It’s a split crowd when it comes to working at home. Some love it, some hate it. If you’re in the love it camp, it’s also important that you’re working as best as you can.
You need to be productive, need to be able to implement your task to a high level and you need to be mindful of overall comfort. Home offices are a contrast from the office which you go to daily, if you’re struggling to work from home, here are some ways to successfully make the switch.
Breaking away
As a home worker, it’s possible you’ll naturally fall into the rhythm of working through lunch and breaks. It should be a scheduled break longer than a few minutes, and exceeds nipping down to the kitchen to have a quick snack.
Breaks are scheduled throughout the day to prevent burn out and to give your mind a small rest. It’s not possible to work at 100% all the time and setting an alarm will be the reminder you need to break away from the screen and take the well deserved break.
Communication
The normal office atmosphere ensures you’re never alone. Working from home isn’t for everyone as it can be quiet and sometimes lonely.
Being able to contact friends, family and work colleagues can make all the difference to your mood. Communication is healthy and some form of contact with other people during a break or at a time when you feel you need a pick me up or change of task.
Social Media
Don’t be sucked into the social media scroll before you know it you’ve lost 15 minutes and you have nothing to show for your time. Removing the temptation and deleting any apps and avoiding the websites is a great place to start.
Staying focused
When you’re on your own and don’t have the office rules looming over you, you still have to make yourself accountable for your actions and workload.
By this, we mean not sneaking a look at your phone constantly, not playing games and not replying to every text that comes through. You need to bring the office structure into your own home office and apply the same rules. Just think to yourself – would you be doing this is you were in the office with everyone else?
Watching the TV
Tying in with staying focused, the TV is just as distracting, if not more distracting than using your phone.
It’s a fact that whilst you’re watching TV, you won’t be working to your full potential. Background noise can be useful as it breaks away the complete silence but keep any distracting visuals at pay.
Keep it comfortable
A key step to working well at home is having the right set up. You’ll need the right tools and equipment around you to fulfil your job role. As you would in the office, desktop office screens are great to section of your workspace and create a divide as to what is workspace and what is home space.
Working from a desk is preferable, working on the soda just doesn’t have the same support and levels of motivation as desk and office chair set up.
