Five D's of Working From Home - Discipline and Diligence

So last week, I wrote introducing the five D's of working from home. In that post, I talked about one of the most important of the five - dedication. Dedication, both to your organization and your craft, is the hallmark of someone who can effectively work from a home office. However, there are four more D's to get to, and today I plan on talking about discipline and diligence.

Without these two traits, working from home would be extremely difficult. Being a disciplined person and worker helps a great deal when you're first trying to develop a routine and figure out how to tackle working from a home office. Understanding that you need to be prepared and organized on a daily basis to come in and get your work done without any direct supervision is extremely important. And not everyone is that disciplined. When I first began working from a home office, it was difficult. I'll admit it - I wasn't as disciplined as I am now. However, over the last three years, I have really become a disciplined worker who understands what it takes to get the job done.

The other D I want to talk about today goes right alongside discipline, and that's diligence. This is one of the intangibles that you really need to develop if you're planning to work from home. To me, diligence is getting the job done no matter what comes your way. There are going to be days when the VPN connection is slow, the people at the office aren't returning your calls as quickly as you'd like, or something gets piled onto your already full plate that you weren't expecting. Working through these obstacles sometimes takes a great deal of diligence. As the person who works from home, you are often looked at with a magnifying glass. Your work might be scrutinzed a little more by the co-workers and boss. That's why being diligent in accomplishing your responsibilities is so important.

Next week, I'm looking forward to sharing the final two D's in the five D's of working from home, which are actually both included in one ability that you must possess if you want to work from home - the ability to deal with distractions... I'm looking forward to sharing that post with you.

As I close, I'd like to ask if you work for an association that allows working from home, and if you're someone who does this occasionally, do these D's make sense? What would you add to the mix of things you need to have in order to be an effective employee when working from home?

Thanks for reading.