Tired of the Commute?
Do you want to work at Home?
Do you wish you could stay home and work? More and more nurses are finding rewarding careers behind their computer at home. If this is a dream, then put on your slippers, prop your feet up and read on! These simple rules will keep you on tract and out of trouble.
1.) Develop a daily plan or agenda – just like you did when you commuted to work.
2.) Create a special workplace. Get comfortable furniture. Plant flowers or put a bird feeder outside your window.
3.) Remember the area is only for work. If the space coexists in the family room, put up a divider or a distinct boundary. When you leave work shut the door to the room or if separated by a divider, don’t go near the workspace. Keep others out of your work site.
4.) Some individuals need in home care for children and/or elders if they require attention during the workday. Although flexibility is needed with a schedule you cannot stop every few minutes to attend to others.
5.) Move your work hours around so that you can have meals with the family or get your children off to school. Find work hours that are right for you.
6.) Creative individuals sometimes change the work site venue. Take your laptop to the park and write – if you can concentrate.
7.) Be sure not to isolate. Get to know your neighbors or the mailman. You still need stimulating adult conversation during the workday just as when you commuted to work.
8.) Make sure your co-workers know that you are working and not loafing. Be diplomatic but let them know you are producing as much as they are.
9.) Set boundaries. When your workday is over quit. Pass your home office without guilt. Go back to work tomorrow.
If you can set limits, stick to them, and have the disposition to work alone, then working at home may be your answer.
Copyright Alabama State Nurses’ Association Mar-May 2004
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved