Tips for adjusting to working from home
Have you recently made a new career move where you're in the process of adjusting to working from home? Or have you needed to begin working from home due to COVID?
Whatever your reasons, it's apparent that remote working is on the rise. And with the advancements in technology, working from home is now easier and more productive than ever.
In this blog post, we give our best tips for those adjusting to working from home. Let’s dive in.
Adjusting to remote working from home
If you’ve always worked from the office, then switching to home working will have its own unique set of challenges. Below we go over awesome practical solutions to implement into your home working schedule.
1. Communicate your expectations with anyone who will be home with you.
If you’ve suddenly needed to begin working from home, the unexpected changes can affect not just yourself but your family too.
It’s important to communicate with your family what’s necessary to change to ensure your remote working is successful.
For example, if your wife is a stay-at-home mum, she may be used to the children making lots of noise randomly throughout the day. Then all of a sudden, their daily routine is disrupted to avoid disturbing you.
This is especially the case if your remote role requires you to be on lots of phone calls.
In this situation and others like it, it’s important you compromise with your family on how to move forward. You’ll need quiet to take these calls and meetings without noise disruption from elsewhere in the house.
One way to get around this scenario is to keep the children away from certain areas of the house during phone call times.
Other family members may not fully understand the home working concept. They may assume that as you’re home you may be expected to do more around the house. Or even socialise with the family more.
Although not to let the family/home balance tip too much one way, you should set your family's expectations on what you’ll be doing between certain times of the day. Just as you would if you were to work at the office.
There should be a clear distinction about what times you’re unavailable and available.
2. Take breaks and time for yourself
Have clear breaks when working from home. Otherwise, the work/home balance may be dysfunctional.
Everyone is entitled to a break. You should not be afraid to take time for yourself in order to refresh and come back better than ever. In the office, breaks are set at a scheduled time, you should ensure this is the same (or close to) at home.
3. Prepare meals the night before to save time in morning
Working from home can be a great way to earn money, but there are some things you should know before jumping in.
Reduce your workload while at home, by preparing meals from the night before. This makes lunchtime at home simple, quick and cleaner.
Sometimes, working from home can be difficult as being home can sometimes be distracting. Especially if you can see the dishes piling up, or the laundry basket getting too full. While you should work towards a clean, uncluttered office space, some daily mess is inevitable.
4. Routine
Establish a routine. Wake at the same time each day. Incorporate some ‘me’ time after the working day for motivation
Move around
Working seated in the same position all day can inhibit productivity, not to mention cause aches and pains. When working at home this problem is heightened. Especially, with colleague socialisation being only through the computer.
In the office, colleagues would get up, chat and socialise in communal areas. At home, you need to make the necessary changes to get up and moving about during your working day.
Try implementing a mid-day home stretch or workout to increase blood flow throughout the body.
How to design your workspace for more productivity?
A workspace is a physical location where a person spends most of their time. It can be a desk, a home studio, or even just an office that has been made into an individual's personal space. A workspace can be designed to suit the individual's needs, but it is important that any design reflects the person's personality and style of working.
High-quality office chairs are one of the best investments
Designing your workspace can be difficult because it is something that changes depending on the type of work you are doing.
However, there are some universal principles for designing your workspace so that it is not only functional but also aesthetically pleasing.
One of these is to get a comfortable home office chair. You’ll be spending most of the day sitting in it. So a luxurious chair can transform your miserable working day into a happy one.
Ensure that you've got enough room for work comfortably
The best ways to design your workspace are by implementing a system of separation between private and personal, so that information and space is kept organised.
At your home office try to de-clutter the space providing you with an organised space that minimises distractions.
Keep office necessities nearby, while finding a separate space to store personal information and documentation.
Pick your spot with light, air and noise in mind.
The workspace is the area where you spend most of your time working. It's important to have a design that makes it easy for you to stay focused and avoid distractions.
- Have enough light to see your keyboard clearly, but avoid reflected screen glare.
- Sit facing a window to relieve eye strain. This way you can look up from your screen and see out into the distance, giving your short vision a break once in a while.
- People work more productively with natural light and openness. Open a window from time to time for fresh air and natural light.
- Try to find a location in your home away from external noise. If this is impossible due to living in a noisy city consider using headphones or noise-cancelling headphones to improve concentration.
Celebrating success
Acknowledge success on a personal level and team level while at home.
Celebrating success is a way that individuals and companies can express their appreciation for the successes achieved in their lives. This includes celebrating their own successes, as well as others' successes. There are a few different types of celebrations, including the following:
Celebrate success in team catch-ups
Celebrating success is a way to show that you have achieved a goal or overcome a struggle. It can be as simple as going out for dinner with your colleagues or meeting up over a group video call.
Share your successes with your family at home too. It's easy to focus on the negatives of life, but sometimes it's important to celebrate our successes. Even when not in the conventional work setting!
Recording achievements
Make a To-Do list work for yourself and check off every completed task. Over the course of the week, you’ll have a clear vision of how productive you have been. This can improve motivation and gain a better sense of accomplishment.
Recording achievements is a process that allows users to track and document their progress. It is necessary for people who want to keep track of the skills, ideas, and activities they have mastered over the course of their lifetime.
How do you stay in touch with your team when working remotely?
Stay in touch with your team over social media, online video calls and even text messaging. Some studies have even noted an improvement in employee engagement from remote working.
Working from home benefits
Working from home can offer a variety of benefits, such as having more time to spend with family and friends. It also provides the ability to work when you're not physically in your office. Additionally, working remotely can help you make more money.
Benefits include:
Decreased stress
Employees working from home have a more balanced home/work life. This makes their job less stressful. Working from home can provide a positive, fulfilling life with the job you love.
Increased productivity
Employees have far fewer distractions working from home than in the office, so tend to produce a higher quality of work.
You can also set your own schedule and decide what projects you want to take on. This can lead to more work, achievement, and personal satisfaction.
Hire worldwide
Organisations without remote hiring may be missing out on a large pool of available talent.
With the internet, employees can work from anywhere in the world and still be connected to their company. Employees get the freedom to work without any restrictions, such as hours or geographical location.
Increased job satisfaction
Many home workers value home working more than a bonus.
Working from home challenges
Working from home can be a real challenge. It's hard to get motivated when you're in an unfamiliar environment that doesn't offer the same opportunities for socialization and interaction with others. There are a few ways to make working from home easier and more productive when faced with the following challenges:
Managers may be concerned if a worker is actually working.
Many managers have concerns over their employees' work habits while working from home. But often these concerns are unnecessary as studies have shown remote working productivity to increase!
This may be for a few reasons,
- There are fewer distractions among colleagues when working from home.
- As employees are out of sight, they almost have more to prove so their work goals become output focused instead of time focused.
Remote workers can feel isolated and withdraw from team dynamics.
Working from home can be a challenge, but there are things you should keep in mind to make it easier. The first thing is being mindful of distractions and staying organized. Another important factor is to be mindful of your time and not stay up too late.
Find difficulty in keeping home and work life separate
Working from home is often considered a privilege, but it can also be difficult to balance your work life with your personal life.
Hard to establish a decent home working routine
Working from home can be difficult for those who suffer from a lack of social interaction with coworkers. Additionally, it can be difficult to establish a routine when you're not in an office environment.
Working from home tools
Below we talk about a list of tools that can improve the working from home challenges.
Instant messaging and video conferencing tools like SLACK and Zoom.
Our technology is adapting fast and making home working easier than ever! More communication tools are available whether it's instant messaging or video calling.
Video interviewing and improving employee productivity.
reworking video interview still frame
Companies looking to hire remotely have amazing opportunities to improve their remote hires with video interviewing. Reworking is a great one-way video interviewing tool that enables applicants to demonstrate their adaptability to working from home through video.
Reworking is also used by companies to improve employee engagement and feedback. An essential step for companies looking for more remote workers!
High-performance router: investment is better than not getting work done.
A high-performance internet connection and router is necessary for remote workers. There’s nothing more annoying than the loss of internet convention when trying to be productive at home.
Organise and prioritise
Technology can be used in different ways. For example, technology could improve the quality of life, or it could make us more productive. Another way to use technology is to use a specific device to complete a task. Trello is one of these tools, but there are many out there like it.
Removing social networks from toolbar bookmarks helps
To prevent distractions, remove social networks from your browser shortcuts. Social media is designed to make it easy for us to open and browse quickly but can be the detriment of productivity in some cases.
Screen time software
Using tracking software to track the amount of time on screen is a good way for employees to recognise when they’ve been at the desk for too long. While also serving as a tracking tool for managers to see how productive they have been.
Minding your mental health is vital to work from home effectively
Common sense strategies to help one's mental health
Minding your mental health is vital to work from home effectively because you need to be able to focus on the task at hand without feeling overwhelmed.
Mental health is just as important as physical health, and working from home can present a lot of problems for people who are struggling with mental health issues. The key to working well from home is to set boundaries and stick to them.
We hope that your adjusting to working from home is successful!