20 Tips to Help You Transition to a Work from Home Environment

For much of the United States, it has now been over a month since the COVID-19 pandemic has forced people to start working from home.  For some, working from home is a familiar practice, perhaps even the norm. For others, this is their first foray into the world of working remotely.  For all the newbies out there still looking for ways to adjust to a life of working from home, these tips can help you maintain productivity and balance.

Form a Morning Routine

Creating a morning routine for yourself can be considered one of the most important tips. From employees who had a long commute to the office, to those who were used to waking up late and not allowing themselves even one second to spare – a routine is a great way to create a sense of consistency in your morning and will prevent you from starting your work day on the wrong foot.

Maintain a Regular Work Schedule

For some, choosing work hours may be left up to your employer. For others, work hours are a little more flexible. Whether you’re constrained to specific hours or are able to choose your own, set a schedule and stick to it. By following the same work schedule every day, it’s easier to maintain a manageable work-life balance.  Forming a daily routine like you would if you were still traveling into the office helps you organize your work day and helps you plan for your personal life once your work day is over.

Develop Rules for Others to Follow While You’re Working

During this period of social distancing, if you’re sharing a space with family or roommates you’ll need to set up a clear list of ground rules that need to be followed by everyone in your home.  During designated work hours, set guidelines on when people can do certain things. For instance, talk to children about what they are and aren’t allowed to do during work hours. Another rule that should be agreed upon with members of the home is the division of responsibilities. For instance, if a service worker needs to come to the home or a pet needs looked after, develop a system that everyone in the space can follow so that your work is disrupted as little as possible.  Create a schedule for when and who will tackle tasks at the house so that responsibilities are either broken up by availability, or split up so that they are cared for equally between everyone.

Schedule your Breaks

Familiarize yourself with the break policies outline by your employer and take them.  Use these times for lunch, to handle tasks at home, or even to just relax and recharge your battery for the rest of the day.  Although it may not be possible based on your daily work tasks, try to schedule your breaks at a similar time every day if you can. It will help introduce normalcy into your daily routine.

Take your Entire Break

You’ve established your break schedule. Now, make sure you take the entire break. There may be stressful days were you don’t feel like you can spare an entire lunch break away from work.  Still - try to take your entire break. It may not seem like it at the time, but stepping away for your entire lunch break is going to recharge you both mentally and physically and you’ll be more productive as a result.

Go Outside

Make sure you’re following appropriate social distancing measures, but get outside!  Weather permitting, taking your break outside can be a huge boost for your attitude. Your body naturally has a need to move, so even if you’re just going in the back yard – walk around and get some fresh air. It will do wonders for you.

Don’t be Afraid to Ask for Supplies You Need

If your organization is requiring you to work from home, be sure to be honest with them about your setup. Promptly request the items you need when you realize you need them.  It will establish a trust and a precedent with your employers that you are being responsible and mindful of what you need to be most productive. Whether it’s a monitor, keyboard, software or something else, don’t be afraid to request the items you’ll require to accomplish your daily duties.

Also be mindful of budget and the actual need for some items. If you’re only working from home temporarily due to the coronavirus outbreak, it may not be necessary for you to have a brand new office desk or a top of the line desk chair.

Dedicate Office Space and Supplies

Although this is not always feasible, working from home would be a lot easier with a dedicated office space and two computer setups – one for work use and one for personal use. Having a work computer and a personal computer keeps it secure for the employer. In these cases, dedicate a specific area of your home to become your new office with work specific supplies. Specify a desk or table as your new office desk and delegate certain peripherals as work only devices. This will help you maintain normalcy and comfort in your work environment, while keeping you secure and productive.

In instances where two setups just cannot happen, follow similar practices as you would with two setups when it comes to creating an office space. Choose an area of your home and dedicate it to becoming your new home office. When your work day wraps up – and if your setup allows for it – move your computer to the couch or elsewhere for personal use.

It is worth considering partitioning your hard drive and creating a separate work account if two machines are not an option for your home office setup.

Set Up a Separate Phone Number for Work

To help maintain a proper work-life balance, set up a separate phone number for work. This doesn’t have to be another landline or cell phone. You can set this up through a service such as Skype or Google Voice.

Use a VPN

Use a Virtual Private Network when you need to connect to a network that you don’t control. Most companies will have this implemented already for you. You’ll need to log in to their VPN servers to conduct company business. VPN’s offer a safe work environment so that personal company information stays secure.

Stay in Touch with your Colleagues

With stay-at-home orders in effect, loneliness and isolation are real problems that can occur for people. Staying in contact with your colleagues is a great way to fight loneliness that could occur. You’re also offering an open door to friends at work who may be battling the same isolation as you are.

You can use messaging services where employees can discuss common interests. Staying connected to your colleagues is a great way to fight the loneliness that can occur during isolation. Just don’t overdo it and let it affect your job performance.

Take Part in Company Meetings

As employees are transitioning to a work from home environment, work meetings are changing too.  Face-to-face work meetings are temporarily a thing of the past and conference calls and video conferencing are more popular than ever. Video conferencing apps like Zoom or Skype allow organizations to conduct business meetings without having to actually be in the same room.

Be sure to make an effort to attend company meetings, including optional ones.  Even if your contribution to the meeting is just a simple “Thank you, goodbye!” at the end, don’t underestimate the importance that has.

Ask for a Dedicated Meeting Time with your Manager/Supervisor

With businesses working from home, setting aside time for meetings may prove to be harder. Sometimes emails and messages just aren’t enough. Request with your manager that you set aside a dedicated time for you to be able to meet to discuss projects and objectives. This will keep you on task, show initiative, and allow objectives to stay on track.

Don’t Be Apprehensive about Using Sick Days

Workers who are essential and still physically going in to work every day are being encouraged stay home if they feel sick.  That doesn’t mean that remote workers shouldn’t follow that same policy. If sick days are part of your compensation package, take the time you need based on if you’re not feeling well. It’s better to rest to feel better so that you are more productive in the long run.

Seek Out Learning and Training Opportunities

Just because you’re not in the office doesn’t mean you’re desire for training and/or learning opportunities should disappear.  During this period of working from home seek out digital training opportunities such as a webinar.  If it’s a part of your employer’s protocol, get approval from them before taking part in learning opportunities you’re interested in.

Be Clear and Concise with your Colleagues… Often

Working from home requires you to communicate clearly and often with your fellow co-workers. Talk to everyone who needs to know your schedule and tell them about your availability often. Let colleagues and managers know when you’ve finished a task. Use humor to remind the appropriate people that you have a day off next week. Anything that is important, repeat it.  It’s important to communicate important topics often as we’re all not near each other to confirm these things in person.

Stay Positive

Remote workers face a unique challenge - Tone. Even in our daily private lives through text messaging or social media tone can be misconstrued. So it’s even more important now that you’re working from home to make sure that the message you’re sending to your colleagues isn’t taken the wrong way. Be positive – even if it’s to the point where you’re feeling too positive. Fill your quiver with exclamation points and smiley faces and be prepared to let them fly.

Working From Home Offers Unique Perks - Use Them!

Take advantage of the unique perks working from home may give you.  If you want to pop a pizza in the oven for lunch, do it. If you want that 6th cup of coffee, just because you can, do it. If you want to blast music in the background because it helps you stay focused, do it.  Don’t be afraid - just make sure taking advantage of these perks don’t hinder your productivity.

Don’t Be Hard on Yourself

To work from home you have to be disciplined. It takes a large amount of focus to successfully conduct a full-time office job from home. With that said, everyone gets off-task now and again. Don’t beat yourself up over it. If one minute you’re planning that next big marketing push and the next you realized you’ve spent a little more time than normal watching the hummingbird drink from the backyard feeder outside your window, don’t beat yourself up over it. Just try not to let it become a habit. Everyone has moments like this, just remind yourself of all the hard work you’re putting in and get back to work.

Form an Evening Routine

As important as it is to form a routine at the start of your day, it’s equally important to form a routine at the end of your day as well. Find some sort of activity that can signify the end of your day and make a habit of it. Whether it’s taking the dog for a walk, turning on the stove to cook dinner or even just simply shutting off your computer, finding a normal activity to signify the end of the day can help you unwind and relax from your shift so that you’re ready and recharged for the work day tomorrow.

SpaceBound Solutions can help with your Work From Home setup. Click here for more information.

Story via PC Magazine