5 Tips to do your best work at home
Your current role may be expanding its work-from-home scheme, or a new role may be fully remote, such is the flexibility needed by companies and their staff to get back to some form of normality. As 2021 continues with the upheavals from last year, there are plenty of people new to home working who can benefit from some tips from those of us who have been through this before.
- Build your routine
The home environment may be wildly different to your office, but there are enough similarities to help you build a routine that helps you focus on your key tasks. Try to take coffee and other breaks at a similar time to normal, even if you are working in the kitchen. Ensure you build in time for a walk or other exercise to get you out of the chair regularly, and factor in family or other distractions, making an effort to talk to friends to avoid becoming a digital hermit outside of office Zoom calls.
- Ditch the distractions
At first, it might be novel to have the television or a second screen on in the background, or having radio or music playing. If you find your attention wandering, you might try listening to a different type of music, podcasts or something else that helps focus the mind. Youtube videos of glorious scenery can help lift the spirits better than having a daily soap in the background. Also be prepared to move around to change your view or the atmosphere, especially if one side of your house is noisy or there are outside distractions.
- Aim for daily goals
You will naturally have your business or productivity goals to achieve in any job, but add in a set of smaller personal mileposts to keep you on track. You can take a little reward for hitting them, from a five-minute break to a small treat, but the key benefit is breaking down your day into achievable goals.
- Write things down
The modern business might run on Slack, email, dashboards, collaboration apps and a range of other tools. Keep a written list of what you need to do and prioritize it, so you always have it in front of you and not buried across many apps or browser tabs. There’s a certain comfort in crossing those tasks as you do them and if anyone asks for a status or progress check you don’t need to go hunting for information.
- Continue to build relationships
Working from home might seem like a good time to shut out the world and get on with your tasks. However, this can become a closing circle that reduces your contacts to a bare minimum. Take the time to reach out to people and engage with clients, prospects and colleagues. Most of them will be looking for a friendly voice too, and making these efforts can help with business as well as keeping up your communication skills and gaining outside perspectives on what your company is doing, how the market is changing and other gossip.
Most people can make the switch from office to remote working successfully, but it can become all too easy to feel trapped within your own four walls. Whenever you feel under pressure or perhaps depressed, take the time to do something different to change a routine that makes you a happier worker.