What was a way for us to keep businesses alive and stop the spread of Covid-19, is now becoming normal practice for many businesses. As we enter a new year, if you find you are one of the many who will not return to the office on a full-time basis, here are 8 ways to become a working from home pro!
1: Keep Your Morning Routine.
By continuing your morning routine even if you aren’t leaving the house, this can assist you by getting into the right mindset. As tempting as it is to stay in your pajamas, get dressed! This can often distract you rather than being a perk of working from home.
2: Define Your Working Hours.
Working from home makes you accountable for your own time. Plan your day based off your start/finishing times and breaks. Be wary of working more hours than necessary. It can be tempting to ‘get one more thing done’ before you finish up, but this can lead to burn out or finding it hard to switch off at the end of the day.
3: Minimize Distractions.
This one is all mental. Whilst working from home it would be so easy to throw on another load of washing, play with the dog or have the TV on in the background. Don’t do it! If you have ever needed an excuse to not do housework – this is it!
4: Set Boundaries.
Just because you’re working from home, doesn’t mean your ‘home’. Be clear with those who you share the home with to respect your working needs. If you share the same space with a fellow working from home adult, you may need to organize some rules around meetings, quiet times etc.
5: Invest In Your Setup
If working from home is the new normal for you, do you have the right tools and set-up so you can feel organized and work more efficiently? You may need to start thinking more long term than temporary like it once was. Think decent chair (not the couch), a desk, laptop or webcam. By having this dedicated workspace regardless if it’s the spare room or a corner in the living room, it can help the transition from office to home but also maintain productivity and the work-life balance.
6: Interact With Others.
You’re working from home, not the moon. It’s okay to reach out to other employees like you would if you were in the office. Reach out to your team via the messaging apps, zoom or via phone.
7: Make A List.
We are big believers in lists. Who doesn’t get excited about ticking off those tasks! By starting each day with a clear direction of what you want to accomplish is important to keeping you accountable and minimizing downtime and distractions. We recommend at the end of each day, writing down a list of jobs you need to work on and prioritize. This list will usually take 5 minutes to generate and gives you the best head start for the following day.
8: Finish work when you should…
and enjoy your evening as you typically would coming home from the office.