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November 6, 2017 0 Comments

3 Ways to Adjust to Work From Home Life

Working from home has many wonderful benefits.  From productivity to more time with friends and family, it’s a great way to work with more flexibility.

If you’re new to working from home, you’ll notice it’s a big change from a traditional work environment and schedule.  Read along for our best tips and advice for a seamless transition.

Start slowly

If you have the opportunity, start slowly into your work from home career.  HireMyMom.com offers freelance and part-time jobs as well as full-time, so start small if you feel like it will be a big transition for you and your family.  Many of these positions also often advertise as part-time with the option to go full-time if things work out; this can be a great compromise!

Whether you’ve quit an office job or chose to stay home with your kids, there’s an in-between option for working from home.  You can still create income and contribute with a freelance, project-based, or part-time position.  This way, you get the best of both worlds while doing other things, or while you prepare to go full-time.

Have a plan

As with everything in life, having a plan and schedule is ideal. Since it’s been proven time and again that home based work results in more productivity, you’ll need to get a sense of what you can accomplish during a day.

Whether you’re staying at the same job but moving to a home office, or starting fresh in your home based career, it’s important to map out your days with a plan.  It’s still easy to get distracted at home, so it’s best to work from a to do list and work schedule.

Get everyone on board

Work from home is just that – work! Many people assume that since you’re home, you’re available 24/7.  This could be true, but not if you want to get any work done.

It’s important to set boundaries and expectations with friends and family as much as you need.  Whether that’s setting up specific times for meeting friends, or having your spouse pick up your kids at an inopportune time for you, it’s still important that your schedule is considered.

When your spouse, friends, or family members go to their traditional office job, they are essentially unable to leave for many obligations.  This is great for you to be able to step in, but it’s not always assumed that you will be available either. To take some tasks off of your plate, it can still be helpful to have a few babysitters on call to help you out when your work is also demanding.

Beginning your work from home journey is so exciting, but also comes with transitional changes.  Take your time, make a solid plan, and set expectations with others and you’ll do just fine!

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October 30, 2017 0 Comments

HireMyMom Employer Success Story: Zachary Sexton

Tell us a little about your business and how you got started.

I teach digital productivity to business owners. I got started by fixing my own productivity issues. That lead me to working with small business owners who had the similar struggles with focus and organization.

What advice do you have for entrepreneurs and home business owners?

Carve out time every week to think, plan, organize and review your work. Put it on your calendar. Taking 1 to 2 hours a week to do this may seem like a waste of time, but the:
  • planning- will save you from going down unproductive rabbit holes and get you off the hamster wheel of reacting to one emergency after the next
  • organizing – will allow you to work faster during the week and prevent redoing work you’ve already done
  • reviewing- will give you the opportunity to see what type of work that gave you the best results with the least effort. This information will give you a better idea of the types of projects and clients to engage with. It will also let you know what work should be automated or delegated (to a productive mom of course ;-).

When should one consider outsourcing or hiring additional help?

As soon as possible. The more time you can spend working in your zone of genius, the more value you will produce and the better you will feel. The only way to spend time doing the things you are great at is to have people help you with the areas outside of your sweet spot.

What is your top tip for hiring great talent?

Be annoyingly specific about how you want people to reach out to you about the position. If they can’t follow specific written instructions when applying, that’s not likely to change after hiring.

What’s your favorite thing about HireMyMom.com?

The talent! I was blown away by the quality of the candidates I received from my job posting.
.

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October 2, 2017 0 Comments

How to Establish a Work From Home Routine

When you decide to work from home, either from a traditional job or stay at home mom role, there are bound to be some adjustments.

Getting into a new schedule requires a few steps, but it’s worth it to establish a routine that works for you and your family. Read along for tips on establishing a work from home routine that invites productivity and flexibility.

Figure out the differences

It’s important to ask yourself this question: What will need to change since you’re no longer going to the office, or being a stay at home mom?  You might still be parenting from home, but if you’re also working, things will still be a bit different.

If you’re now working from home, things are bound to change in the family schedule.  Maybe you can no longer participate in carpool duties daily, or maybe you’re wanting to free your schedule from 3-4pm to pick up your kids from school.  Additionally, things like meal prep, meetings with friends, and workouts need to be considered. If this fit into your day a certain way before, it might be best to just try to keep it. You might have far more flexibility, but it still requires that you figure out where it all fits into your new workday.

Answer the questions

There are more questions to answer to establish your routine! What will remain consistent? Maybe you’ll still do dinner at the same time and take your kids to soccer in the evening, but you’ll ask your children’s friends to handle carpool.

Also look at and examine: What will be changing based on family schedules, freelance projects starting and ending, time with friends, and so on.  Once you know what will change and what will stay the same, you can begin to create a daily schedule.

Focus on the goal

Whatever your reason for a work from home job, focus on this goal as you begin your new routine.  Are you looking for more flexibility in your life?  Do you dislike commuting very much?  Do you simply want more time with your family?  Or did you just fall into a job that happened to be home based?

Either way, you should work on establishing a goal for your work from home job.  It’s easier to begin – and keep to – a routine that sticks if you’re focused on a goal.  When things are a bit tough schedule-wise in the beginning as you readjust, remember that you get more time to attend your children’s events, or meet a friend for coffee, if those are your goals.

Keep track

Log your progress! Keep track of how you’re sticking to your new routine and schedule.  When you’re able to do something on your list of goals, or you maintain your weekly schedule, take note.

This also allows you to see where you may have over or under booked yourself. Make space for changes! This is an adjustment period, and it will take some time to get into the flow of a home based career.

It’s a big change, whether you worked before or not. Many people believe that working from home is simply easy, and that’s not always the case!  You may actually be juggling more demands now, however sweet it may be to have more flexibility.

Remember why you got into this type of work, praise yourself for staying on track, and make adjustments as you and your family needs to, and you will establish a productive routine in no time!

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September 25, 2017 0 Comments

4 Tips for Keeping Your Computer Organized

When you work from home, your computer is an integral part of your day.  It’s very important to keep it organized and running smoothly.

We all know it’s important to organize our physical files, homes, and schedules, but even with all of that, our computers can look like a disaster!

Get a program

Software programs can really help to keep your computer running smoothly.  An organized computer doesn’t just look good, it functions well.  It’s important to clean out the clutter or “junk” on your comptuer on a consistent basis.

Whether you have a Mac or PC computer, there are several options available.  One is CleanMyPC and another is CleanMyMac.  Both are reasonably priced, and you can run diagnostic and maintenance tests and clean up cycles on your computer.

This will eliminate old, large files, system clutter, and much more.  It’s a sophisticated way to delete several files that are causing your machine to run slowly or inefficiently.

Another method of organization comes in the form of storage.  Sites such as Dropbox allow you to clear a lot of clutter from your desktop and computer and put it elsewhere.  This will free up a ton of space! Just be sure that you’re taking time to organize those files as well, so it doesn’t become a big mess of files.

You can store text documents, spreadsheets, forms, and other types of word processing documents in Google Drive/Google Docs.  It’s a great place to keep things that you want to keep Internet-based.  It’s also easy to share with your team directly.  This is helpful for organization, as it prevents you from having to store individual word documents on your computer.

Make a plan

An organization plan is helpful for everyday life! It should be no different for your computer.  It’s not enough to simply clean off your desktop once or twice; it should become part of your process.

Where do your struggle the most with your computer organization?  It is hundreds of files on your desktop?  A slow-running machine that’s full of unknown junk that’s bogging it down?  Do you have tons of mailboxes with no idea what’s in them?

Have a long session of organization to take stock in where you need to focus your efforts.  Make a plan of action that will get your started in the right direction!

Organize daily

Organization is a habit and you must do it daily.  Take a few minutes at the end of each day to clear your desktop, send files to Dropbox, and put your notes from the day in Google Drive.

Once you’re in the habit of organizing consistently, you’ll see how it frees up your computer and your mind from thinking about it.

Use folders

Folders are a beautiful thing! Whether for your desktop, in your computer or both, it’s important to organize.  In work from home positions, we can typically be working with several clients and/or employers at once.

You can start with big categories, such as one employer, then narrow it down by project or event.  You can keep the most important, often accessed folders on your desktop for easy opening.

Do your best to not have things sitting wildly on your desktop.  It can be visually stressful and overwhelming to see this often, and it makes finding important things very difficult.

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September 18, 2017 0 Comments

4 Top Tips to Be a Successful Work From Home Employee

We’ve talked a lot about being a successful leader and manager, but how do you go about being a successful work from home employee?

Whether you’ve recently come from a traditional office job or you’ve been a home based worker for years, it’s always a good time to reevaluate what you’re bringing to the job.

Track your time

To be a successful worker, it can be helpful to track your time.  Whether this is done at your boss’s request or to see where you’re putting your time, it can help you prioritize.

One of the best ways to be a solid employee is to know how to prioritize and not let things slip through the cracks.  Tracking your time is also incredibly helpful if you’re paid by the hour, as your employer will appreciate the details.

Communicate, communicate, communicate!

The best employees are those who communicate! If you go off the grid, especially in a work from home position, it can spell trouble.

If your employer doesn’t know what you’re doing, they may start to lose trust and begin questioning your employment.  Do your best to communicate with your employer on a consistent basis, and even do check-in calls as needed.

If you do client work for your employer, be sure that any communications are clearly noted there as well.  Since you aren’t in a traditional office environment, staying in contact via email, phone, and text becomes even more crucial!

Make a schedule

Along with tracking your time, a schedule can help you stay on task.  It can be best to make an outline of your work week schedule for the upcoming week.  Start with the items that you do on a daily basis, then add in other items based on due dates.

From here, you can add the “special” projects and unique items as they come in.  Working with a schedule or to do list also helps things to not get missed, as they simply go to the next day’s schedule if they aren’t completed.

Build relationships

Staying connected and being a successful work from home employee begins with communication.  Once that trust has been built and nurtured, you can begin to build relationships with your employers and co-workers.

Since everyone likes to work with those they know, like and trust, establishing strong, trusting relationships with your team is very important.  This will ensure that your value is communicated beyond the professional sphere.

Being a good employee involves personal accountability and responsibility, solid scheduling, and lots of communication! If you take time to do these things on a consistent basis, you will certainly find success as a home based employee.

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August 28, 2017 0 Comments

4 Top Qualities of the Best Managers

Being a good manager is more than simply showing up and giving orders.  In today’s world, it’s important to develop an array of qualities that bring out the best in your employees.

According to a study by Dale Carnegie Training, “29% of the workforce is engaged, 45% are not engaged, and 26% are actively disengaged.”  These are alarming numbers, and much of employee engagement deals directly to the employee’s immediate supervisor and manager.

Read along for some of the top attributes in being a successful manager with engaged employees.

Empathy

Empathy is fast becoming the number one trait of managers! When we express empathy, we’re relating to the feelings of others.  As a manager, being empathetic will allow you to interact on a more personal, effective level.

When your employees sense that you care about them, their current situation, their workload, and so on, they’re much more likely to come to you before things get bad.  This allows you to increase employee retention and put out those fires before they get too big.

Present

It’s a tough thing to be present in today’s technological world! As a manager, your presence is not only appreciated – it’s necessary.  When you’re present and communicative with your employees, they feel that the matter, and they’re more likely to stay in contact on a consistent basis.  When you have work from home employees, this is especially a bonus!

According to OfficeVibe.com, 69% of managers are uncomfortable communicating with employees.  When we’re uncomfortable, we tend to stop communicating and leave things in a confusing state.  Once you’re disengaged and uncommunicative, employees begin to question motives and lose morale.

Trustworthy

As a manager, your actions are always on display.  You become the example for your employees, so “Do as I say, not as I do” will not work! This does not inspire confidence in your employees.  Your actions and words must match, which is the hallmark of a trustworthy person.

When your employees trust you, it gives them the confidence that you’re capable of leading them.  Like it or not, employees want some reassurance in their work and the direction of the business.

Another way to establish trust is by being direct.  It’s important to be empathetic, as we’ve stated before, but to keep employees trusting that you’re looking out for their best interest, keep things simple.  From your requests to your meetings, keep to the point as much as possible.

Driven

It’s hard to expect your employees to work hard and feel fulfilled in their job if you don’t.  We all ebb and flow in our job satisfaction, but as a manager, you need to work to ensure that you stay positive – or make a change.

Stay driven in your business purpose and work to drive everyone else and keep morale high. If you’re miserable, how will your employees act?  Your drive will show in your daily work and communications, so do all that you can to remember why you started this business, and why you enjoy doing what you do.

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August 15, 2017 0 Comments

5 Ways to Get Your Work-at-Home Application Noticed

There’s nothing more disheartening than sending out job application after job application and not getting a reply to a single one. This is especially true when you’re trying to find a work-at-home job, feeling isolated but trying to stay on task job-hunting instead of binging the latest Netflix show. The struggle is real – but I’ve got a few tips to help your applications get noticed!

Read and follow the instructions in the job listing.

Remember how every teacher you’ve ever had told you again and again: read the instructions? Follow the instructions! Don’t ignore the instructions! Well, that’s the first rule in getting your application noticed too. Read the instructions, and follow them to the letter.

Some companies even throw a trick into the instructions – seriously. For example, the instructions may direct you to put a certain word into the subject line of your email. This proves that you read completely through the job listing and application instructions. Congratulations! You make it through the first round, and you’d be surprised to hear how many don’t. Other companies might instruct you not to include any attachments with your initial email, specifying that any emails with attachments will be deleted unread. (A worthy precaution on today’s Internet.) If you skip over that request and include your résumé as an attachment? You won’t even be considered, no matter how qualified you are for the job.

Following directions is the easiest “in” you’ll ever get with a company, so don’t skip over this simple step.

Personalize each email introduction or cover letter.

My next tip is equally as straightforward: personalize every cover letter or email introduction that you send. Start with who to address your letter to – researching the company in question should turn up who’s head of HR or hiring. If you can’t find out the person’s name, address your email to the Human Resources department or to the Hiring Manager.

Follow that personalization up with a letter that shows you’ve looked into the company and understand who they are and what they do. Focus on how your skills and experience can help you deliver on the company’s promise to their clients. Try to give specific examples of what you’ve accomplished previously that back up your claims of how you can be an asset to them.

Whatever you do, don’t write one letter and send it everywhere you’re applying. Hiring managers see enough form letters that they’ll most likely pick up on it and delete your application before reading any further. It is okay to write the overall structure of a letter once and use it as a template – I know there’s nothing scarier than a blank page, especially when you need to sell yourself. Just make sure you’re tweaking and customizing it for each application.

Tailor your résumé for each position.

Just as you must personalize each cover letter for each job application, you should also tailor your résumé for each application. As much as we’d love to believe every résumé is one-size-fits-all, they’re just not. You might be able to get away with one résumé for each job type – say you’re applying for writing jobs, teaching or tutoring jobs, and customer service jobs. Say you also have relevant experience for each. You could make three different résumés: one that prioritizes your skills and experience related to tutoring children in a certain subject, another that highlights your amazing customer service capabilities, and so on.

In fact, having a résumé for each job position you’re pursuing is one of the more efficient ways to manage your time when job hunting. You do the bulk of the work up front when you write your résumés, and then simply tweak it when you find a position you’d love to land.

How should you tweak your résumé for each job application? Look at the job listing, and pay attention to the specific qualifications they’re looking for. Note which ones they list first, or seem to put the most emphasis on. Then make sure your résumé uses similar language and puts your most desirable qualifications first.

Use keywords to stand out.

This tactic for getting your work-at-home application noticed is a little trickier, but it’s a great skill to develop to improve your chances at jobs that attract tons of applicants. Essentially, you need to use the right keywords in your résumé to get your application in front of an actual person. That’s right: sometimes you need résumé SEO to beat an applicant tracking system (ATS).

The problem is that some large companies receive applications in such high volume that it’s impossible for them to examine each one. There simply aren’t enough hours in the day. So, they use a set of keywords and an applicant tracking system to automatically weed out those résumés that don’t feature the correct qualifications for the job. Of course, this means that you might have the best qualifications in the world, but you’re never going to get your résumé read if you don’t use the correct keywords.

A great way to choose the best keywords is by getting specific – use terminology that’s unique to the industry and position, and make sure you both use common acronyms and spell out what that acronym stands for. For example: “Certified Coding Specialist (CCS).” The Muse has some other great tips to help beat the robots.

Be concise but memorable.

My last tip is this: follow the KISS rule, but also be memorable. KISS means “Keep It Simple, Sister,” of course, and is a great mnemonic device that’ll keep you from getting long-winded or muddled in your cover letter, introductory email, or résumé. But keeping it simple doesn’t mean being bland, boring, and just like every other applicant in their giant pool of applications. Instead, infuse a bit of creativity into your application – use a unique subject line (while still following any instructions given about the subject line!). Write a sentence or two that’s funny, or surprising while describing what you can do for the company – just make sure it’s also appropriate and accurate! Don’t promise anything you can’t deliver.

With these tactics in your back pocket, you should be well on your way to breaking free from the crowd and getting a hiring manager interested in you. Good luck, and drop me a line about how these tips work out for you!

 

Author Bio: Angie Nelson began working from home in 2007 when she took her future into her own hands and found a way to escape the corporate cubicle farm. Today she shares her passion for making money from home on her blog The Work at Home Wife. Visit her site for a great list of places to find virtual assistant jobs.

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August 14, 2017 0 Comments

3 Tips for Effective Time Management

We’re always looking for more time in our days, but sometimes it’s a matter of managing the time we do have in a better way.  There are tons of time management tips out there, and they all work if we do them consistently.

Read along for some quick, best tips and practices for managing your time and busy schedule.

Write it down

Every success begins with writing something down.  We all hear time and time again that goals, schedules, and priorities should be written down – and for good reason!  When we write something down, it becomes more solidified in our minds.  Also, we can visually see what we’re supposed to do or remember.

Write down everything you can in regards to managing time.  A to-do list, schedule, calendar/planner, and any priorities that will keep you on track.  Get into the habit of writing out your day in the morning.  This will allow you to check items off as you move through the day, as well as keep you on task.  Rate your tasks by order of importance, and implement your calendar to block off periods of time for work.  It’s important to keep up with your workload as much as possible, as playing catch up can truly mess with your time management.

Look at your priorities

Where are your truly spending your time?  You might think you’re only watching TV for 2 hours per day, but if you really look at your day, it might be more like 5 or 6 hours.  It’s easy to spend time on mindless activities, so getting very clear about where your time is going is crucial.

Prioritizing also involves saying “no” sometimes, which is a powerful way to clear some time in your schedule.  Say “yes” to the things that bring you joy and time with those you love, and “no” to those that are more obligatory.  Prioritizing isn’t always an easy thing to do, but it’s crucial to saying sane and staying on task.

Add to your breaks

If you work from home, you’re lucky enough to be in your own home for most of the day.  There’s typically laundry to be done, dishes to be put away, and hutches to be dusted. Since breaks should be a part of your day, it can be helpful to use your breaks to fit in other items.

This doesn’t need to include housework, but that’s the most common task.  Throw in a load of laundry during your 10-minute morning break, fold a load of laundry after lunch, or water the garden during your afternoon break.  Most breaks can seem fairly mindless anyway, so it can make you feel more accomplished to check off those little things that need done anyway.

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August 10, 2017 0 Comments

4 Top Concerns When Working From Home – And How to Address Them

When you start to consider a work from home job position, certain challenges and concerns might creep in. How will I get anything done when the TV is right there? Will I talk to anyone all day? There are a lot of valid concerns in a home based career, but most have simple solutions.

Read along for some of the most prevalent challenges, as well as ideas to address them.

Social Isolation

One of the main concerns with working from home is that you’ll become isolated. Even if family is around once in awhile, it’s not the same as an office environment.

It’s good to know going into a home based job that you won’t be in a traditional environment with traditional co-worker relationships. This seems obvious, but the allure of a work from home job can cloud this kind of thing. Be aware of the potential isolation and make plans for it!

Schedule working days out at a coffee shop, meet friends during your lunch break, or network at night. It’s important to get out, and also maintain relationships and contact with your co-workers. It’s very possible to be just as close to a work from home co-worker! It just takes some effort to communicate on a more consistent basis.

Distractions

If you’re going to be working from home with kids, pets or other family members, it can be very distracting! In addition to that, you have the freedom to watch TV, listen to loud music, and be distracted by any (and every!) thing around the house.

To help with distractions, ensure that childcare or pet care is in place for very important calls or meetings. Do your best to schedule crucial things around your family’s schedule, and then do your best to seclude yourself for that time period.

Distractions will come when you work from home – the laundry, neighbor kids, the UPS truck. But you can work around it! Set your schedule, keep boundaries, and set up outside care for when you truly need it.

Office Space

While it’s tempting to lounge on the couch, it’s important to have a designated space that’s just your own for work. Take the time to set up a workspace that is both functional and comfortable, and leave it for work only.

It’s important to separate work from home. The easiest, most distinctive way to do this is by working and living your home life in separate spaces. Focus on ergonomic chairs, paint and decor that is calming to you, and office supplies that make your life easier.

Productivity

Many people assume that if you work from home, you don’t get anything done. Nothing could be further from the truth! There have been many studies done, and almost all of them point to the fact that working from home is much more effective than going into a traditional office.

Click here to view a recent study.

Between less sick days, decreasing employee turnover, and fewer office distractions, it’s easy to see why working from home is the ultimate in productivity.

Don’t fear the home based career! While there are considerations that vary from the norm of an office job, it’s nothing that can’t be overcome with a bit of forethought. Enjoy the flexibility, productivity boosts, and quality of life that working from home can afford!

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August 10, 2017 0 Comments

5 Top Tips for Work From Home Success

Working from home is often the goal of many moms. It affords flexibility, more time with family, and a comfortable work environment. While it’s a goal that can lead to a big increase in the quality of your life, it also comes with challenges.

Between distractions and the lack of traditional work environment, it can take a while to find your footing in the home based working world. Read along for some best practices for a smooth work from home life.

Separate your spaces

While it might be comfortable to work on the couch for a while, it can lead to posture issues and a lack of focus. It’s better to establish an office or a separate space in your home specifically reserved for work. If you don’t have the extra space to make a bedroom into an office, you can set up a space at the dinner table, or place a small desk in another room.

It’s best to eliminate as many distractions as possible, while keeping the environment as “businesslike” as possible while being from home.

Get out of the house

Some people find home based work too isolating and mundane. If you start to feel this wya, it’s best to get out of the house as much as possible. You can even work from a coffee shop, park or office space daily. Even if you obtain a “work from home” job position, you might still look into something more social like a coworking space.

Coworking spaces combine people from a variety of industries and businesses into one location. This provides the social, office environment while allowing you to keep a flexible schedule and unique working arrangement.

Treat it like work

Working from home is still work! It can be easy to see it as a way to work less and spend time all day with family or friends, but unfortunately, work still needs to get done. Use the first few weeks to find a good balancing act between the two, and then be sure that you’re working when you should be.

Of course, the benefit of home based work is flexibility, so there will be times when you can use evening or early morning hours to work. Going outside of the schedule is more than permitted, but a routine work schedule (most days) makes for more effective, productive work.

Unplug

While you should treat your home based career like work, it’s also important to unplug! As home based workers, it can be tough to turn it off. Your computer is essentially your workspace, but it needs to be turned off once in awhile.

This is why it can be helpful to establish specific work times, so it’s not too tempting to work well into the evening. Use your off time for friends, family, and personal time, and work on a schedule that works best for you. Avoid the trap of working around the clock – it can cause unnecessary burnout, stress, and fatigue.

Set your boundaries

Boundaries are important when you work from home. Since you typically become the point of contact, person who’s there for appointments in the home, caregiver, and so on, it’s important to maximize your schedule and set boundaries so you can still get work done.

Working from home requires some forethought and effort between you, your employer, and your family, but it can be done. It’s a wonderful working arrangement that affords more flexibility and less missed good times, but ensure that you’re being smart about it and setting boundaries that keep you healthy, happy and productive.

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