More Americans are moving out of the office and working from home—here's how to do it effectively

Over the last decade, more and more American workers have trickled out of their offices and have opted to work from home instead.

That's according to the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, which found that 3.4 million employees in the U.S. primarily worked from home in 2017. The Fed highlighted this stat in its recent report about the implications of telecommuting and its key drivers, such as the shift away from manufacturing jobs and improved technology making it easier to work from home.

That's still a small portion of the workforce — clocking in around 3% — but it's higher than the 500,000 employees who said they telecommuted in 1980.

The Federal Reserve's findings were based on the Census Bureau's American Community Survey, which asked respondents about how they usually commute to work.

That figure also omits the growing number of workers who use non-residential locations for work, such as a coffee shops or coworking spaces, which had an estimated half a million occupants in 2017. The analysis also excludes workers who were self-employed.

And the growth of employees working from home isn't exclusive to those who make their home office their primary workplace. An additional 7% of full-time workers reported telecommuting four days or more per month, according to the Federal Highway Administration.

"It is the workplace of the future," said Kerry Hannon, a career and personal finance expert and author who has worked out of her home for 15 years since leaving her position at USA Today. "It is the trend, it is what's happening."

Hannon, whose forthcoming book "Great Pajama Jobs: How to Land a Job Without the Commute," has four tips for those who want to work from home effectively:

Not everyone is cut out to be a remote worker, Hannon said. That's because working from home requires discipline, whether that be ignoring distractions during the day or setting your work hours for when you're most productive.

You also have to determine how dependent you are on other people when you're at work. Working from home can be lonely, and increased isolation can even lead to weakened productivity and motivation. It also requires some unpredictable skills, such as the ability to troubleshoot your own I.T. problems.

"Generally speaking, it's somebody who's going to be very comfortable in their own skin and able to have that focus and have the discipline," Hannon said.

It's important to designate a space where you can set your own boundaries. This also means telling your friends and family to not encroach on that location.

"It's amazing how many people think you're not really working. They call you, they stop by. You have to approach it just like you do if you're going to work," Hannon said.

Not only can an at-home office potentially help your productivity, it can also save you money on your taxes, especially for those who may be self-employed and have to shell out expenses for both Social Security and Medicare taxes.

To qualify for a tax deduction, the designated space you use in your home has to meet the Internal Revenue Service's qualifications laid out in its Publication 587. For instance, the space must be for work purposes only, and it has to be used on a regular basis.

Just because you work alone at home doesn't mean you can't network.

To avoid feeling like you're out of the loop, Hannon advises commuting to your employer's local office from time to time to connect with your coworkers. That might mean inviting teammates to lunch or asking for a meeting with your managers.

Don't fear if your employer doesn't have a local office, either. Try to find other employees working remotely in your area, maybe those who even work at the same company, and invite them to happy hour or coffee, Hannon said. She also suggests attending conferences and events in your area if you don't have local coworkers.

There may be more telecommuters in your neighborhood depending on where you live, too. For instance, nearly 9% of the workforce in Boulder, Colorado, decided to forgo the office in 2017, and many areas along the East and West coasts had telecommuting averages above 3%, according to the Federal Reserve.

When you work from home, you have to communicate more than ever, Hannon said. That includes asking for feedback from your manager as if you were an employee at the office.

When you communicate with your manager and discuss your at-home work performance, you're ensuring that they feel they're getting what they need from you, and you're getting the feedback you need from them.

Not doing this could cost you.

"If you're not working at the office, you can often be out of sight, out of mind for a promotion, you could miss out on the opportunity to do a cool project," Hannon said. "There's lots of ways that you're not top of mind for a manager to pull you in on something."

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