Make Working from Home Work for You

0

The coronavirus pandemic has had a huge number of impacts on day to day life. Perhaps one of the most significant changes that many of us have experienced is suddenly having to work from home. In usual, day to day life, the vast majority of us have to leave our homes and commute to a workplace. We’ll share a communal office space or work in a commercial store, regularly coming into contact with others and being productive in a professional environment. But social distancing measures implemented to slow the spread of coronavirus and Covid-19 have meant that anyone who can work from home has been working from home for a little while now. As we’re beginning to accept that these changes may be longer term than we initially imagined, and with many workplaces looking to implement remote working permanently, you may need a little advice on how to make working from home work for you. Here are a few pieces of advice that could help you along the way!

 

Create a Home Office Space

 

The first thing you need to do in order to work from home productively is to create some sort of workspace. If you have a spare room, this is ideal and can be transformed into an office. Invest in a good quality desk, work from home office chairs and other essential equipment that you would otherwise usually have in an office. This will ensure that you can sit comfortably and in a way that you won’t experience discomfort or injury. If you don’t have a spare room, dedicate a portion of another room to working instead. This space should be quiet and you should be able to work here uninterrupted.

 

Create a Healthy Work-Life Divide

 

You don’t want your work life and home life to merge into one. Instead, it’s better to keep the two aspects of your life separate wherever possible. This will help to ensure that you don’t slack, but you also don’t overwork yourself. Set yourself working hours. When they’re complete, close your laptop or shut down your computer and enjoy your free time. It’s so easy to slip into the habit of checking back in on emails, projects and other work when you work and rest in the same place. Don’t let this happen!

 

Keep Communication Open

 

When you’re working from home, it can become easy to turn into yourself and become independent and unsocial. Sure, independence and being able to operate alone are good traits. But you still need to keep communication open with people you’d usually collaborate with in your usual work environment. Make sure to email and check in on people. Ask any questions you need answered. Suggest video call meetings to maintain good relationships with your colleagues. You could even suggest that your workplace invests in software like Microsoft Teams to improve interpersonal professional communications.

 

Sure, working from home may feel like a big jump from what you’re used to. But there are ways to make it work. Hopefully, some of the above information helps!