15 Common Mistakes to Avoid When Working from Home

Did you start working remotely lately and do you need to know the most common mistakes to avoid when working from home? Check out the tips from someone who has worked at home since 2019.

Did you use to work from an office before? If you’re here, I assume that you want to start your transition to a home office and continue your professional career working remotely.

Let me be honest before we start with this list of things to avoid.

The transition is not easy at the beginning, but I’m sure you’ll love the results.

Going from a common type of job in a building to a new and unexplored job at home will bring you happiness and joy if you truly learn how to do it properly.

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Common mistakes to avoid working from home

16 Common Mistakes to Avoid When Working From Home

I’ve worked from home since 2019, so I think I can give you some tips to work from home as a real boss! This is my list of 16 things that you should NOT do while working remotely. They are essential ways to help you get more things done: no procrastination and no uncomfortable place of work.

Now, let’s get into it!

#1 Don’t assume that your home office will magically appear without any preparation

As we need to stay focused and sit down in a place for our entire workday, we need to have a comfortable place.

You cannot think that you’ll work on your bed with your laptop every single day and everything will go excellent. If you think that this is what working from home means, you need to reevaluate the situation and understand that that’s not possible.

I’m not saying that you won’t work from bed anymore, but at least, this should not be your main place of work.

Creating a home office will boost your productivity and concentration. So, please, evaluate the possibility to build your place of work; buy a beautiful desk that inspires you to get things done, a comfortable chair for you to take care of your back, and ergonomic home office equipment to avoid hand cramps.

Here you can find some of the products that you can get for creating your dream home office at home:

These things are the basic equipment that you need to create your own home office to work remotely from home.

#2 Avoid getting distracted by things in your home

Working from home is great! But we have so many distractions in our house that, sometimes, it might be difficult to stay focused on our work.

Eliminate everything that you have around you that can take your attention away from what you need to finish. If you need some guidance, you can check one of my articles where I share the best ways to stay focused while working from home.

Cellphones and televisions are excellent for when we want to relax our minds and watch something interesting for us. However, these are the two worst things that distract you from your duties.

Have them away if you want to be productive!

#3 Avoid burnout while working from home

When we start working from home, we are not aware of the start and end day of work. We might start at 9 am, and stay working until midnight.

We need to set limits to balance our professional and personal life.

Things that you should do to avoid burnout while working remotely:

  • Get dressed – don’t wear your pajama during your work sessions. Use comfortable, but clean and beautiful clothing to get you in the mood.
  • Set your schedule – write your work hours in your calendar. Set a specific time for your working sessions. For example, from 8:30 to 13:30 and from 14:30 to 17:30.
  • Don’t work before and after that time – the rest of the day should be used for your own personal life.
  • Change your clothing – use more comfortable clothing when you finish your work day. This will tell your brain that no more work is allowed.

#4 Avoid bothering your family in your home with your own work

Do you live with other people?

From my own perspective, one of the most common mistakes to avoid when working from home is to separate things from work and personal life. If you work in your house and you live with your parents, partner, or friends, you need to avoid bothering them with work-related topics.

My partner and I work for the same company, so we don’t talk about anything related to work once we finish our workday. If we have to share some opinions about it, we do it while our work is active.

Then, we don’t do it because it’s time for our personal topics.

A great way to avoid this is by communicating your desire to your partner or people who live with you. Tell them that no work topics should be discussed while eating or after a full workday.

Communication is the key.

#5 Avoid oversleeping just because you work from home

No, working from home doesn’t mean that you have to change your alarm.

In order to keep going and accomplish your goals, you need to stay active and try to create a morning routine that fits your new job.

Wake up and get out of bed at the same time as you have to go out to your office. You can practice yoga, read a book, or eat a healthy breakfast while you wait for your work time.

For example, I wake up around 5:30 and 6:30. I work out for 30 minutes, take a shower, and get dressed. Then, I eat a healthy breakfast (or something I want to eat that specific morning), and then I start working at 8:00 am.

Working from home is something serious, and you need to be committed to the job so you can get out of bed every single morning. It’s the only way that you’ll succeed during this transition to a remote job.

#6 Avoid complaining about the isolation of working remotely

The first thing that I say to someone who’s asking me what working from home means is: you need to know that this type of work can be lonely sometimes.

Depending on the type of remote job that you do, you won’t see people personally during the day.

So, don’t complain about the isolation part because it’s part of this. It’s normal and we all experience loneliness.

To avoid this, what you can do is work on staying connected while working remotely. Some of the things you can do are:

  • Call someone to stay socially active
  • Stay connected with your colleagues through video calls
  • Collaborate on real-time projects
  • Keep in touch with your colleagues
  • Create spaces to play some video games with them (or any other activity)

Common mistakes to avoid working from home

#7 Avoid becoming a lazy worker just because you’re at home

When we stay at home to work, we tend to think that we’re allowed to not do the work. However, whatever type of job you have, if you don’t perform correctly, you won’t succeed.

Laziness is allowed when you have your free time only. Not while working.

Try to find new ways to keep on track and accomplish new professional goals.

#8 Avoid being ‘unavailable’ to coworkers

Being unavailable all the time is not the best practice. Your coworkers also want to work from home, so be communicative and show yourself as available when you are working. They can reach you to ask you something about the project or simply share some thoughts about the job.

#9 Avoid being ‘available’ to coworkers when you’re not at work

Set boundaries.

We are available while working, but we need to make sure to let them know when we’re out of work. This is super connected to point #3 of this list: we need to set our work time to not feel overwhelmed.

If you show up as available even when you are not at work, your boss, coworkers, or clients will assume that they can reach you at any time of the day.

And, let me be honest with you girl, this is not a way of building a productive relationship with people who work with you.

So, be available for your team, but only during your workday. Don’t get in charge of jobs when you’re trying to work on your personal life.

#10 Avoid working from home on the weekend

Along with being too available, we have the “work on weekends because I have pending activities to finish”.

No, one of the worst things that you can do while working from home is to use your weekend to finish activities related to your job. If the job is not something for your own business, then don’t work for someone else in your free time for that.

Use your weekend to unwind and plan the new week ahead instead of working on your job. Relax your mind and body, and go outside for a long walk.

Personal life is even more important. Use your time wisely.

#11 Avoid using your home office space for free time

Your home office should be used only for work-related purposes only.

If you want to relax or unwind, use another place in your house. This a super useful way to separate your professional and personal life all at once. Feel free to stay in your dining room if you want to practice your favorite hobby.

#12 Avoid telling yourself that you don’t need improvements

One thing that we should know is that we don’t have to assume that the improvement of working from home is necessary even if you’ve been working from home for 10 years or more.

There’s always room for taking care of your own mental health to boost productivity, improve your attitude toward work, and create a better mindset. Add new activities during your week: go for a walk, listen to music, spend quality time with your family, and practice your favorite hobbies, among others.

You can do so many different things to improve your performance at work and, with that, your personal growth.

Conclusion

As remote workers, we need to learn a lot of things to start working from home properly, however, don’t feel overwhelmed. We all start somewhere, and we’re able to learn how to do it. I really hope that you find helpful these common mistakes to avoid when working from home.

Take one step at a time, and never stop.

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5 thoughts on “15 Common Mistakes to Avoid When Working from Home”

  1. Very comprehensive article and great tips. I definitely get distracted at home and can end up slacking off so need to work on that.

    Reply
  2. I really appreciate this post because it aligns with my own perspective. It emphasizes the importance of not assuming that a home office will magically appear without any preparation. It recognizes the need for a dedicated and comfortable workspace to stay focused throughout the workday. I completely agree that relying on working from the bed with a laptop every day is not a sustainable or productive approach. This post serves as a valuable reminder to reevaluate our work-from-home situation and understand that a proper setup is necessary for success.

    Reply

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