 | | You've received this newsletter because you subscribed to it using our double opt-in sign-up process. To unsubscribe, just click the link at the bottom of this email. Alternatively, if you're not already a subscriber, you can sign up here. | | | Mind Tools Newsletter 162 - September 14, 2010
Get That Promotion!
Time to get ahead and take on more challenges? For most of us that means one thing - promotion! But, do you just wait for an opportunity to come along, and hope for the best? Or do you consciously build the skills and contacts you need for success, well in advance?
The power is in the planning, which is why we're proud to announce the new Mind Tools "Get That Promotion!" workbook!
"Get That Promotion!" helps you develop a step-by-step plan for preparing for a promotion. From identifying the best promotion opportunities, to building skills, developing contacts and polishing your workplace reputation, it puts you on the track to promotion success.
Worth $19.99, "Get That Promotion!" is yours free when you join the Career Excellence Club before midnight PST, Wednesday, September 22. With a first month fee of just $1, the right to cancel at any time, and the incredibly rich career development resources within the Club, this is an unmissable opportunity. Click here to find out more!
Working from Home, and Beating Fear of Failure
Also in this newsletter, we think about how to be most productive when Working From Home. And we look at strategies for Overcoming Fear of Failure, so that you can enjoy lasting success at work, and in life.
Enjoy the newsletter!
James Manktelow and Rachel Thompson
MindTools.com - Essential skills for an excellent career!
Featured Resources at Mind Tools
| | |  | This new workbook brings together everything you need to prepare yourself for your next promotion.
From highlighting promotion opportunities that match your interests, strengths, and career aspirations, to building new skills and identifying the people who can help you along the way, it's full of tools, ideas, and strategies to help you get that all-important promotion. | |  | Working from home may be convenient, but it can also be distracting. Learn strategies for staying productive and focused at home.
All Readers' Skill-Builder | |  | Fear of failure can affect life at work, and at home. Learn how to overcome your fears, so that you can keep moving towards your goals.
All Readers' Skill-Builder | | | | ... And from the Career Excellence Club
|  | Vineet Nayar, CEO of HCL Technologies, tells us how he transformed his company by putting employees first and customers second.
Premium Members' Skill-Builder | |  | This short training session shows you how to set manageable goals and achieve your ambitions - quickly and effectively.
All Members' Bite-Sized Training™ | |  | | You don't have to move company to change your career. Find out how to do this without leaving your current organization. All Members' Skill-Builder | |  | | Do you know what you want to accomplish in work and in life? Personal mission and vision statements can help you achieve your goals in a very focused way. All Members' Skill-Builder | |  | | With strong self-awareness, we can improve our relationships, and become more successful. Find out how you can coach your people to become more self-aware. All Members' Coaching Clinic | |  | This book is full of ideas and exercises to help you make your work more engaging, and more enjoyable. Learn more about it here.
Premium Members' Book Insight | |  | Simply showing up at a training session won't ensure a successful outcome. Learn how to get more from your training experiences.
All Members' Featured Favorite | | Editors' Choice Article
Working From Home
Staying Focused Amid Distractions
Mark's organization has allowed him to work at home three days a week, and it's his first full day of "telecommuting." He sets his computer up on his dining room table, and is ready to get to work.
Three hours later, however, he's shocked to realize that he's completed very little. What's he been doing? Well, he had to make coffee. Then he did a load of laundry, took a phone call from a friend, and sorted through the mail when it arrived. One thing led to another, and now he's really behind! | | 
Make sure you're productive if you work from home.
© iStockphoto/DNY59 |
Working from home can be incredibly productive, but it's also full of distractions. If you work from home, it's up to you to make sure you're doing a full day of focused, productive work.
In this article, we'll discuss the benefits and challenges of working from home, and we'll provide some tips to help you be at your most productive during the day.
Benefits and Challenges
There are many benefits to working at home. For instance:
- You can be more productive when you're not distracted by casual phone calls, impromptu meetings at your desk, or interruptions from other team members.
- You can be more relaxed and have better morale because your schedule is flexible and fits your needs. This can lead to less stress.
- You can save money, including the costs of commuting, lunches out, and work clothes.
- You'll have more time, as you won't need to commute to work.
Of course, for all the benefits of working at home, there are also a number of challenges:
- Working at home can be incredibly distracting if you're not self-disciplined, especially if family members are around during the day.
- Without interaction with team members, you can feel isolated.
- You may find it more difficult to be productive when you're unsupervised. (This also includes "supervision" by the people you manage!)
- Working from home can make it hard to separate work hours from off hours, causing you to work more.
- People at the office can forget that you exist, meaning that you're not selected for interesting or high profile projects.
Working at home is definitely not for everyone. Some people love the freedom and have the required self-discipline, while others need supervision to be effective, or yearn for the energy and camaraderie of a busy office environment.
Tip:
Our article The Big Five Personality Traits Model (members only) can help you think about whether home working is likely to suit you. Your conscientiousness and extroversion scores are particularly relevant! |
Workspace
Having a productive and comfortable workspace is particularly important when working from home:
- Have a dedicated workspace - If you want to do your best work at home, then you need a dedicated workspace - preferably not your kitchen table! Ideally, this space should be a separate room with a door that you can close to shut off distractions. The more you make it feel like a "real office," the more productive you'll be. A room with a door also helps you stop working at the end of the day. When you close the door, it means you're off work.
- Get an ergonomic office chair - If your chair is uncomfortable, you'll probably find plenty of reasons to get up and go somewhere else. A high-quality office chair is one of the best investments you'll make for your home office. Your organization may even be able to contribute towards the cost.
- Make sure your "office" is a place where you enjoy spending time – Put some effort into making your working area appealing to you. If this means painting the room or buying plants and artwork, then do it.
Organization
It's important to keep your home office organized:
- Make sure your desk is big enough - This will vary, depending on the type of work you do. Keep essential tools in an area that you can reach from your desk; this reduces frustration, and avoids the need to get up repeatedly when you need something.
- Tidy your desk daily - Spend a few minutes at the end of each day clearing off your desk and filing papers. This is especially important if you don't have a dedicated work area.
- Organize your information - If you work on several different projects at once, it's easy to feel overwhelmed and disorganized because you're handling so much information. Our article on Action Programs shows you how to stay organized when you're involved with several different projects.
Time Management
Good time management skills are essential for productive working at home:
- Create structure for your day - Get up, take breaks, and quit working at the same time as you would if you were at the office. This helps create a rhythm for your day and a sense of normalcy.
- Prioritize daily tasks with a to-do list - Knowing that certain items must get done by the end of the day will help you avoid distractions.
- Make a to-do list of "in between" items - These are tasks that won't take more than 10 minutes to complete. For instance, if you have a conference call 15 minutes from now, you can choose one of these shorter tasks that you can complete quickly.
- Keep a timesheet - It's easy to lose track of how much time you've spent on a certain project or client. Avoid this by keeping detailed timesheets. By tracking your time, your organization will be able to see how you've spent it. You can also identify when you are most productive. To learn more about how to track your time effectively, see our article Accounting for Time (members only).
Communication
As you're not visible in the office, communication is especially important when working from home:
- Communicate effectively with your managers and co-workers - They need to know that you are, indeed, working productively and available, even when you're not at the office! If possible, redirect your office phone extension to your home phone. Alternatively, let people know how they can reach you when you're working at home. This is also important for customers and suppliers if they need to get hold of you.
- Use tools like Skype or instant messaging - These allow people to check in with you during the day if they have questions or need an update. You can always set your status to "busy" or "unavailable" if you want to focus on a particular piece of work.
- Go into the office on a regular basis - Where possible, do make the effort to go into the office one or more days each week. Not only will this help you remind others that you exist, it helps with the social relationships that are such an important part of working in a team.
Losing Focus
Although you may, at first, enjoy the peace and quiet of working at home, over time it may become very isolating and you may feel lonely. You may start to miss the relationships and interactions with your co-workers, especially if you work at home full time. This, in turn, can hurt your productivity, and cause you to lose focus.
There are several ways to overcome this:
- Find out what truly motivates you - Do you love working from home? If so, remember that your company might take away this privilege if you don't perform well. For many people, this is enough of a motivator to keep them focused during the day.
- Know your goals, and work on a project basis - Make sure that you have clear work and career goals that you're working towards. Also, try to structure your work so that you have clearly-defined projects that you need to deliver, and specific deadlines that you need to meet.
- Identify distraction - Are you doing household chores during the day? Is the TV on? Are friends and family constantly interrupting you? Figure out what's causing you to lose focus, and develop strategies to overcome these things. Often this is as simple as shutting your office door.
- Get involved with your team - If everyone is going out together after work, time your days in the office so that you can go with them! It's important to continue to bond with your co-workers so that you don't feel cut off from the organization.
Further Tips for Working from Home
- Train your children to let you work - Working from home with young children in the house can be especially challenging, and it's almost impossible to do work of any quality while you're looking after them. Make sure that you have appropriate childcare in place, and teach your children that when you're in your office, you're "away." Put a sign on the door to help them remember. If you have young children, use colors instead of words to let them know to "stop" or "go." (Don't be too rigid here: one of the real joys of working from home is being around to welcome your children home from school. Make sure that you take a little time to enjoy simple pleasures like these!)
- Beware the Internet! - If you find yourself drawn, for example, to Internet news sites, use some of the time you save commuting to read these in-depth before the start of the working day. They'll have little attraction for you if you've already read the most interesting content. And if you're still struggling, you can use tools like Freedom and Anti-Social to block Internet or social media access for a pre-determined length of time.
- Set alarms - If you tend to waste too much time on the Internet or with other distractions, then set an alarm clock or kitchen timer for one hour at a time. Do one hour of focused work - and when the alarm goes off, reward yourself with something you enjoy. Then set the timer for another hour of work.
- Dress in work clothes - You'll probably feel more productive if you dress just as if you were going into the office.
Key Points
Home working is becoming more and more common. When you're trusted enough to work from home, you must give your organization your best effort.
Make sure you have a dedicated, comfortable workspace that you like. Schedule your day just like you would at the office. If you often lose focus, identify what's distracting you and try to eliminate it from your day. And, if possible, get involved socially with your team. Working from home can be isolating, so you need to make an extra effort to build your work relationships.
| A Final Note from James
Whether you're working from home or in the office, your professionalism, proactivity and productivity will always stand you in good stead. This is why, when you think about promotions, it's so important to put in the right groundwork before you apply for them. Not only will you give yourself the best chances of success, but you'll almost certainly end up with a more interesting and enjoyable role.
So I really do hope that you'll join us at the Career Excellence Club, and take advantage of our bonus Get That Promotion! workbook. But make sure that you do this right now - this offer is only open for the next 8 days!
We'll be back in two weeks with a look at sales skills for non-salespeople. Plus, we examine how you can use the Flow Model to be less stressed and more productive.
Until then, all the best!
 | James Manktelow
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Essential Skills for an Excellent Career! |
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