subject: How to Look Professional When Working from Home [print this page] How to Look Professional When Working from Home
Most people would agree that being professional is the most important aspect of running any business. From a bakery to a business consultancy service and everything in between, professionalism is the key component that will determine how successful the business is. Think about it if you go to a business and you find it unprofessional, would you go back there?
Unfortunately people who work from home are especially at risk of letting the standards slip when it comes to being professional. If you are a home worker you could quite easily start the day in your pyjamas for example. But even though no one else would see you like this, you can guess that you wouldn't feel quite in the mood for work when you haven't even dressed for it.
Looking professional doesn't just apply to what you're wearing however. After all, most people who work from home don't interact with their customers in a face to face way. They may talk to them on the phone or communicate via email. But meetings are few and far between, and when they do occur they are likely to happen elsewhere anyway.
So how do you stay professional when your place of work is the same as the place you live in?
One way to feel more professional is to start by setting proper working hours to stick to. They may not be 9 to 5, but you should still stick to specific hours whenever you can. They will help divide your working life from your home life, and it will also help you get into the proper frame of mind for working each day.
Some people worry about whether they will be taken seriously or not when they opt for home working. But this is less true today than it was in the past, purely because more and more people are working in this way. It has become a regular way to earn a living, so people take it more seriously now when someone says they work from home.
However you can certainly make life easier for yourself if you are professional in every sense. This sends a message to everyone that you are indeed working, and you are making a success of it too.
One of the most important things you can do to maintain a good sense of professionalism is to get a proper business phone line put in. You can then have a proper answer phone to take messages when you are not there, and there is less chance of anyone else in the family answering it in a less than professional manner.
The more things you can do to be more professional when it comes to working at home, the more successful you are likely to be as a result.
