The truth about being successful working from home is systems. Systems keep you efficient, focused, and productive, helping you avoid procrastination. They save you time and money.

These systems often rely on tools to get things done. These tools may be work-related, while others are designed to inspire, motivate, or comfort.

Many great tools are free, but even those that have an expense, can be worthwhile when you consider the time they save, and profits they help you achieve.

Got another suggestion for an effective and affordable tool? Let us know in the comments below.

Will Craig

LeaseFetcher 
@leasefetcher 

1)  Google Drive. It’s absolutely free and really is the rubber band that keeps all our important files together. Sharing and accessing files can be done with the click of a button and everything is secure, so you don’t need to worry about your computer crashing.

2) A decent desk lamp. There’s nothing more counterproductive than sitting in a dimly lit space, squinting your eyes in order to see the screen. A bright lamp lifts my mood and helps me to work more comfortably.

3) Spotify. I find that having background music on helps me to focus more on the task at hand. There are hundreds of pre-made work focus playlists to keep me on track!”

Nate Masterson

Maple Holistics
@mapleholistics

DOSS Wireless Portable Speaker – I rely on music to keep me in the zone and you simply can’t compare a high-quality speaker to what desktops have to offer. I’m a huge fan of the DOSS portable Touch speaker because it’s affordable, has a great battery life, and boasts some serious sound quality.

Oristand is an innovative and affordable portable standing desk taking the office world by storm. Sitting in an office chair all day is not as easy as it sounds, nor is it very good for your health. While committing to a standing desk may not be for you, Oristand allows people to make the switch in just seconds. I like to mix things up and rotate standing and sitting
every hour.

Michelle Garrett

Garrett Public Relations 
@PRisUs

1) My indispensable item would be my Keurig. It probably cost around $80 maybe 4-5 years ago – and I use it EVERY day. It keeps me out of expensive coffee shops. And of course, K-cups to go with it. I enjoy both coffee and tea in the Keurig. Peet’s Major Dickason’s blend is one of my favorite coffees. My tip to save money on those is to buy in bulk at a store like Sam’s.

2) Another VERY inexpensive item I now can’t live without is a steno pad. Sure, there are many other types of notebooks, but I find this one works best. I buy them at the dollar store. I learned this tip when I was working for an agency and had to track my time. Very handy – and it’s easy to flip back and forth so I can see my to-do list from the previous week, etc.

Jordan Wan

CloserIQ
@CloserIQ 

1) Airpods – Can’t live without my Airpods. The quality of microphone and ease of use pairing with my phone allows me to quickly hop on calls with clients.

2) Cable clips – I’d like to keep my work space as organized as possible. And while it’s easier to use wireless gadgets, there are still a few that you need to charge at some point. A simple cord management system really helps keep the desk tidy.

3) Tiny plants or succulents – It certainly isn’t a necessity but it’s good to have a refreshing item on top of your desk that you can look at to help relax your strained eyes from looking at your PC monitor or your ipad screen for a long time.

Madelyn Mackie

Activate Your Career Dreams 
@activatecareers 

1) Amazon Echo Dot:  I use it to set up a morning routine that will tell me the weather, the top headlines, and my calendar for the day. Plus it can be a timer, alarm clock, radio, maker of lists, and of course add office items to my amazon cart.

2) A label maker: I label everything! That way I can office find it and put things back where they belong. Saves time, so I’m not looking all over the place for items I need, plus it is a great feeling to see all those nicely printed labels when you open your file drawer.

3) A wireless charger: No more replacing cables, cables falling behind the desk, or forgetting to plug in the phone before a big conference all. I have a flat wireless charger that sits on my desk and I simply place the phone on it and voila it charges!

Note from Leslie:

I love how many of our experts shared items that involve music. One of the best perks of working at home is designing a work space and atmosphere that inspires you. If you like music, you can play it!

Here are some of the items I find indispensable:

1. Automation apps: The more I can set it and forget it, the better. Right now I use Hootsuite for social media scheduling, and Tailwind for Pinterest. Both save me hours of time over manual social media scheduling.
2. Paper planner: I do as much digitally as possible, except for my planner. This year I used a bullet journal. I’m thinking of moving back to the Happy Planner for 2019. These aren’t the cheapest planners, but both allow me to design a planner that works the way I do, which is crucial to being productive.
3. Lastpass: I’m getting increasingly paranoid about the hackers of the world. But to set and remember unhackable passwords is really hard. I use Lastpass (I use the paid version –$24 per year– but there is a free one too) to manage all my passwords on my computers and phone. I only have to remember one password, and Lastpass remembers the rest.

Check out other great tools and resources I use to help me be a work-at-home success.

What tools and resources can’t you live without?

Working from home has many perks, but it’s not without its challenges. One of the biggest struggles balancing work and family life, which is odd considering many people choose to work from home to gain work/life balance. While a home-based career can help in creating balance, it’s not automatic. Plus, working at home can bring its out set of struggles. This week, we ask work-at-home parents to share some of their challenges and how they overcome them.

Mark Aselstine

Uncorked Ventures 
@MarkAselstine

1) Good doors help productivity. My home office started in a back bedroom, it was comfy, warm and easy. But, my oldest could access the room whenever he wanted. From rifling through the desk to being asked for water, or snacks in the middle of the afternoon. It was a productivity killer.

Now? My 2nd was born, so my office moved to the garage. It’s damp. Cold. You can hear people talking when they walk down the sidewalk. But, it’s awesome for productivity because there are 2 doors in the way between me and the kids. No more snack requests (it’s too far from the kitchen). No more access to my desk.

2) WFH, Doesn’t Mean Stay At Home: One thing I realized last year, everyone seems to think that working from home means you’re constantly available. I’ve learned to say no. I can’t always drive on a field trip with no notice, if someone else cancels. I can’t pick up your kids if you have to stay late at work. I have to keep a regular amount of days and time off, otherwise it starts to feel like I am being taken advantage of. After all, being around isn’t the same as always being available (even if I really value the flexibility and really do want to drive on field trips and help with emergencies…..but I cannot always).

Veronica Hanson

Vacay Visionary 

1) Set a Schedule – If you allow yourself to be at the whim of your business 24/7 there will always be guilt when you take moments to be a mom. Setting office hours is the best way to work efficiently and not drag out your work hours longer than necessary.

2) Set Expectations – On the occasions where my children are home during my working hours I provide secret activities they have never seen before. They get new painting books, new cookie cutters to use with play-dough, new dress up jewelry. None of the secret items are expensive, they are often dollar tree items, but there is a novelty period that buys this working mama time to concentrate.

3) Be Flexible – Everything is not going to go perfectly. Some days my kids are home sick, some days my parents need me to run an errand, some days I need to veg out on Netflix. Just because you have an off day, doesn’t mean you’re a failure. I run my business on the concept of progress, not perfection. No mom guilt, that’s so 1990.

Katherine McGraw Patterson

Katherine McGraw Patterson LLC
@BizCoachKP 

1) Create firm boundaries with your clients, know when you’ll be available and when you won’t. I implemented a no business emails or texts after 5 or on weekends rule. It’s really hard to disengage from your business when the computer and your desk are *right there*. By creating that firm boundary of work time vs. family/me time, I not only present myself as a professional business to my clients, but I give myself permission to shut off from work and focus on other things.

2) Create firm boundaries with your family. Even young children can learn that when a parent is on the phone or in their office, that certain rules apply. I encourage my clients to invest in babysitters and childcare for young children – and to look at it as a business expense. Likewise, just because mommy is home all day, doesn’t mean I’m a stay at home mom.
I’ve trained my children and my spouse that we all need to pitch in on the housework just as if I was out of the home at an office. My kids have been helping to clean the bathrooms and do laundry since they were 5, and their duties have grown as they have.

3) Give yourself grace. A lot of my clients are women who have left the corporate world to have a family, and are now creating a business to reengage with their professional side while being present for their children. They want their business to grow and succeed, which takes a time and energy commitment that is often at odds with parenting children (especially babies/toddlers/pre-K). I encourage them to take the long view and to adjust their goals to suit the time in their lives. One of the things I recommend is to focus on the foundations of their business and networking while their children are young, so that they can springboard from a place of strength once the kids hit school age and their time opens up. Women, especially, put so much pressure on ourselves to be perfect and to do IT ALL RIGHT NOW. I would love to see more of us give ourselves grace in recognizing all the amazing things we are doing.

 Rob Palmer

GoFreelance
@gofreelancejobs 

One of the big struggles of being a work-from-home parent is keeping a clear dividing line between work life and home life. When your office is just a few feet from your family, it’s easy to find the line between the two becoming overly-blurred.

You may find your work being constantly interrupted by domestic matters, or small faces appearing in the background of your video chats. Even if you have the door firmly closed, the sound of a shouting child will reach clients at the other end of the phone.

Whilst I loved having my family around me while I worked, I found in the end that some clearer separation was required between business and domesticity. I converted the garage into an office and worked from there.

That meant I could run my business more professionally and with fewer interruptions. Yet I was only a few steps from family life, and was still able to help my wife with child care. I was also able to go to school plays, assist with the soccer coaching runs and be an integral part of my children’s lives every day.

Note from Leslie

My initial reason for working from home was to raise my kids. So I had many times where I felt guilty that I was working too much and not spending time with the kids, or  I wasn’t working enough because I was spending time with the kids.

When children are very young, you have to attend to them when needed, so unless you can hire someone to watch them for a few hours, you have to choose a home based career that allows you to work odd hours while your baby sleeps or your spouse his home to help.

Once they’re potty trained, you can send them to pre-school, which can give you a few hours every day or three days a week to get things done. I used to drop my kids off at pre-school, and then work at a local java joint.

When they enter regular school, it’s much easier to put in a day’s work, until breaks and summer time. And if you home school, then all bets are off.

Here’s what I did to make the time I needed to work at home, while still raise my kids:

1. Have a set schedule that everyone knows and follows.
2. Be prepared each time I sat down to work. You can waste time trying to figure out what needs to be done.
3. For kids that are old enough, have activities for them. I designed my day much like a school, in which different parts of the day had different activities available for them.
4. Stop every hour or so to check in. Kids can only go so long without interaction or supervision. Every hour or 90 minutes or so, I’d stop and spend a few minutes checking in which them, making a snack, helping with an activity, etc.
5. Take time to be with the kids. During the summers, I’d work until 2 or so, and then I take the afternoon to spend with the kids at that park, pool, or an activity. Any work that didn’t get done, I’d do later in the evening.
6. Have rules for the kids. Little kids will have a harder time not interrupting you, but older children should be able to respect your time. I had times (i.e. when I was on the phone) in which I told the kids they couldn’t interrupt me unless there was fire or blood.
7. Get kids involved. Depending on the work you do from home, why not have them help out?
8. Have a routine but be flexible. Kids are going to interrupt or need you. Best laid plans never come to complete fruition. So relax and know that things won’t always go the way you want.