Working away from work

Your laptop was built for doing work away from the office. Making sure your self-discipline comes along for the trip is something else.
Many business owners and executives associate an office environment with the will to work. As a result, they worry that they - or their employees - may be less than diligent when working from home or a hotel room. But keeping up your self-discipline away from the office is just a matter of thoughtful planning. Here are seven strategies, culled from experts.

Know your work patterns.
This philosophic tenet is particularly important to being disciplined away from an office environment. Consider what makes you more productive: being proactive well in advance, or sweating things out under a tight deadline? Knowing what sets your wheels turning can help you establish work patterns and systems that bolster your discipline.

Keep a comprehensive to-do list.
Whether you seek to stay ahead of the game, or you spring into action at the last minute, keeping track of all you need to accomplish is particularly important outside of an office setting. You're absent from anyone ready to remind you what's going on. But knowing just what you need to do and when, in comprehensive detail, can keep you focused and motivated. No matter how you do it, be it with a PDA or day timer, be obsessive about planning out your activities.

Set up a comfortable workspace.
Ads showing a businessperson sprawled on a hotel bed, cell phone in one hand and calculator in the other, just aren't based in the real world. Discipline away from the office often derives from a setting that singularly represents work. No matter where you are, earmark a particular spot for work. Jan Jasper suggests bringing along some family pictures and your favourite music to bolster your perception that this is where work is going to happen. " It's important to arrange things so you can function, " she says.

Look at time in a different manner.
One of the pitfalls to discipline away from the office is time, or rather, the lack of a regular schedule of events be they meetings or business lunches. That can lead to downtime and, conceivably, a lapse in productivity. Plan ahead to make the most of those few minutes here and there to keep your discipline sharp. Recognising the importance of working when time permits, many airports offer workstations for businesspeople in between flights.

Keep the paper moving.
Working away from the office often means limited space. That, in turn, makes paper management critical. File those documents with which you're finished and recycle any and all papers you don't need any more.

Keep in touch.
Communicating with HQ is not only essential to the mechanics of a workday; talking with colleagues and others can also be a boon to discipline. Even if you can't see them, talking with others in the company is a reminder of people down the line who are counting on you. But tailor your communication accordingly. While you may want to check in with some people on a regular basis, you may want to shy away from others who, for instance, may take an hour to explain a two-minute problem. You have to determine who your contact should be, the one most helpful to you.

Don't do tomorrow what you can do today.
Putting off necessary tasks melts discipline in any setting, but it's particularly destructive when you're away from the office. For one thing, there's no one physically nearby to tell you what to do. On top of that, a task that's repeatedly put on the back burner until it becomes a bona fide headache can drain time from other responsibilities.