At The Workstation, we’re very familiar with flexible working, and whilst a large percentage of the world are currently working from home due to the COVID-19 outbreak, here are our Ten Tips for Working From Home.
Maintain a routine
For people who don’t work from home and are used to having a 9-5 office routine, it’s important to maintain a routine to keep you from ‘over-working’ by ending up doing more hours than you normally would and to remind you to stop for regular breaks and lunch.
Whether this means adapting your working hours to start earlier (now that you don’t have a commute) and finish earlier, or find a different pattern that works for you – you’ll soon get into the flow of working from home.
Setting up a workspace
It might be tempting to do work from the sofa or a comfortable space such as your bedroom but if you have the room, it’s worth setting up a ‘working space’ in your home so that when you clock off, you remove yourself from your workspace and spend time in the leisure spaces of your home.
Whether you have a spare room that can double up as an office, or you need to set up on your dining room table, you can make an area of your home a place of innovation, peace and quiet and concentration.
Technology
There are some brilliant things you can use to keep your business going as normal whether that means using Zoom for conference calls, Hangouts for screen sharing sessions or an app that picks up all of the calls that would have gone to your office line so that you can transfer it to other members of the team seemingly business as usual.
There are so many brilliant ways to keep connected with your customers and clients in this unprecedented and uncertain time. Whether you have had to remarket yourself and your business or realigned your strategy, now is the time to ready your business for growth.
Socialise with your colleagues
Make sure to keep the line of communication open with your colleagues and have daily or weekly check-ins even if it is just to touch base or have a social conversation.
This can be done through the phone, on video calls or other virtual means.
Look for Training Opportunities
This is an excellent time to get some training under your belts. Whether it’s brushing up on an existing skill or learning a new one entirely, you can use the time wisely to broaden your horizons.
There is a long list of courses including those found on LinkedIn, Google and more that have been made available for free during the COVID-19 outbreak.
Be Positive
For those that aren’t used to remote working, it’s important to maintain positivity. It might be frustrating not being able to turn to a colleague and use them as a soundboard for ideas, to get the team together to chat strategy or tactics and to meet new clients to score new business but there is a way to do a lot of these things virtually.
It’s important to keep morale up and remain positive.
Make sure you’re comfortable
We said in top tip number one to create a workspace in your home… but it’s important that you are comfortable. It’s no good sitting on a hard seat or somewhere that isn’t comfortable for the duration of your working hours.
It might be worth investing in comfortable office furniture or equipment such as headphones to make it a more bearable place to spend time.
Listen to Music
Background music is highly recommended to make a working environment relaxing and engaging. Whether it is a classical music playlist or something more to your taste, it’ll help set the mood and take your mind off of any external noises that you may hear outside of your home.
Get Fresh Air
This could mean cracking open the windows, stepping out into the garden or taking your hourly daily walk, it’s important to make sure you get fresh air, stretch your legs and take regular breaks.
Don’t be too hard on yourself
Working from home isn’t for everyone, and for those that don’t normally work from home might have trouble striking a work/life balance, to begin with. Whilst a lot of people will be suffering from disruptions (whether that is due to children, family or pets) and distractions, it is important to not be so hard on yourself. We’re all doing our best in a time of uncertainty.
We at The Workstation hope you take care and keep safe.
Did you know that we have virtual services to help businesses run as normal whilst the COVID-19 pandemic halts normal business activities? Take a look here.