I\’ve seen many of my colleagues in the past deciding to work from home, whether they still be employed or whether it be their own business and they\’ve failed to achieve what they set out to achieve.

The problem is getting bigger too. With the expansion of the internet and improvements in communication technologies, more and more of us are working from home. Some of us choose to do it whilst other have no choice, but whatever your situation, how do you make sure that your work at home venture is a success.

Having a home base is nothing new, especially in the sales industry. Territory managers by definition live and work their patch and that will be remote from the head office and senior managers. These sales guys are the trailblazers of the work at home phenomenon and because they\’ve been doing it for so long there\’s a lot of successful training courses dedicated to the subject. What we new work at home people need is some of this training.

I used to be in the sales function when I started my career and was lucky enough to have attended some of these courses so I can share the salient points with you.

Make a point about going to work
Every morning you used to get up and go to work, whether you walked, drove, cycled or took the bus and working from home is no different except that your journey to work may be very short, like a walk into the next room. Wherever you used to go you wouldn\’t be late would you? So why be late when you work from home? Always make sure that you arrive at your place of work at the pre determined time.

Work your predetermined hours and then leave the office
It\’s not just about getting there on time and putting in the hours, it\’s also about disciplining yourself to leave on time. This is about ensuring that you (and your family) still distinguish between work life and family life. Make the segregation and make sure that it is obvious to you and those closest around you.

Make an office
Even though you are working from home you still need to have a designated area for work. This all helps with the segregation of work life and family life. If you have a spare room, wire in a phone socket and make it your office. If you haven\’t got a spare room, can you convert an area of your garage or how about a garden shed? You might laugh but a boss of mine once did this extremely successfully.

Dress for work
If you used to wear a shirt and tie, don\’t go to work at home in your jeans and T shirt. If you feel smart about yourself and professional, that will come across in your e-mails and phone calls. A sloppy attire will lead to sloppy attitude.

Stand up when talking on the phone
All the above tips relate to making the clear distinction between work and home life, this is a more general piece of advice. If you ever get the opportunity to test this, it really works. Communication when you are standing up is so much more animated in terms of body language and facial expression, you might not think that this is evident to someone at the other end of a telephone wire but believe me it is.

Author Bio: Paul Yates has a successful work at home business model. He has learned how to make a website and become an expert in social media marketing.

Category: Career
Keywords: work at home,