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Is your personality type ideal for working from home?

For many people, working from home sounds like a dream job. After all, when you work from home you can skip the commute, wear what you want, and design your own office. This kind of work environment isn't ideal for everyone, though.

The 20 best jobs for working from home (and how to get them)

Staying Motivated

When you work from home, you'll have to rely largely on yourself to stay motivated. After all, you'll be on your own in the workplace. Without a boss looking over your shoulder or coworkers plugging away alongside you, staying on task can be tough.

If you have a natural sense of self-motivation or an entrepreneurial spirit, you probably won't have any trouble thriving. If motivation doesn't come naturally, take a few steps to stay productive at home. Try sticking to a schedule, keeping work and home spaces separate, and letting yourself take periodic breaks.

Independence

Many people prefer to work without constant oversight or regular in-person interactions with coworkers. That doesn't mean they do their best work when left to their own devices, though.

If you find that frequent distractions in the office cause the quality of your work product to decline, working from home could create the ideal independent environment for you. If collaboration and feedback drive you to succeed, you'll have to set up a virtual system or occasional in-person meetings to get the interaction you need.

Woman sitting at dining table working from home using mobile phone and tablet.

Communication

Just because you're working from home doesn't mean you can cut off communication with the rest of the world. In reality, you'll have to devise alternative ways of communicating successfully with coworkers, clients, and managers.

If you have a personality geared toward sensing or intuiting information, it's important that you communicate clearly with others, to ensure that you're discussing all the information needed for you to do your job well. Set up time to talk, chat, or videoconference with others so you can brainstorm and toss ideas around.

Problem Solving

When you work with others, solving a tough problem can be as easy as stopping by your colleague's cubicle. At home, you'll be responsible for resolving both big and small issues.

If you're naturally resourceful, you know how to research and think critically in order to arrive at a reasonable solution. If you lack this ability, however, learning some simple problem-solving techniques can help you improve productivity.

Decision Making

When you work independently, most of the decision making falls on your shoulders. Whether you're a business owner or a remote employee, you'll have to develop confidence in your own expertise.

If you're good at making judgments, then decision making may come easily to you, but be sure to take an extra moment to ensure that the conclusions you've drawn are the most effective ones. If you tend to rely more on your feelings about things, you might prefer to leave issues open-ended for a while. But give yourself a time limit for making decisions in order to provide closure and complete projects.

Whether you've already made the choice to work from home or you're considering a change to your current routine, you should understand the challenges you'll face in this environment. Once you know how well your personality meshes with working from home, you can make any necessary changes and adjustments.


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