Working from home became the norm for many in 2020 due to the Coronavirus outbreak.
As the new year gets underway, many of us are continuing to work from our kitchen table or spare bedroom. This week, Propertynews.com are sharing their top tips on how you can get the most out of working remotely.
7 top tips for those working from home
1. Create an office space
Creating an office space is one of the most important elements of working from home. Ideally this space will be away from distractions and separate from areas that you associate with relaxing and unwinding (such as a bedroom or living room)
Setting up a desk in a spare room or working from the kitchen table is ideal. Just make sure that your temporary office space has an abundance of natural light, a hard desk and a supportive chair.
When working from home, it is important to keep in mind these four points to ensure productivity and efficiency.
- Separation – distinguish between work space and home space. When working from home, it is important to keep these two areas of your life as separate as possible.
- Privacy – Choose an area that will give you peace to work and engage in meetings.
- Security – Ensure that your office area has space to store important documents and tools.
- Storage – Your home office should have enough storage to organise your work tools and materials so that you can store them safely at the end of the working day.
2. Keep to a routine
Whilst working from home, it is important to keep to your routine. Gone are those long commutes and traffic jams, however, we still recommend having a set time to wake up each morning. Have your breakfast, a morning cup of coffee and get dressed out of your pyjamas, this will automatically make you feel more productive.
Make sure you are at your home office for the normal time that you would arrive at work.
3. Keep to set office working hours
Ensure that you are beginning and finishing work at your normal time unless instructed by a manager. If you need to change your working hours, or need to use your annual leave, make sure to speak with a manager first.
4. Take breaks
Taking short breaks throughout the day can boost your productivity. It is important to take screen breaks and get up from your desk and move around, just as you would in an office.
When working from home, it can be tempting to work through lunch however, this is not recommended. Make sure to step away from your work station and enjoy your lunch break. Propertynews.com are sharing 6 things that you can do on your lunch break that will leave you feeling energised and motivated.
5. Keep connected with colleagues
Working from home can be a lonely time for many of us. Keeping in contact with our colleagues can help us to feel less isolated and more productive. Instant messaging programs such as Skype, Slack and Microsoft Teams helps to keep colleagues connected and is a great way of scheduling regular check-ins with your team mates.
Keeping connected also highlights to your colleagues that you are still indeed ‘working’ from home and not spending all morning on the sofa watching daytime television. Remember that your colleagues and managers cannot see you during this time, so small actions like reaching out will show that you are engaging with your work.
6. Stay active
There are many ways that you can remain active whilst staying indoors. If you have any gym equipment such as a treadmill or exercise bike, this is a fantastic way to keep fit during this unprecedented time.
If you do not own any personal gym equipment, there are still plenty of ways to remain active. If you have a garden, why not go outside and do some cardio exercise?
There are also many virtual gym classes and free online videos that offer home workouts.
Keeping active can also improve our mental health, which is also very important to look after at this time.
7. Log off
When you have finished work for the day – log off and pack up. If using a laptop, it can be beneficial to pack away this laptop along with any books, notes and equipment until the next day. This will help you to separate your work life from your home life and you will not be tempted to check those work emails.
It is important after a long day in your home office to relax and unwind, ready for another busy day tomorrow.
For more homeowner top tips, check out the Propertynews.com blog.
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