If you work from home you most likely have the relative luxury to go about your business wearing whatever you feel comfortable in – no need for a suit and tie if you’re not in the mood, no need to even get dressed if you don’t feel like it.
As appealing as answering business calls in the buff may sound though, it’s not ideal for productivity – clothes that negatively effect your social standing or self esteem will have the same effect on your productivity.
While you may feel comfy slouching around in your pyjamas, you’ll not be taking care of business to the best of your ability.
So what should your work from home wardrobe look like?
Dress down days
Working from home is a constant battle against distractions – whether it’s the washing up, weeding the garden or watching Loose Women on telly, there’s always something to take your mind off the nine-to-five.
And dressing down, or not bothering to get dressed at all, can mean you never fully get into the right frame of mind for working because your brain is so used to associating comfy clothes with downtime that it can’t click into work mode.
So it makes sense to slip into something a little less comfortable.
Work from home wear
Obviously, it’s up to you exactly what you wear for work each day, and it has to be something you can feel both business-like and comfortable in – while you may feel business-like in a shirt and tie, you may not feel comfortable sat around the house in one, even if you have a designate home office to work from.
So it’s all about striking a happy medium – you may find that the simple act of getting dressed into something that’s not your pyjamas is enough, or you may have to put on something you could happily leave the house wearing, it’s all about whatever works for you.
That said, if you’ve never smartened yourself up for working from home, it could be time you considered it, especially if you’re someone who is easily distracted.
One added bonus of wearing office-attire when working from home is that it makes it much harder to attack the housework – give it a try, it’s strangely difficult to do the dishes or hoover the house when you’re wearing office smarts.
As tempting as it is to roll out of bed and onto the laptop, this is a sure-fire way to send productivity plummeting – so it makes sense to get yourself into a daily routine of getting dressed for success.
How to build a work wardrobe
Now you know more about the importance of dressing for success when you work from home, here’s how to build a work wardrobe.
What do you wear when working from home? Do you go smart, casual, smart casual or something else entirely? Let us know…
