An Easy to Use "Work from Home Career Tool"!
Posted on March 26, 2023 by Tina Jesso, One of Thousands of Life Coaches on Noomii.
The article discusses how work-from-home attire can impact your career, including; increasing abstract thinking, creativity, and other big payoffs.
Isn’t this an obvious one – who wouldn’t want to work from home and hang out in your sweats and minimal personal grooming? Right? Although the working from home may be proving the BEST benefit ever for many since Covid – working in super casual attire might not be the best for your career performance!
I worked 10 years from home as a financial services professional and can tell you that when my sales coach asked me to dress as if I was going into an office every day – it almost doubled my sales! How could this be you ask – no one can see you (except for the occasional Video Conference call), so how can your appearance directly impact your results when you are not in the same office as your boss, co-workers, or clients?
Well, there is this interesting concept of projecting your style image. A paper in August 2015 in Social Psychological and Personality Science asked subjects to change into formal or casual clothing before cognitive tests. Very interesting results – wearing formal business attire increased abstract thinking— an important aspect of creativity and long-term strategizing. The experiments suggest the effect is related to feelings of power. Add, to that the concept that the better you feel you look, it adds to your confidence and well-being.
People in turn feel your “feeling good” vibes over the phone or in emails or texts. By putting yourself in comfortable work attire, your body and your subconscious automatically feels and registers the “at work” mode, and your output is impacted.
And, psychologically speaking – when you dress for your profession, even if no one else is in your home – you show a level of care and respect for your job that can translate in your attracting accolades and /or improving your results. This is particularly true when you work in a sales environment or participate in live webinars.
And a great tip is to put a mirror in front of you to remind you to SMILE, SMILE, SMILE. People really do feel a smile over the telephone or video and will respond much better to whatever you are promoting on your call!
When it comes to webinars – use this occasion as an opportunity to show your boss, colleagues, or clients that you know how it is done. Make sure your office setting is clutter free and pleasing to the eye – no boxes or dirty laundry in the line of sight. A pro tip – put a nice painting or bookshelf and tall plant behind you if possible and face your light source. And please dress the part and make it business casual – no sweatpants or wrinkly shirts!
So, your work from home wardrobe for men and women is a thing and is a great tool that you could use to your advantage to elevate your spirits, increase your sales, or simply motivate you to work more effectively. Putting this best professional foot forward could increase your chances of snagging that raise or new position. And, finally, there is much that happens in the workplace that is out of control of the employee. Dressing for Success is one simple way for you to control your environment and bring confidence and good vibes into your work experience.
