I'm not your typical home-based worker. What do you imagine when you think of a home-based worker? I used to think of a work-at-home mother, because my mom worked from home through most of my childhood. Times have changed since then. Younger people are working from home and you no longer have to rewind a movie. Yes, I'm not very old, but I'm at least old enough to remember VHS.

I've spent the last eight months working from home on the East Coast for a company on the West Coast and it's been really tough. I'm moving back to the West Coast in May, so I started thinking about what I can take away from this experience. What has workshifting taught me? And probably more important to this post specifically, how did I progress my career while I was in my 20s and almost 3,000 miles from company headquarters? Here's what I've learned so far about workshifting your way up in a big company:

1. Over-communicate even at the risk of being annoying.
   
   This one was tough for me. I'm the type of person who only sends or presents material when I think it's perfect. But that doesn't work remotely. People don't ask for your opinion as often as they would have when you're across the country. I found that some people within the company were duplicating my efforts because I was waiting to share my vision for something. Every morning I think about the projects I'm working on and then immediately think about who I need to touch base with for those projects. Set up weekly meetings even if you don't have a formal agenda every time. Open communication inspires new ideas and different perspectives. Without proactive communication from home, you're likely to get only two perspectives: yours and your dog's.
   
   
2. You need at least one hour each day without interruption.
   
   I assume many people would say you need more but let's start with just one. In the corporate office, I would move from meeting to meeting with very little time in-between to spend working on my initiatives alone. The move to the East Coast changed this dramatically. My West Coast coworkers aren't in until 8:30 AM (PDT), and that's on a good day. In the mornings, I get almost all of my action items taken care of before I even start a meeting. This helps not only by increasing my productivity but also by allowing me to focus during meetings without a laundry list of items spinning in my head. You're never too busy to sacrifice one hour for no interruptions.
   
   
3. Find sponsors within the company and find reasons to work with them.
   
   There are a handful of people within my company that I regularly connect with on a deeper level beyond the scope of my day-to-day work. These people become critical to your success when you go remote. I work with people like this for a few reasons. First, they make my job more enjoyable. You miss the personal connections when you work from home. Working with people that take a genuine interest in you and your development can make even a phone call more engaging and delightful. Second, these people sing your praises. When you're not in the office every day, you need advocates who think of you, drop your name in conversation, and elicit your feedback when they're working on something tough.
   
   
4. Make more presentations.
   
   Yes, I get paid to say this, but I truly believe it. Being remote does not mean you can't present your ideas. In fact, it's meant the opposite for me. One realization I had immediately after I left the corporate headquarters was that I didn't have to be in the same room as someone nor schedule a special meeting to deliver my ideas. I actually presented a project to our executive staff over an online meeting during my first month in DC, and that project has since become one of my most successful to date.

The world has changed. Ideas and results are clearly a priority over face time now. What's holding you back from your next promotion? Working from home is no longer an excuse.

Photo Credit: Citrix Online