5 Tips for Working From Home
Having trouble trying to stay focused while working from home or difficulties separating yourself from work after hours? Here are 5 tips that may help out with your struggles!
1. Have a set schedule
Keeping a set schedule and sticking with it most of the time really helps us stay sane during this difficult time. If you work 9am-5pm then stick with those hours just how you would if you were going into the office. Take your lunch break at the time you normally would as well. Some may find that you don’t have much to do this evening so might as well finish off some of the work that needs to be done tomorrow. Don’t do it! Tell yourself to leave it for tomorrow so you can recharge and have a fresh mind the next work day.
2. Set ground rules with people you live with
Some of you may live with others and it may become distracting, we think it is quite important to set ground rules as to what they are allowed to do during work hours especially when we are all stuck at home working. If you’re asked to do chores, communicate with people you live with and explain that work hours are not for chores and it can be done when you are off the clock. You don’t want to let your productivity suffer!
3. Exercise during the time you would be commuting to work
Since we are working from home, your work commute probably has decreased from one train ride/bus ride/20 minute drive to less than a minute. Very convenient and hurray for extra sleep! However, it definitely is a good idea to still allow your body to wake up the normal time you would for work. Instead of commuting, why not do some simple exercises? There are many online free (or paid subscription) tutorials that you can follow along to stay active. Or if you haven’t been a breakfast person, maybe now is a good time to try out some new breakfast recipes you’ve been wanting to make!
4. Dedicated workspace
Creating a dedicated workspace allows you to unblur the line between work life and home life. When going to the office for work and coming home, it is a very physical definition between the two. Having a dedicated workspace will help create that same idea and feeling of “I am at work” and “Now is my personal time”. For example: Some may have designated work laptops – Don’t use it for personal entertainment, log out of your work machine and log onto your personal device instead. Some may not have separate devices to work on. If you are on your laptop, you could hook it up to a second monitor or have it set on a specific work desk to indicate “Now I’m at work”. Unhooking it off the second monitor, taking the laptop and using it elsewhere when it’s personal time! If you are using your personal computer for work, we would recommend closing all the tabs and software programs that are used during work – Anything to help you “leave” work for the next day.
5. Get dressed!
The temptation to stay in pajamas all day is incredible. We suggest you put on clothes that you would wear out in public to help your brain realize “It’s time to get things done!” and feel like “you’re still part of the society”. We aren’t saying dress just as fancy as you would if you were to head into the office, but if that gets you going and helps you focus, why not? We try to do our best to separate work life and personal life when everything is all bunched together during this time – so don’t underestimate the power of changing into different clothes.
These are some of the tips that were utilized by some of our employees that have helped them maintain a work-life balance while working remotely from home. Some tips and tricks were inspired by Vogue, PC Mag and The Muse. Hopefully these help some of you out in terms of working from home, and remember to wash your hands and stay safe!