Andrew has been working from home since 1997. I asked him how he achieves balance between his home and work life.When he set up his home office as a self-employed tax consultant he read a lot of books (LEARNING) on the home office and how should set it up.
This is what he learnt:

“I decided that I needed a number of none negotiable values to incorporate into my home office to make work successfully for me and my family:

1. SEPARATE HOME OFFICE

I needed to be able to be separate from my living space. I put up a partition in the hallway and it gave me three spaces… a reception area, an area for my computer server, stationery, printers, scanner etc and an office with lots of spare desks, room to talk to clients, work, study and concentrate. Art adorns the walls and above my main computer monitor I have the following words (MINDSET):

I will not be angry.

I will not worry.

I will be grateful and thankful.

I will do my work honestly.

I will be kind to every living thing.

2. DRESS FOR WORK

I decided I would get up, shave, shower and dress appropriately every day I was at work. My attitude is dress as I would if I had to go to work off site. The reason behind a certain dress code for office is that what you wear has an impact on how you feel. And thus one should dress up to feel charged up and stay focused.

3. SET UP MY WORKSPACE PROPERLY

I decided that I would work with at least two monitors of at least 26 inch each, I kick arse graphics card, good speakers, as much RAM as I could get with my desktop and the best connection available (currently 200/200 MPS)! In addition that the server would be updated 5 yearly! When there are no clients the music makes my day just a little brighter! AND webinars are a breeze!

4. SET OFFICE HOURS

Chores are done when I am out of office. I remember I am working from home, not for home!

5. STAY HEALTHY

I look after my health. I take regular breaks- micro pauses. I built my ergonomic setup myself as I suffered from RSI in the previous job! I also take lots of supplements for good health.

6. WORK ON MY MINDSET

I make sure that I meditate in the morning and at night, take a walk daily, do daily yoga and have a massage at least once every three weeks!”

Feedback is appreciated!

You can follow us on facebook or our website!

Kerri Bainbridge

Learning, Mindset, Collaboration

One Half of the Anywhere Business Network