I love working from home. Having my own space, skipping the commute, and being able to make my office comfortable are things I appreciate.
Looking back, though, I wish I had given the workday itself as much thought as the location. Where would I focus? How would I handle interruptions? What would help me stop thinking about work when the day was over?
After years of working remotely, these are some of the lessons that eventually became my book, Work Smarter From Home. They are also the things I would tell myself if I could go back to the beginning.
A dedicated workspace would matter more than I expected
I have a home office, and I am grateful for it. Having a place set aside for work helps me get into the right frame of mind. My equipment is there, my supplies are there, and I can settle in without having to create a workspace every morning.
I know everyone cannot dedicate an entire room to an office. A desk in a quieter corner or a small work zone can still give work a place to happen.
What I wish I had understood sooner is how much that separation matters. When work can happen anywhere in the house, it can feel as though it follows you everywhere, too. Having a defined space makes it easier to recognize when I am working and when I am home.
Comfort is personal
If you spend enough time looking at home-office setups online, you will see standing desks, walking pads, rolling desks, and chairs that look as if they belong on a spaceship.
Some of those setups might be perfect for someone else. I have learned to pay attention to what actually makes me comfortable.
For me, that includes a chair with a built-in footrest and a massage pillow with heat for my back. I like lighting I can adjust because some days I want the room bright, and other days I want it a little softer. I have desktop fans when I need air directly on me and an electric fireplace-style heater for colder days.
I also have pictures and paintings around my office that make me smile. I enjoy spending time in a room that feels like mine.
I wish I had given myself permission earlier to build a workspace around my own preferences. I am the one spending the day in it.
Being available all day can take over the day
Email and chat make it easy to stay connected. They also make it easy to spend the day answering things as they arrive.
In IT and data analytics, some work requires time to think through a problem. It is difficult to follow that thought all the way through when each new notification gets your attention.
I wish I had understood sooner how much attention those quick responses can cost. A message may take only a minute to answer, but getting back into the work can take longer.
Some requests need a quick response. Others can wait until a reasonable stopping point. Knowing the difference, and communicating when I am available, gives me more room to finish the work people are waiting for.
An early start still needs an ending
I am an early riser, so getting started in the morning comes naturally to me. Deciding when to be finished takes more intention.
When the office is right there, there is always the option to check one more thing. A quick look at an email can lead to another task, and suddenly part of the evening has become part of the workday.
I wish I had thought about the end of the day as carefully as the beginning.
Writing down where to pick up tomorrow helps give unfinished work somewhere to wait. So does deciding what truly needs attention today. I want to be able to enjoy being home without mentally keeping one foot in the office.
A full calendar can leave very little room for the work
Working from home does not automatically mean having a quiet day. Meetings can fill the calendar just as easily at home as they can in an office.
A day of back-to-back calls may leave very little time to act on what was discussed. The report still needs to be built. The problem still needs to be solved. The follow-up still needs to happen.
I wish I had appreciated sooner that time to concentrate deserves a place on the calendar, too.
I also think lunch deserves a little protection. Being steps away from the kitchen means very little if the calendar leaves no room to eat. A workable day needs enough space for both the meetings and everything around them.
A break is easy to postpone when everything is within reach
At home, it is possible to spend hours moving between a screen, a phone, and another screen without really stepping away.
There is always something else to read or finish. Even a break can turn into checking messages while eating.
I wish I had treated stepping away as a regular part of the day earlier. Getting up, moving around, and having a few minutes away from the desk gives me a chance to reset.
Having a comfortable office is wonderful. I still want to leave it occasionally.
My routine needs to fit my real life
My life includes my professional work, writing books, creating content for KBI Digital, and the everyday things that come with a home and family. A routine has to account for all of that.
I have learned that an appealing schedule on paper needs room for an actual day. Some days have more meetings. Some projects need more concentration. Sometimes plans change.
I wish I had worried less about finding the perfect routine and focused more on finding one I could return to.
For me, that means knowing what matters most today, making room for it, and adjusting when needed. I can learn from someone else’s approach while still choosing what works in my own home.
These lessons became Work Smarter From Home
When I wrote Work Smarter From Home, I wanted to put these lessons into something useful for other people building their own remote workday.
The book brings together practical strategies for creating a workspace, getting comfortable, managing distractions, and making the day feel more manageable. It also includes hands-on exercises to help readers apply the ideas to their own situations.
Looking back, I would tell myself to pay attention to the small things sooner. The chair. The interruptions. The lunch break. The decision to leave something for tomorrow. Those choices shape how the day feels.
If you are starting to work from home, or you have been doing it for years and want to make some changes, I hope my experience gives you a few ideas to try.
Explore Work Smarter From Home:
https://link.amazon/B06nP90eh
What is one thing you wish you had known before you started working from home? I would love to hear it in the comments.
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