COVID-19: Working from Home Top Tips

With the COVID-19 outbreak, many workplaces have opted for a work from home policy. So, with the number of people who are currently working at home on the rise, it’s important for individuals who are working remotely to set a boundary between where their work starts and where their personal life begins.  To keep your workday efficient, try and follow a few of these tips below.  

Establish a routine.  

While working from home, it's vitally important to establish a routine, which you can stick to throughout the week. If you aren't used to working from home, forming a productive routine can help you create an air of normality until you go back to the office. This routine doesn't just physically have to apply to the hours when you are at your desk, but also to the times you would normally be at work. Particularly if you would normally do a daily commute; keeping the times that you would normally wake up or go to bed, will help this routine.  

Establishing this routine can help you focus your attention to what tasks need to be completed that day. 

Make sure that you are getting some fresh air.

It's important to make sure that you are getting enough fresh air throughout the day. It can make you feel refreshed and ready to face the day. Furthermore, this also helps with sticking to a routine, going outside for a brief time before work. Whether that is going into your garden or for a short walk. Doing this early in the day will help get you into the mindset that you are going to be at work and sets you up for the rest of the day. Keeping the window open will also allow fresh air to come into your work environment and can help you avoid the feeling of being stifled, especially if you live in a small house or flat with other people.  

Find a place at home where you can work comfortably. 

Where you aren't physically going into the office each day, you can make your own office at home. It doesn't have to be an enclosed space where you can't see anything that's going on around you. It just needs to be somewhere where you can sit comfortably throughout the day while you work. This will also help create a work-life and personal life balance, it is somewhere where you can go and be able to focus on the tasks that need completing that day. Having a separate space to work in, allows you to leave the rest of your home as a recreational space for you to enjoy when you finish work. Establishing different spaces is important for both work productivity and for your downtime.

Take regular breaks.  

When you're working from home without your normal co-workers around you, you might find that work becomes monotonous. To avoid this, just take regular breaks where you aren't continuously looking at a computer screen. This will help you boost your motivation and allow you to clear your mind before you come back to work. It will help you look at a task with fresh eyes, and maybe even help you solve a problem you were struggling with before the break.  

Social interaction. 

Working from home can become a lonely experience, particularly if it’s for a prolonged period of time. Having open communication with your co-workers and the people around you can ease any loneliness you may feel, helping you to create a sense of normality to your day. Radio can also ease this, it's a form of media that fades into the background and offers you a one-sided dialogue about different topics.  

At Formation, we care a lot about our team and want to make sure that they are comfortable and happy throughout the ongoing situation with COVID-19, whilst being able to maintain a high standard of work for our clients. Read our other article to learn more about how Formation is dealing with COVID-19 as a business.