Who's Taking Care Of You While You're Taking Care Of Business?
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By Michael Kalyniuk
To many, working from home in your chosen profession is close to the ideal method of employment.
Providing services from the home office often means the professional assembling a range of equipment, devices and expertise enabling the provision of a comprehensive, cost effective range of services to their clients.
When setting up your business the focus is often on gathering together the necessary requirements, setting up the workspace, establishing business names etc. Little preparation or planning, ensuring optimal levels of function of the human component of the business occurs.
Tips To Assist The Home Office Professional Survive The Work Environment
IDENTIFY YOUR WORKSPACE
Delineate the area you use as your workspace as YOUR WORK SPACE. Be clear to yourself and other family members that when you are in this area you are "at work".
SAFETY AND HEALTH
Setting up and maintaining a safe healthy work area is vital. Work areas should be well lit with adequate ventilation and temperature.
Computers, printers, scanners and related technology have many cables and power leads attached. Take care to secure leads and cables away from human traffic areas or areas where cables and leads may be damaged.
Ensure your seating is stable, comfortable and supports correct posture. Correcting seating posture may require the use of footstools and chairs with a range of features to ensure a safe healthy seating position.
Don't underestimate the effect an unhealthy and unsafe work area can have on your productivity.
NUTRITIONAL AND FLUID INTAKE
Self employed, home-based workers are far more likely to forgo breaks then their counterparts working in a more formal office environment.
The apparent need to "just finish this page or task" can easily lead to meal and refreshment breaks being missed.
The belief that "just a few more minutes" will get the job done and then a stop for a food and fluid break will be justified is a misguided belief. Continuing with this type of behavior may ultimately affect your ability to focus on the task/s in hand and could ultimately result in you taking more time rather then less to complete the required task.
The human body requires a regular ongoing input of food and fluid to maintain stamina levels. Failure to comply with these requirements could easily result in less then optimal levels of mental and physical energy being available to del with identified tasks.
PLAN AND TAKE REGULAR PLANNED BREAKS
The home office worker is far more likely to stay working at the desk for longer periods of time without taking a break. There is also a greater likelihood of working extended hours not typical of the usual office environment.
In a typical office work environment workers are often entitled to regular breaks and there is a greater expectation of a set number of working hours per week.
The flexibility of the work environment experienced by the home office worker can also prove to be the source of a number of hazards.
IDENTIFY AND ADHERE TO REASONABLE WORK PERIODS
Activities and tasks undertaken by home office workers often result from clients accepting quotes for their particular requirements.
Hazardous situations can arise where attempts are made to complete the required task/s in one attempt or within unrealistic time frames.
This may result in long periods of time where the clients apparent needs override the well-being of the service provider to the point where their level of function CAN be impaired.
The trap the home office worker could easily find himself or herself in is one where as the level of function deteriorates, the worker tries to apply more time to complete the task. The vicious circle is completed.
Home office workers need to identify reasonable timeframes for work to be undertaken and completed and not expect themselves to be the compensation valve for their clients' possible lack of organisation and preparation.
BALANCE YOUR WORK SITUATION.
Home office workers often spend long periods of time concentrating and focusing on tasks with high levels of detail. This can often result in long periods of physical inactivity and prolonged periods of mental concentration.
Where possible, a home office worker taking a break away from the work environment needs to include physical activity to assist with maintaining a balance between mental and physical activity levels.
Maximum effectiveness can be achieved by ensuring periods of physical activity occur on a regular basis throughout the work period of the day. Further complimenting these activities, additional physical and mental activities outside of and unrelated to work issues are needed to ensure the highest levels of function are maintained particularly in the longer term.
©2002 Michael Kalyniuk
About the Author
About Michael
Michael Kalyniuk is a published writer, with his professional background being in the area of mental health. Michael is well known for promoting the need for better understanding of mental health issues, and has facilitated many 'How to deal with Stress' courses over the years. These courses were run for everyday people and from all walks of life. For 16 years, Michael (RN, RPN) worked as a mental health practitioner in country South Australia, and was also the team leader of the mental health unit of the regional health services.
Since 1998, Michael has been employed as the Senior Project Manager of Tele-Health in the Health Department of WA, Perth, Western Australia, and still has a strong interest in mental health and related health matters.
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