Can I Successfully Work from Home? Working from home can be a challenging environment in which to stay focused on your work. Some people are surrounded by distractions at home. Others need more social contact than they will have at home. Take this quiz to get an indication of how successfully you could work from home… Enter your details so we can email the results to you.Email* Name* First Last Home Environment Which most accurately describes the area in your home where you work?* A dedicated room used exclusively for work A shared space with some interruptions I work around my family How is your home connected to the Internet?* I don't have the Internet yet ADSL Cable, VDSL or T1 Slower than ADSL How often have you lost your home Internet connection for more than 1 hour in past last 12 months?* More than 10 times 4 to 9 times 0 to 3 times Who else will use your computer when you are not working?* Nobody Spouse Other Adults Children or Teens Are you responsible for providing care for dependents (e.g. young children, disabled or elderly) during work hours?* No Yes Before answering this question, go to the area in your home where you work and just sit and look around for a few minutes. How would you feel after spending 2 months working here?* Depressed Not much different to working in an office Liberated or happy Work From Home Aptitude Have you worked from home before?* No Yes Did you work from home either full time for at least 2 months or for more than 10 hours per week for at least 6 months? No Yes If your employer was asked if you were more productive or less productive working from home than working in an office, would they say:* Less productive working from home About the same More productive working from home When you are focusing on a task at your desk in an office environment and somebody approaches you to talk about something else, do you most often:* Put the task aside for later and appreciate the human interaction Feel good about helping somebody else as long as I'm not interrupted too often Get frustrated by interruptions even when I get to help somebody else How often do you arrive at work early so you can get more done before the interruptions start?* Never Now and then Frequently How often do work from home (even for a few hours) at your own initiative so that you can eliminate distractions and get more work done?* Never Occasionally At least once per week When you receive phones calls from family or friends at work do you most often? Keep the conversation as short as I can Tell them I'm working and call them back after work I have trouble defining clear work boundaries with friends and family Based on your experience so far, which is your happiest and most productive working environment?* In an office with other people Working on my own A mixture of the two Don't know What level of detail do you record in your daily time sheets?* Keeping a time sheet makes my ears bleed I record my time at the end of each day and guestimate how much time I spent on each task I record my time as I go so I can keep track of what I did all day If I don't record my time to the nearest 3 seconds the voices in my head might make me hurt someone Motivation & Productivity The phone has not rung all morning, you've completed your urgent work and the rest of the day is looking quiet. Are you more likely to:* Take some personal time and lie in the sun or read a book Organise some files or find some busy work Get stuck into a project you've been working on or start one you've been thinking about for a while Other than lunch and breaks, how much of your work day do you typically spend on non work related tasks?* More than a third of the day More than 20 minutes Less than 20 minutes Less than 5 minutes If you asked past and present workmates to compare you with other people, would they say you are more or less productive than others?* Less productive Similar to others More productive A lot more productive Focus, Organisation & Communication When you are using YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter or other social sites and you see something interesting, do you:* Often have a look at it and any other interesting stuff I see until I get bored or realise half an hour has passed Sometimes check it out but always get back to what I was doing if more than 5 minutes has passed Only check it out when I'm not at work Always ignore it and carry on with what I was doing I'll walk the desert road barefoot in winter to deliver a hand written note before I use social media How do you most often manage your work?* Do what ever people ask me to do and use my email in-box as a to do list Keep a list of tasks on pieces of paper Keep a list of tasks in a diary or computer software Keep a list of tasks and review it daily or weekly Set goals and review task list daily or weekly How often do you arrive at least 5 minutes early before meetings (personal or work)?* Hardly ever 50/50 Almost always When you have a long list of conflicting priorities, which are you most likely to do?* Struggle with them all as best I can Work through them one at a time Review the priorities before working on the next Review priorities and try to manage expectations of stakeholders How do you most often start your work day?* Checking emails Whatever I was working on yesterday The most urgent thing on my list The most important thing on my list Review priorities Do you give your manager and colleagues progress reports on your work before they ask?* They ask when they need to know Most of the time I tell them before they ask It's about 50/50 Nobody succeeds 100% of the time. When you fail to deliver a work project by the allocated time frame, which do you do most often?* Keep quiet and try to complete it before anybody finds out Wait until your boss or colleagues ask for a progress report Tell your boss or colleagues immediately Make a plan B and present that to your boss or colleagues immediately This field is hidden when viewing the formSPhoneThis field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.
