Sugandha works full time from home and gets calls from her boss based out of the US even at 11’o clock in the night, and she is asked to work on something urgently. Priyanka who also works from home is often asked when she is planning to get back to work by her neighbours, even though she has mentioned before that she is already working and quite happy with her current arrangement. 

Do the events above sound familiar? Are you also a professional working from home?

Paul J Meyer, the founder of the Personality Development Industry said - Communication - the human connection - is the key to personal and career success, and this Open Communication is a key to all your problems. How? 

Setting a structure

When working from home, set clear work timings, deliverables date and in case of issues [that need fixtures from your side after office hours] choose what would be the best mode of contact – email, phone, skype, etc

Separate Personal and Official Numbers

Technology has advanced to such a great level, then why not use it optimally? If possible, have two numbers for yourself; one for official purposes and the other as a personal number. It will be easier to mediate work calls.

Learn To Say No

If you are getting work calls at odd times, pick it up and very politely say – I will look into the issue once I log in tomorrow during office hours. If you set a tone once, it will probably last throughout your tenure.

When You Have Stay-in Guests 

Set the expectations right, clearly let them know your work timings and inform them that during the period you are working you can't be disturbed.

Handling visitors

If someone barges into your house during your "work hours" [knowingly/unknowingly] very politely tell him/her that you'd prefer to catch up in the evening after-work.

Working from home is now a growing concept. If people are earning sitting at home, some structure needs to be laid out to enable better productivity. Isn't it?

Strike a perfect balance between your work and family life and be responsible. At times when you take leave from work for personal issues, you might also need to work some extra hours to deliver / work on urgent issues. Be smart enough to know where to draw the line and when to cross it! This reminds me of another quote by American Writer Oliver Wendell Holmes –

Speak clearly, if you speak at all; carve every word before you let it fall.

The work from home option in India is still not seen in the right manner by professionals. But with a little bit of structure and commitment, the concept can grow and go a long way. 

By Samiksha Seth

Samiksha Seth is a Content Strategist with over eleven years of industry experience delivering IT solutions in BFSI, Evolving technologies, women at work and e-commerce domain. She writes extensively on evolving technologies in the IT sector such as e-commerce, m-commerce, big data, IT security. An avid blogger and Reiki practitioner.

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