17 of the Best Working From Home Tips

It’s been more than two years now since I left the corporate world behind and switched to running my own business. This was a huge catalyst for me in changing my life and taking steps to create a work/life balance that feels comfortable. A major contributor to this was switching to working from home. It’s a game-changer.

If you find yourself working from home (either by choice or due to other circumstances) you might be wondering how to go about it.

Today I wanted to sit down and share with you my best working from home tips. These are all things that I’ve tried over the last few years to help me build a pattern that works for me. You might find some of these don’t work with your lifestyle or don’t suit the way you work, and that’s totally fine. Pick and choose the things that sit well with how you like to live your life.

My favourite tried-and-tested working from home tips

Ready to jump in? Here are my best tips for working from home. I’ve tried to organise them in a way that feels logical to me, but you might find that some speak to you more than others.

This is a long read, so perfect if you have some time set aside for personal development. If not, scan through and find a point that you want to read about now and save the rest for later using this pin.

1. Find or create a suitable workspace

Your environment can really have an impact on the way you feel and even how productive you are. You might prefer a space that’s in the heart of the family home, with a buzz all around you that reminds you of the office. For other people they seek out somewhere quieter and more focused.

Try to find or create a space within your home that can be your workspace. Look for a room (or corner of a room) that aligns with how you like to work. I prioritise this ‘feel’ over furnishings, because we can always move belongings around if we need to. For example, my main workspace is in our kitchen/diner. It might sound strange, but it’s the room in our home with the most natural light. I struggle work in dark spaces, so this is perfect for me.

You don’t have to have just one workspace, either. It might be that you have different places in your home to work depending on the time of day or day of the week. I know that I’d struggle to work from the kitchen when the kids are around, so if I needed to pick up an urgent piece of work while they’re here I’d take it into the ‘office’.

2. Set up your desk ready for work

Once you’ve found the right space to work from, you’ll want to spend some time getting your desk just right. This is one of those working from home tips that can have a big impact on how well you work, especially if you’re easily distracted.

Make sure your desk has everything you need to work easily. If most of your work is digital or online, this might only be a handful of things. For others, you might need a series of trays, files or other items close by. If there isn’t much space on your desk, consider whether you could add a filing cabinet or storage unit to keep paperwork or bulky items in. Having things within easy reach means less opportunity to get distracted than if you wander the house looking for them.

I personally prefer to keep my desk really clear from clutter and distractions. Once my desk starts getting filled with pieces of paper I’ve written notes on or the kids’ latest Lego creations I know it’s going to be harder to focus. My desk is very minimal and usually only features my monitor, keyboard, mouse, headphones, a simple in-tray, pen pot, phone and a drink. Oh, and a small fake plant!

It can be a constant struggle to keep your desk tidy, even if that’s how you prefer it. To help with this, create a new habit of tidying your desk at the end of each work day. It might feel tedious at first, but it’ll soon naturally become something you do without thinking. With a tidy desk each morning you can jump straight into your work day.

3. Create a morning routine

The way you start your day can transform the hours that follow it. Wake up feeling refreshed, with a morning routine ready to go, and you’re likely to start off on a better foot than rolling out of bed with no plan.

To help you have a great start to the day, create a personalised morning routine. This doesn’t have to be complicated or strict – a rough idea of how you want to spend your first hour or so is all you need.

For inspiration on how to build a morning routine, try the miracle morning method or read about the routines of other people. You don’t need to follow their routines exactly, but use it as a base for building your own.

It might be that you decide to start early at 6am and get a short fitness routine in first, followed by a shower and an energising breakfast. You might find something more laid back works for you, like a 7am start with a relaxed breakfast while you scroll through your Instagram feed for new inspiration. The trick is to create a morning routine that puts you in the right mood for the day – whether that’s energised, inspired, motivated, focused or relaxed.

Having a morning routine is actually something I struggle most with. I’ve fallen into bad habits of waking up whenever the kids do now that they’re not in school, instead of having a set wake up time and a routine. This is completely normal for the world we live in at the moment, so if this is you too then don’t worry. If you want to make a change, try and get back into the habit over the next few months.

4. Get dressed

Chances are you’ll get dressed at some point as part of your morning routine, but this is one of those working from home tips that deserves its own section.

While there’s some debate around how dressed up you should get, for most people stepping out of their PJs can be a positive way to start the work day. Even if you love your PJs, it can be a helpful signal that it’s time to switch to ‘work you’ for the next few hours.

It’s up to you how you dress when you work from home. You know your role and business best, so go with what feels comfortable for you. I personally live in loungewear most days or switch to a light dress when it’s warmer. I absolutely favour comfort over everything else when I’m working from home – that includes fabrics, fit and warmth. You might prefer to get changed into jeans and a t-shirt, or dress in something more formal. Try a few things and see if what you wear has an impact on your working day.

5. Make a schedule that works for you

How you start your day can be influential, but so can your plans for the rest of the day. Create a schedule for your work day that suits you, your workload and how you work best.

It’s easy to get lost in planning, so to start with create a rough plan and try it for a few days. After a week or so you’ll see whether it’s working for you or not, then make changes to improve it. Through this time you’ll also see when your most productive times are.

There are a few different ways that you could create a schedule for your work day. You could split into morning and afternoon sessions, then write a plan for each session. You could work on one project per day, or group tasks together. I’ve had some success with the calendar blocking method, which is where you plan out ‘blocks’ of your day for specific tasks. If you thrive on a schedule this could be a great option for you.

Try to schedule your tasks around working when you’re most productive. If you’re really focused in the mornings, use this time for research or writing. Feel a mid-afternoon dip? Don’t put too much pressure on yourself to be productive around that time and instead plan in a break or some personal development time.

If you have a lot of meetings scheduled in or you work with clients in real-time, it might be harder for you to create your own work day schedule. See if you can take back control over meetings and suggest they all happen in the morning, or see if something like a meetings-free Friday can be introduced. Meetings can quickly dominate your day, so if you’re feeling under pressure here see if you can talk about this someone and make some changes.

6. Write a to-do list

There’s something so satisfying about ticking something off that to-do list, which is why it’s become one of my best working from home tips. If you find yourself losing track of what you’ve achieved or getting distracted, a simple to-do list could really help.

Before your day starts, write a to-do list. Keep it short and sweet, with less than ten actions you’d like to achieve. I try to keep mine to 3-5 tasks, as I know I easily feel overwhelmed if my list is too long. If you’re the opposite and thrive on having lots to do, a longer list might be perfect for you.

If it helps you, break down your tasks into smaller activities. If you run an Etsy store, you might create separate tasks for taking photos and listing an item. Find a way of organising your tasks that works for you.

Try to keep all of your to-do lists in one place. This might be a paper planner that lives on your desk or a digital file that lives on your computer. Experiment with both and see which feels more rewarding and which you keep up with best.

When you’ve finished a task, cross it off. Take a moment to appreciate what you’ve achieved, then move onto the next one. Don’t be tempted to discard your completed to-do lists, though. Keep hold of the information in some way as a reminder of how much you’ve achieved and your successes.

7. Avoid the temptation to multitask

No matter how many jokes are made about our ability to multitask, for most of us it just doesn’t work. It’s hard to give your attention to more than one thing at once, so avoid the temptation to multitask.

Our best work often comes from moments of focus, but it’s so easy to break that focus with only a second of distraction. If you find yourself distracted by another task, try and curb it before it takes hold. Stick to one task and complete it before you move on to the next one.

You might have fallen into a habit of multitasking or trying to do too many things at once. It can be hard to let old habits go, but just recognising the signs can go a long way towards staying focused.

8. Schedule in time for rest

We can put a lot of pressure on ourselves to be productive and complete as much as possible every single day. While some pressure is positive, getting into the habit of doing too much can be damaging. To help restore some balance in your day, schedule in time for rest.

If you’re used to working in an office or another workplace, you might want to keep to the same breaks. Don’t feel too tempted to make massive changes if the way you used to work suits you. This could also be an opportunity to create longer or more frequent breaks in your day if that’s something you crave.

Start simple by giving yourself a lunch break, as well as a morning and afternoon break. It’s up to you how long or short these are, so experiment and see what works. Some days you might have a quick 30 minute lunch break, and on others you might take an hour or more and include a short walk.

Aside from taking breaks to eat or for other essentials, make sure you include some other downtime too. If you’re in full control of what your work day looks like, this might even include things like an hour to play video games or a mid-afternoon run. I’ve found that breaking up my work day with rest helps me stay productive when it matters and reduces boredom. You might find that this doesn’t work for you. It’s all about experimenting!

If you don’t try any of these other working from home tips, do make sure you get enough rest.

9. Eat lunch away from your workspace

While some offices with a ‘no eating at your desk’ policy take it too far, there’s probably some merit in using your lunch break to move to a different area of your home. It gives you a chance to get up, get some steps in and enjoy lunch with fewer distractions.

If you can, make a conscious effort to avoid eating lunch at your desk. This might be harder if your workspace is your kitchen table or if you need to be available over your lunch break, but try it sometimes even if you can’t always. Prepare lunch, then enjoy it in a space that doesn’t feel like work. After all, you want your breaks to feel like a true break and not an opportunity to work and eat at the same time.

When you’re working from home with others around you, your lunch break can also be a great time to catch up. While our work doesn’t always line up, we try to eat lunch together sometimes or talk about our day while we’re preparing food. This really helps you feel less isolated when working from home and it can reduce interruptions throughout the day.

Working from home can mean you end up snacking or making a quick decision about lunch on the fly. Introduce more variety and even prep your meals in advance with the help of meal planning.

10. Manage expectations with others in your household

Speaking of interruptions, this is a big one. If you’re working from home with housemates, your partner or family around you, chances are there are times you’ll be interrupted. Try and limit these as much as possible by managing expectations.

Set some ground rules that suit how you work best. This might mean hanging a sign on your door and keeping strict ‘do not disturb’ hours. You could also flip this and have ‘office hours’ where people can come and talk to you if they need or want to. However you do it, the main goal here is to communicate your needs so that you can avoid feeling interrupted or disturbed while you’re working.

I know that I personally really struggle with being interrupted. Most of my work is copywriting, and I find it easier to work if I can stay in the ‘flow’ of writing. Someone trying to talk to me can break that concentration and lead to me procrastinating. Knowing this means I can communicate this with the people around me.

It can be tough to say no to family or loved ones, especially if your children want to spend time with you. I find it helps to reframe this feeling as you’ll be able to spend more time with them once you’ve finished a task, or that you can give both your work and your family more dedicated attention at different times.

11. Set boundaries for yourself

At the same time as setting expectations with the people around you, you’ll also want to set boundaries for yourself. Having a positive attitude to boundaries and knowing your limits can help you stay productive, focused and create the kind of work day that feels comfortable.

Setting boundaries can look different for different people. You might decide to set a rule where you don’t check social media during your working hours. For other people they may choose to reduce distractions by looking the other way and limiting their ‘productive’ hours if they’re a workaholic.

The key to setting boundaries, along with all of these working from home tips, is to make it realistic and achievable. If you use social media to find inspiration for something you’re working on, cutting it out makes no sense. Be reasonable with your boundaries and they’ll be easier to stick to.

12. Find supportive communities

Working from home can feel lonely at times, especially if you’re a freelancer like me. If you don’t have daily Zoom calls (or even if you do) you can end up feeling isolated, bored or unmotivated. To help keep these feelings at bay, find and get involved with supportive online communities.

As a long-time blogger, I’ve always found Facebook groups for bloggers as a great way to stay in touch and feel like you’re part of something bigger. These groups also exist for business owners and freelancers, so explore Facebook groups to find something that works for you.

Communities exist everywhere online. You might find that your industry or business has a Slack channel that you could benefit from, like the one I’m part of for content marketers. It’s full of resources and conversations about how to do things, where to find help and useful working from home tips and tricks. Communities like this help you feel connected to others.

If you can’t find a community that you love, how about creating your own? There’s always room for new communities to pop up around niche subjects, industries, roles or needs. Start a group on Facebook or Slack and then use your own social media network, or post on Twitter, to grow your community.

13. Spend time outside

We all know how important it is to make sure we stay active, and getting outdoors is a great way to achieve this. Working from home means that getting those 10,000 daily steps in can be a challenge, so make room in your day for some time outside.

If you used to head to the gym before the office, try going for an early morning run. You could also move your YouTube yoga session into the garden or make time for a quick walk around the neighbourhood after your lunch. Find something that works for you and create a daily habit around it.

While getting some exercise is always a bonus, don’t feel bad if your time outside is more of a leisurely stroll or some time by the beach. The fresh air and removal of work-related distractions can be all you need to feel refreshed for the hours ahead.

14. Remember to take days off

Working from home means that you can end up working more than you should. If you’ve made the transition from employment to being your own boss, this might feel especially true. Whether you’re employed by someone else or a freelancer, make sure you still take days off.

There’s a lot of pressure put on people to stay (or appear) productive while they’re working. We’ve all heard those lines about how people just slack off if they’re working from home. It isn’t true, but sometimes we can try and prove this to our disadvantage.

Whether you usually work away from home or not, you need to take time off every now and again. This includes holiday, but it also covers things like sick leave. If you’re ill and working from home, don’t feel bad about taking the day off as you would normally in line with your company’s illness policy. Just because you’re at home it doesn’t mean you’re fit to work. Take the time off, rest up and get better, then resume your normal work when you’re able to.

As a freelancer, I know I very rarely take a true day off. The same might be for you. There’s always something to do, which means even the weekends can end up filled with hours of business tasks. This might work for you, but even so make sure you plan in some proper days off throughout the year.

15. Ask for help if you need it

Working from home can introduce new problems that maybe weren’t a challenge before. You might be getting used to new equipment or processes, or having a hard time adjusting to working from home life. If this is the case, don’t be afraid to ask for help if you need it.

If you work for a company, your employers still have a duty of care to you. Whether it’s a technical issue with some new business software or you want to speak to someone about your mental health, someone should be there to help you. If you can’t find this support from your company, ask in your online communities or seek out advice from a trusted body. There’s always a kind soul around ready to help you troubleshoot a problem. The same goes for freelancers and business owners. We might not have a manager or a process, but the online world is full of support.

On the flip side of this, be mindful that other people are likely to be having challenges too. They might be juggling working from home with childcare, or not know how to run a video call. Give them space and offer support if you’re able to. Being supportive and making small acts of kindness goes a long way to building trust, friendships and creating a better environment for us all.

While this is one of the best working from home tips, it’s also worth applying this to other areas of your life.

16. Separate work from rest

When you’re ready to finish work for the day, make sure it’s a clean break. Create a definitive line between your working hours and your rest hours so you’re not unintentionally doing both at the same time.

For some people, this might be shutting down the computer and closing your office door at 5pm. For others it could be stepping away from your desk and starting to prepare dinner. However your day looks, these transition times can be a powerful way to keep your work/life balance healthy.

It might be that your work and rest times aren’t as definitive, or you switch between both throughout the day. I know this has been the case for me if I’m balancing looking after the kids with an unexpected piece of work. At times like this, smaller cues can help you keep the time separate. This might look like making a coffee or stepping out into the garden for a few minutes.

17. Be kind to yourself

Lastly, but maybe most importantly, be kind to yourself. If you’re not used to working from home, the change is a big one and can bring up new challenges, emotions or stresses.

Give yourself the space and freedom to get things wrong, try new things and let go of any predetermined thoughts about what working from home should look like. Even if you’ve been working from home for a while, you can still feel guilt or other negative emotions about the situation. Be as kind to yourself as you would to others, even if that doesn’t come naturally to you.

Working from home can be incredibly rewarding, but it’s not something any of us get right over night. I’m still learning and adapting and figuring out what works for me, two years down the line. There will be times where it’s harder than usual or you don’t feel that you’ve been as productive as you like. Be kind to yourself, realise that a bad day is a drop in the ocean and look for ways you can enjoy working from home even more.

I hope it also goes without saying, but don’t put pressure on yourself to put every one of these working from home tips into practice straight away. Find a few that resonate with you and build your working day around your needs.

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Which working from home tips are your favourites? What would you like to know about working from home?

For some of us working from home is what we’re used to. For others it’s the new normal. I hope these working from home tips help you discover new ways to make your work day suit your lifestyle.

Is there anything you’d like to know about working from home? If so, leave a comment and I’ll help as much as I can!