For many people working from is a dream. Being in control of your own time and environment, avoiding the dreaded commute, and being able to combine paid work with childcare or other responsibilities combine to make it a very attractive prospect.

How can you live this dream? It’s not easy but this guide can help you find the path to the solution that works for you!

Personality

Before you start, you need to take a good look at yourself: if you’re going to make working from home work for you long term, you’ll need the right personal qualities.

Are you a self-motivated, self-directed worker? If you’re not able to work efficiently with no one leaning over your shoulder but yourself, you need to work on developing this skill. If you can’t set and fulfil goals for yourself, working from home is going to be fatal to your productivity.

Also, if you’re a true extrovert you could find working from home more challenging than you expected. While someone who prefers not to chat while they work will be in heaven, if you rely on social interaction to grease your mental wheels you’ll find yourself isolated and suffering with a prolonged period of home working.

Talk to Your Employer

Different companies have different attitudes to home working. Most prefer their employees in the premises they’re spending a great deal of money on, unless there’s a good reason to have them away.

If you have a good reason however, that impacts your productivity, like wanting to continue work in some capacity whilst providing childcare, this is worth discussing. The key is to identify the ways working from home will help you contribute more to your employer.

Of course, if you’re planning to go freelance, you have total control over where and how you work, at the cost of some security and benefits.

Professional Help

There are plenty of professional services that can provide extra help when you’re working away from your office. Co-working spaces are springing up for the growing number of freelancers and professionals who want to dip into an office environment, at least sometimes. Some London storage facilities offer work desks and conference rooms to broaden their appeal to professionals who are running businesses rather than storing furniture.

All of these extra services can boost your productivity and help when isolation strikes and you crave the background hum of a busy office.