There has been a sharp rise in the number of people working from home for both local and international clients. And why shouldn’t they? Working remotely has many benefits- the commute is non-existent, flexible hours, more family time and you can even work in your pajamas. I have several years of experience in freelancing, and I’m going to share 6 tips for a successful work from home venture with international clients. Let’s begin!
Be Disciplined
Successfully working from home largely depends on how serious you take it. Do you take it as seriously as you would if you went to the office every day? Anyone working from home should be ready every day at a scheduled time so that no time is wasted being at home. Ideally one should be ready and available for its client through email and phone from 9 to 5 pm.
In case you don’t have any specific work on a particular day, you should not waste your time instead of using it productively.
When I work from home, I wake up, put on a pot of coffee, and start working immediately — much earlier normal working hours. I only start making breakfast once I’ve hit a wall or need a break. I’m a morning person and find I can get a ton done in the early morning hours, so this works really well for me.
– Lindsay Kolowich
Pretend Like You Go To The Office
While working from home, it is important that you consider yourself working in an office. You should prepare yourself as you would if you went to the office. Such as setting the alarm for waking up early in the morning, getting dressed, and eating breakfast. This will help you efficiently utilize your time and energy and more productively.
Get fully ready for the day and pretend you’re actually going to work. Otherwise, you might find yourself back in bed.
Anna Faber-Hammond
Plan Your Day Like You Would In The Office
Another important thing to consider, while working from home, is managing your day properly and following a schedule the like of which you would follow if you were going to the office. You must plan your day and tasks that have to be done such as working on projects, emails, and telecom with clients, report preparation, etc.
Make A Devoted Workspace
While working from home, it is also very important to have a dedicated space for the purpose. Ideally, you should have a separate room as an office where there is no disturbance or interference from family members.
Working from any place in the home like a drawing room, living room or even bedroom will, in fact, affect not only your work but also the quality of output
Do Not Waste Time On Social Media
Using Social Media while working from home could be very dangerous for your quality and quantity of work. Therefore, it is important you ensure that you don’t waste time on social media platforms and stay focused on your work.
I remove all social networks from my toolbar bookmarks. Even if I don’t mean to browse them, some uncontrollable impulse subconsciously clicks on them when I experience downtime. You can get sucked in without knowing it (or even intending to), so eliminating the gateway to those networks keeps me on track.
Alec Biedrzycki
Get Your Payment On Time.
Receiving payment from international clients can be a stressful task because you have to pay exorbitant bank fees. But that’s may be remedied by using international money transfer companies like Ria Money Transfer. It’s great too if you happen to be working somewhere far from home like in the Philippines!
Conclusion
Working from home sounds like heaven, but it can be very stressful if proper measures are not taken because at your home there are far more distractions that set you off track and limit your productivity. The above-mentioned tips if out into action can help you be more focused and successfully work for international clients.
Sharon Kalipai is a is a contributing writer at Sparkwebs LLC, a Digital and Content Marketing Agency in Denver, CO. When she’s not writing, she loves to travel, dance and read books.