When traveling for locum tenens, you must plan ahead to ensure your home continues functioning as if you never left. You need to pay all bills on time, keep track of your appointments and ensure your home is properly maintained, just to name a few things. Thankfully, it does not take an enormous amount of work to make this happen from afar. With a little forethought and the right level of action, you can keep your home running smoothly whether you will be gone weeks or months. Here’s what you can do to ensure it does.
1. Automate Your Bills
No matter how long you’re away from home, your bills will not wait. You must continue to pay for rent or mortgage, utilities, phone service, internet service, and other bills to maintain your home. If you do not, you could face late fees, collections actions, and disconnection notices. You can avoid all these troubles by setting up automatic payments through your bank. If your bank does not offer this service, you may have the option to use auto-pay features through each service provider.
2. Forward Your Mail
When you leave your home for any period of time, your mail may continue to pile up until the box is completely full. When this happens, your carrier may stop delivering your mail and leave it at the post office for pickup – and you may miss urgent information as a result.
To continue receiving all your most important messages while you are away, you must set up forwarding through the postal service. You can either forward your mail to a friend or family member for further handling or use a virtual mailbox service, as is offered by iPostal1 and PostScanMail. With this service, you receive a scanned copy of your unopened mail and then can decide how it is handled. They will forward your mail, open and scan it, or even drop it in the recycle bin.
3. Use Online Calendar Systems
The demands of your locum tenens assignment can make it really easy to forget your upcoming appointments, meetings, and other events. You can stay on top of your schedule by using an online calendar. The online calendar systems allow you to integrate your work and personal calendars, and you can even add people to collaborate on a family schedule, for example. The tools used for these systems are usually mobile-friendly and convenient to use while on the go.
4. Hire Home Maintenance Professionals
Extended locum tenens appointments can be particularly hard on your home. Arranging to have maintenance and repairs performed as needed while you are away can take a bit of the pressure off. Your maintenance and repair experts can come through and fix issues, prep your house for certain weather conditions and care for your lawn on a regular basis. This can help to keep your home looking great and working efficiently for when you return. If you own your home, this can also keep you in good graces with your homeowner's association.
5. Alert Your Neighbors
Good neighbors can help you keep an eye on your home while you are away. Let them know that you are going on a locum tenens assignment and for how long, so they know to report any suspicious activity. Also, remember to let them know who will be maintaining your home, picking up your mail, or visiting the property for any other reason to prevent incorrect reports. Be sure to give your neighbors the contact information for your maintenance and repair professionals, as they can report urgent problems on your behalf and have them fixed right away.
Managing Your Home Life While Away on Locum Tenens
By paying attention to all these areas, you can make your locum tenens assignments much less stressful and your home easier to manage. Your efforts will protect everything from the condition of your home to the preservation of your schedule. Use these tips to manage the upkeep of your home and have the best experience possible on all your locum tenens travels.
