrats! Happy to have you in the WAHM (Work At Home Mom) ,or Dad for that matter, force. There are a few key things that I do to keep myself in “work mode”

• Set up an office space for yourself. It doesn’t have to be anything fancy or even in its own room, but you will get loads more work done if you have a small corner to call your own rather than the dining room table.
• Set up work hours. You don’t have to set rigid hours that are totally non flexible, that is why you are working from home. Just schedule some time in your office each day to work & let others know these are your “hours.” For example; my office hours are after my husband leaves for work & the kids are at school, from 11am-1pm. I try to make sure I wrap things up before the girls get home.
• Shower and get dressed. I know, I know – it is so nice that you don’t have to get all “dressed up” for work anymore, but you will be so much more productive if you are actually dressed and not in your PJ’s all day long.
• Lastly, use a separate phone for your business. You don’t have to go out and get a whole new phone line, I just recommend not using your home phone as your main business line. I use my cell phone since it has caller ID I can easily identify if a client is calling me or if it is a friend. When I keep my business calls just to my cell phone, I can turn my cell phone off and not let my business interrupt “Family Time”

With these small few things you will be more productive in no time!

Photo by Travis Isaacs

Heather Durdil is a wife, mother of two daughters and photographer in Northeastern Ohio. You can read her daily musing at her site Domestic Extraordinaire.