The past twelve months have been tough. With many of us having to change our habits and work from home, it has been a real challenge. If you have found that you have had to switch your commute from a traffic-filled car journey to a wander down the hall, or from working in a bustling office to a solitary dining table, you are not alone. While there are many perks to working from home, there are also many negatives and a lot of people can be feeling lost, anxious and unmotivated. If this is you, there are many ways you can improve your working from home experience. From changing your mindset to equipping yourself with the things you need to have a productive day, these are just a few ways you will find you get more out of your day.
- Give yourself set working hours and don’t go beyond this
When you are in an office, there are very clear boundaries of when to start and when to finish work. When you are home, this is not quite the same and you can quickly suffer from burnout by overworking. Ensure that you clock off at a certain time and give yourself some downtime. This will be beneficial for your mental health and your work performance too.
- Ensure you have the right equipment
In order to work as well as you can, you need to have the right equipment to hand. Make sure you have a good desk chair that can support your back, an ergonomic keyboard for mac or your computer and a big enough desk to fit all your items. This will make you feel a lot more productive and get more done.
- Get some fresh air each day
While working from home it can be easy to stay in and not get any fresh air. Make yourself go out each day even if it is just for a quick walk around the block. This will help to clear your head and prepare you for the day or afternoon ahead. It can also help if you wake up and do a walk before starting work so it mimics a commute. This way you will feel more motivated to start work and it gives you a clear boundary between waking up and getting ready to work, and actually doing so.
- Stay in touch with colleagues
Working from home can feel lonely, which is why it is so important to keep in touch with your colleagues, friends and family. An office is usually a sociable place so you can miss this if you work from home. Don’t stick to emails, instead, call up your fellow work colleagues for a chat or meeting, see how they are doing and check-in to see how they are getting on.
These are just a few tips for working from home. By following these you will soon find that you get a lot more done during the day. What are your top tips for working from home? Let us know in the comments below.