How To Make Working From Home Work For You

Yesterday I did my first trial working from home, bought on by the recent Coronavirus issue. How did it go I hear you ask? Surprising well!

I’ll be honest, I was not at all confident it would work… (but tried to stay confident when I was pitching it to my boss)!

Simple tips to work from home

So what worked:

• If you have kids at home with you, feed them well before you start. Feed yourself too and make a cuppa while you are at it! Enlist your older children’s help to prepare the food, if they are able. This gives you some time to log on and set up your workspace.
• Make sure you have a written to-do list of things you need to focus on. It’s easy to forget what you need to do when you are at home, particularly if you are not used to working at home. Our brains can be really good at keeping things separate.
• First, decide what tasks you have to get through on your to-do list and what time you will finish working. This is so you don’t get carried away and forget that you have a home life. Trust me, it happens!
• Sit on a comfortable chair at a proper stable surface. For goodness sake, don’t set yourself up on your bed with the laptop on your lap. You will be sore after.
• Even if you are on a laptop, use a mouse. It’s far quicker and easier on your fingers.
• Finish when you said you would give or take 15 minutes if you get through your list earlier than you expected; well done for being so productive! It can be seriously easier to focus at home.
• If by chance you are having trouble focusing or even getting started or the kids are disturbing you, head outside for a short break. Hopefully, the kids will keep playing outside, and you can head back to your computer after the short recharge.
• In fact, it worked so well, and I seriously enjoyed the relaxed feeling of already being home before the ‘dinner rush’ starts. I fully recommend this to you all.

Good luck and may the power be with you. 

Check out our 10 productivity tips for working from home here.