Lifestyle Design: How To Convince Your Boss To Let You Work From Home
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Your lifestyle is essentially the way in which you choose to spend your time. It’s based on how you work, play, learn, relax, and interact with others.
Working an onsite 9 to 5 corporate job is an example of a common lifestyle that most people live today. Of course this type of lifestyle can pay the bills and pave the way for career success, but unfortunately, it can also cause you to spend way more time on work related activities than anything else.
There is a common misconception that you need to work onsite to be productive and have a successful career. In today’s internet society, that’s just no longer true. This is where the concept of lifestyle design comes in.
Lifestyle Design: What is it?
Lifestyle design means to live happily with purpose. To me it’s about being able to spend more time doing what I love, and finding a healthy balance between work-life and home-life. Working a remote job frees up a lot of my time and helps me achieve the balance that I seek.
Think about it. The time spent on work related activities encompasses much more than just the time actually onsite at work.
- How much time do you spend commuting? I used to spend one hour each way. That was two hours a day just driving to and from my job!
- What about time spent on getting ready, picking out what to wear, doing your makeup, hair, packing lunch, and so on?
- In total I was spending about 11 hours a day doing work related activities (two hours driving, at least 8 hours onsite, and another hour getting ready).
Working at home is a way to take some of that time back. All this extra time could be spent doing things you enjoy. Lifestyle design is about designing your job around your life. Not your life around your job.
How would you like to live and work on more flexible terms? Well you can. It just takes a little bit of planning. Even if you currently work onsite and want to stay at your job, with a good plan it’s possible to convince your boss to allow you to work from home. If not everyday, at least partially. It worked for me.
Lifestyle Design: How To Convince Your Boss To Let You Work From Home
Are you thinking about asking your boss if you can work from home? Maybe you are a new parent, are taking care of a sick family member, have an illness that demands frequent doctor visits, or you just need to spend more time with your family. Whatever your reasons, getting approval from your boss to work from home may be easier than you think.
It never hurts to give it a shot. Before you attempt to ask your boss to work from home, be ready and prepared to do the following.
#1. First, think about your day to day activities. Can your job be done from home?
- Are most of your day to day work activities done over the phone and through email or chat? If so, there is a good chance you could work from home.
- Do you perform most of your job duties on your own or does your job require that you interact in person with many people? If your job does not require much face to face interaction, there is a good possibility that you could work from home.
- Are you a supervisor for others that are onsite? If you supervise others that are typically onsite, working from home, at least fully, may not work; however, a partial telecommute may be fine.
#2. Second, outline each of your job responsibilities and how much time you spend on each task per day.
This is where you need to be very convincing. Show your boss how all your work tasks can be done at home. Create a PowerPoint or some other type of visual. Be very thorough. You will need to show your boss how working from home will not negatively impact the quality of your work.
#3. Third, devise a well thought out plan.
Do not try to convince your boss to let you work from home during a casual conversation. It’s important to come up with a formal proposal.
Let your boss know how working from home can be beneficial to you. Most importantly show how beneficial it can be for your boss, and the company. Detail a minimum of three ways in which working from home will make you a better employee and a better asset to your employer.
Create a schedule of the days and times you would like to work from home. Be sure highlight and emphasize that you will be available by phone, email, chat, or any other way needed during business hours. If your boss is hesitant, ask for a trial period on a part-time basis.
#4. Fourth, ease all employer concerns.
Try to put yourself in your boss’ shoes. Address any items you feel that will be a concern and come up with a solution for those concerns.
Guarantee your employer that you will be just as productive while working from home. The key is to do your research ahead of time. Demonstrate that you have thoroughly thought through working from home.
If you take the time to follow the above and carefully come up with a proposal, you will have a better chance of working from home. It never hurts to ask. Get to work, create a plan, and you’ll be working from home in no time.
We hope you found our Lifestyle Design: How To Convince Your Boss To Let You Work From Home article beneficial to your remote job search!
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What are some other ways that may persuade a boss to let an employee work from home? Let us know in the comments.
