Questionnaire: Is Home Working for You?

While we can all take advantage of the lifestyle benefits that working from home brings, certain characteristics will really maximise productivity and enjoyment of home working. Take our questionnaire and find out what it takes to make a success of working from home.

How’s Your Motivation?

Being able to motivate yourself and turn your hand to a number of tasks is critical. Working from home, particularly as a sole trader or freelancer means you’ll be your own boss, but you’ll also need to be your own colleagues, HR function and finance department, too. These practicalities aside, if you work independently you will also be solely responsible for setting deadlines, juggling workload and most importantly, marketing yourself to keep work and money coming in. This can mean you’re under constant pressure to complete projects, build contacts and generate more work.

Do You Like to Work Alone?

If you answer no to this one you might as well forget the idea of working from home! Even if you work remotely as part of a team it can be hard to adjust to the solitude. Human beings are sociable creatures, some more so than others, so it’s worth thinking hard about how you would react to reduced social interaction. There is a proven link between loneliness and depression, and if you thrive in the company of others you may find home working in isolation doesn’t bring out the best in you.

Are You Organised?

Working from home requires excellent organisation skills. To be at your most productive you’ll need a designated work area where you can set up an orderly storage system for files and paperwork. In addition, home working as a sole trader or freelancer requires you to be on top of projects, clients and finances at all times. Chasing payment, tracking marketing and keeping a close eye on your budgets are just a few of the tasks requiring weekly, if not daily, attention.

How’s Your Self Confidence?

Working for yourself at home means you’ll probably find yourself trying to win new business and build up your client or customer list. To do this you’ll need bags of confidence, both to pick up the phone and pitch your talents, and to cope with the many subsequent knockbacks. Self confidence is a critical business tool, especially important for successful networking and making a good first impression on potential customers. Learn to appear confident even when you don’t feel it.

How Determined Are You to Succeed?

As a home worker, determination spells the difference between success and failure. If you’re trying to build up a business from nothing you’ll encounter many occasions when you feel like throwing in the towel, and it’s determination to succeed that will carry you through. It’s important to stay focused on your goal and remind yourself what motivated you to go it alone in the first place. Working remotely as part of a team also requires a determined streak to help showcase your ability from a distance and remind others of valuable contributions.

As we’ve seen, the demands of successful home working can be tough, but the rewards are great. The key to happiness and achievement is to make sure you’re prepared for the challenges you’ll face.