Lads and ladies,
After almost a decade of living in the city where I work, moving back home to a small cottage (inherited from my Uncle - nothing spectacular but mine). To be honest, just sick of dealing with other tenants, being the head man of the gaff!
Anyways, before this turns into a bit€hing session, anyone got any tips for working from home? I do plan to commute (about an hours journey) once-twice in the week. I do have broadband, but really looking for tips as to how to get stuff done. I would appreciate any advice. On the flip-side to this good news, is the fact that my funding is finishing and work is scarce, but will sort something.
If anyone is coping, any advice would be appreciated. Just a bit apprehensive at the moment.

Hi,

I work from home. I think potential problems are finding yourself working all the time, not getting a break from it and feeling guilty when you're not working. It can help to try and develop a routine - something that signals that you're now in working mode or not e.g. working in a specific place. I always have a shower when I have finished working - more for psychological reasons rather than being made dirty by the work!

My funding is also due to finish soon - this does produce anxiety. But it's also an incentive to try and get things done now!

The idea of a 'small cottage' sounds really nice by the way!

L

Your own cottage...hmmph well I'm jealous! ;-)

I work at home now (well my parents' home...my funding finished too). I would recommend you keep your work space very separate from your living space. Eg. if you have a garage or out-building, think about converting it into an office. If not, use a spare room and remove all luxuries (like cable TV, comfy sofa etc). Make sure family and friends know that just because you're at home doesn't mean you're not 'at work'. Try not to be a hermit - it's really easy to fall into the hermit lifestyle when doing a PhD from home. 

I work from home too. I'm only 5 miles from the university, but for disability/illness reasons I very rarely go in there. I'm lucky if I see my supervisor 3 times a year.

I get by by drawing up lots of to-do lists of things to be getting on with, so there's always something for me to focus on. And I set myself goals of working so much on specific days. I include rest/reward time, but try to get things done as well.

It's seen me through my part-time PhD very well. I'm in the closing stages now. Just a bit of research to finish off.

I work from home but am likewise about an hour from the university and also a hour from London where I use the library. I go into at least one of those once a week and usually both but the rest of the time I work here. The problem for me is definitely more procrastination options (although that's primarily the internet which I have when I work in the library too!) but I find as long as I keep normal working days and make sure I have all the relevant materials here for each things I need to do (requiring an element of forward planning that I might not need if I were closer to the library) I get enough done. Only problem for me is a lack of space as I don't have a dedicated work room, just a desk in the bedroom, and I'm a bit conscious of how my paper spreads across the rest of the flat. My fiancé manages to do the same with his sheet music though so I suppose we're balanced in that respect! I hope it works out for you - I'm envious of the cottage!

Thanks for the quick replies ... I do feel that the notion of actually having a list of small goals rather than getting bogged down in 20 different things might be useful. The house itself is very small (4 rooms in total) but I will have a desk in the bedroom and try to assign different tasks to different times. Will have all the distractions (guitar, TV, stereo) in another room and might actually try to get stuff done without the laptop on all the time (it has to be the BIGGEST distraction).

It'll be two weeks before moving in and plan to take a week off to sort it (the renovation work has really helped me get perspective).
The PhD has been a real struggle and I think moving might just be the impeutus to get things rolling again. Money is gonna be a problem but will sort it.
Bilbo - great to hear of a success story and good to hear another of us is near the finishing line.

On a personal note, the fact that it was the uncles gaff and my family and friends are helping also underlines that family and friends are there to help, much the same way as this forum, so thanks to everyone. We will all get there in the end!

as a fellow at-home worker, I've found I easily get distracted by domestic things (being a cleanaholic doesn't help)! But being more of a late-afternoon/ nocturnal worker, a home-setting is actually more productive. To try and stay focussed, I shut the door of the spare room and pretend like the rest of the house doesn't exist.
Also, making your work-area very task-specific helps. Little things like arranging my work like an office - filing cabinet, box files, etc psychologically shows me what I should be doing in that space....
But we all procrastinate - I curse, curse, curse the day Free Cell was invented ;-)

Further to what the others have said, do not work in your bedroom (if you can), keep it separate and it will help you close off your work each day rather than psychologically taking it to bed with you. Best of all, if you have space, designate a specific room as the work room and stay out of it during non-working hours, likewise avoiding procrastination rooms (e.g. TV) during work hours.

I have found that domestic things do get in the way, so I start the day at 6.30 - have breakfast and a shower, take the dog for a walk from 7.30-8.30, then put washing on, do washing up etc. clean whatever is necessary, then check the internet for 'silly things' e.g. facebook, forums, hotmail (non-work emails) with the aim of being sat down by 9am ready to get writing.

Also - make sure you buy in food for the week, otherwise you will spend half your time having to nip to the shops to get lunch/milk/other distractions!

many cups of tea are necessary! I sometimes try to have half an hour off for lunchtime where i go and watch tv or watch iplayer or something just to give my brain a rest. Also try to schedule out a certain portion of the day for non-phd stuff e.g. an hour in the afternoon for lecturing tasks etc that are otherwise good ways to feel busy, but not actually do phd stuff!

I find having radio 4 on in the distant background, i.e. another room also makes me feel connected to the world in some way, or my mother in law leaves on LBC radio - which just makes me so angry that i have to force myself to get back to work before I start writing letters in lol - load of rubbish it really is!

I too work from home, and find the major problem is isolation. But if you're going in to uni a couple of days a week, you should be OK. But also make time to see other people/do other things. I go to the gym most days, to make sure I get rid of the cricks from studying, and also as it's good to do classes with people.

And I agree with the others - separate space for work, routine etc. Enjoy!

Ta all - dont have a spare room in the gaff but will allocate a bit of space. I think my biggest fear is lack of focus or just attention. PhD was wandering all over the place but decided on a theme (yeah, I know its late, but doing it now!).

======= Date Modified 27 Aug 2009 15:20:16 =======
Hi,



there is a section on this on the Vitae website which may include something of use:

http://www.vitae.ac.uk/62621/Undertaking-a-doctorate-at-a-distance.html



But just being part of this community should help!

all the best,

Tennie



ps- your cottage sounds too idyllic!