Working from home is something many of us will be starting over the next few weeks. It certainly has its high points, but it also comes with challenges. Productivity can take a dip; there are more distractions and you may not be the only person in the house. This will be especially difficult for those with kids off school right now too! Here are our top tips for working from home. We hope these will help you stay productive and keep you from driving yourself crazy!

1. Get Up At Your Usual Time

No commute = long lies? Nice idea, but you will begin to reduce your motivation. Get out of your pyjamas and make the bed. Use the extra time to be productive. For example, go a half hour walk or run to get yourself outdoors, do a home workout, tidy your house, or spend extra time playing with your pet.

2. Be Strict With Your Working Hours Routine

Building a strict routine for your working hours will help you focus on your work. If you normally work 9-5, stick to that at home too. This will help you get into the right mindset for productivity.

3. Set Up Your Desk Properly

Choose a good location to set up your work station while working from home. If possible, change a spare room into a home office. This gives you a designated work place where you will be able to focus. Then at the end of the day you can leave all your work things in the room, shut the door, and switch off in the evening.

You may also need to set ground rules about your space if others share your home. For example, be clear with children who are not at school when they can or can’t spend time there with you.

4. Take Your Breaks

Make sure you take your proper lunch and tea breaks when you are working from home. This will break your day up. Make a good lunch like a sandwich or salad, not just something quick and unhealthy. If you can, try to fit a walk in during lunch so you aren’t cooped up at home all day. Or at least watch some TV, read a book or call a friend. You could even grab a yoga mat and try a workout at home!

5. Keep Communicating With Your Colleagues

Make sure you catch up with the rest of your team every day while working from home. Make use of the virtual world through conference call programs such as Skype, Zoom, or Microsoft Teams. A webcam such as the Logitech 960-000582 C270 Hd Webcam Blk will be useful for this as it is always good to be able to chat face-to-face online. This will mean you know how everything is getting on, as well as be able to support each other.

You could also make a regular 15 minute whole-team catch up each day when you’d usually have a tea break. Be honest with each other, and help each other out when you can when things may be more difficult.

6. Delete Social Media Apps

This might feel tricky to do. However, this will help you stop getting distracted. Especially initially while you work on your routine. Or you could just switch your phone off or leave it in another room to prevent distractions.

7. Use a VPN

If you can use a Virtual Private Network, do so as this will be more secure for browsing. You should be able to connect to the VPN from your office.

8. Learn To Switch Off

One of the biggest problems with working from home can be switching off in the evenings. If you are seeing your laptop and work, it’s likely to get you thinking about it. This can actually reduce productivity as you are more likely to struggle sleeping and relaxing.

Often, the journey home is where most people switch off subconsciously. So try and recreate this break between work and home. You could do this by going for a walk or run, or calling someone up.

What Tips Do You Have For Working From Home?

Let us know in the comments what your top working from home tips are!

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