A beginners guide to working from home!

Working from home can be a big adjustment if you are used to working from an office- and facing into this sudden change can be very daunting.  Here at IT Search, we have found some useful tips to create healthy boundaries between work life and home life when they both happen in the same place to make this transition easier.

Create a routine: 

• One of the benefits of working on site is you are forced into a routine. Your day is broken up into before work, work, and after work with very clear boundaries between being in work, and being at home- there is a whole different building, with a commute, a dress code and a separate workspace to enforce a separation between work and home.  Creating a routine makes it easier to switch into ‘work mode’ and therefore increases your productivity. Whilst rolling out of bed and starting work might seem like the dream, it will be hard to switch on and off between work mode

Plan your day: 

• This can be a nice way of setting up a routine that allows you to switch into work mode quickly, but breaking down all the things you need to achieve in a day/ week into tasks and creating a to-do list ensures that you can effectively use the time you have in your workday. Especially for those of us used to working in an offices setting, this can make us feel more productive, and therefore be more productive. Having a list of tasks to do adds the structure back into our daily routine that we often expect from an office

Be Social: 

• No, don’t spend all day scrolling through Twitter- Utilise your company’s google hangouts, slack channels or WhatsApp group and ensure you are connecting with colleagues. This can be easier to have more of a conversation flow and is often less formal than email. Although everybody might be working from different places, there is no need to become isolated. We might all be physically working alone, but it doesn’t mean we can’t work together!

Take your designated breaks:

• It can be easy to get into a flow of doing work and forget to take designated breaks- especially when you don’t have a reminder of people getting up to go for lunch to remind you to go for yours too. Taking breaks throughout the day (whatever your companies policy is) is important for your mental health, especially in the current situation where people are social distancing. Stretch your legs, get some sun on your face, wash your hands… just take a break! This will improve your productivity and make work more enjoyable. Set a timer to ensure you don’t get distracted/ don’t take the full break

Work from a designated area: 

• Another way to ensure you keep a boundary between work and personal life is to create a designated space to work from in your home. This may be easier said than done, especially for those of us that are house sharing with others who are also working remotely, those of us that have children who are off school, or those of us who live in studio apartments. If you do not have the luxury of a home office, find a place that works for you- the kitchen table, a desk in the sitting room- anywhere that allows you to create a boundary from being at home and working, to being at home and relaxing, This will go a long, long way in ensuring you are not only productive but also you don’t carry work stress into relaxing at home, and home distractions into your work area

Look on the bright side: 

• Finally, although this is a stressful and worrying time for everyone, there is a silver lining. Working from home ensures that the risk of COV19 spreading lessons, and keeps our families, friends and colleagues safer. It is also an incredible experience to see how you as an individual work best without the pressure of many office conventions. Whether this is more relaxed clothing, the radio on, complete silence, a standing desk or working earlier in the morning/ later at night… you have complete control over your working environment!