NINE WAYS TO WORK FROM HOME MORE EFFECTIVELY

 

Before the Coronavirus outbreak just 5% of people mainly worked from home in the UK (ONS, 2020). With more people than ever now obliged to work from home, we share nine ways to ensure you can work effectively and safely.

1.    Create a separate space to work

Working from home can make it challenging to separate work life from home life, and the working day from your free time. While you may not have a separate office in your home, where possible your ‘desk’ should be set up in a separate place, which you can designate your work space. Having to move your work every meal time, because you’re working on the kitchen table, and having others in your household popping into make hot drinks all day, won’t help you focus and stay in work-mode. Using your bedroom is generally considered to be a last resort option. Having a separate space will help you to put some distance between work and home, making your work time more effective and helping you switch off when you finish for the day.  

2.    Get into a regular routine

Advice suggests setting your alarm at the same time every day and maintaining a regular routine, as if you were going into work, will help you switch into work-mode. Dressing so you can jump on a video call at short notice will also help you feel more ‘at work’. Start your work at the same time, follow a pattern with breaks and try to finish at a similar time each day. One of the challenges often raised by people who work from home, is that they tend to work much later, only to realise the evening is over and it’s time for bed.

3.    Get your ‘desk’ set up to work comfortably

For many employees their desk in the office will have been given the once over by occupational health, to reduce the likelihood of musculoskeletal injuries from a bad seating position and poor set up of monitors, keyboards and mice. Although employers are still responsible for health and safety, even when employees work from home, for obvious reasons they cannot conduct the same monitoring for you at  home. That shouldn’t stop you using the same principles to set up your home office. Getting the right tech hardware and some basic ergonomics is all you need. To avoid eye-strain, a separate height adjustable monitor is recommended. It should be adjusted so the top is positioned at your eye level, and be about arm’s length away from you. It should also be positioned to avoid glare on the screen from lighting or sunshine. An adjustable laptop stand is an alternative option. A supportive chair will help your posture. When seated your elbows should be at 90 degrees to the desk/table. Your knees should create a right angle and use a footstool if your feet don’t touch the floor when your arms are at the right height. A separate keyboard and mouse will make your position more comfortable, so you don’t need to stretch to have the screen at a comfortable distance and correct height. Even if your desk, or chair, are not adjustable, you may be able to raise them safely using things you have at home, like wood blocks, books or reams of printer paper. If you have a phone it should be positioned on your non-writing side, so that you won’t cradle it in your neck to write. If you’re regularly on calls, a headset will ensure you maintain good posture and your hands are free to type, or make notes. A few simple adjustments can make all the difference to your health and productivity.

 4.    Plan your day the night before

Planning out the following day, before closing down, helps you to relax in the evening, and get off to a good start in the morning. Some people swear by time-boxing using a calendar, others find a things-to-do list works for them. However you do it, scheduling the next day, including any tasks you didn’t get done, ensures they won’t be forgotten, and you will find it easier to tackle the first task the next morning.

 5.    Keep in touch with your team

One of the hardest adjustments to working from home is the lack of social interaction with colleagues. Maintaining good working relationships, and staying connected with your manager, and team, will help to avoid feelings of isolation and maintain better mental health. Avoid being overly task focused on calls, take time to check in with each other. You might be coping well, but others may not be. Work out how you all want to communicate and keep in touch regularly. Video calling platforms like Zoom, and tools like Google Teams, can keep everyone up to date and feeling connected.

 6.    Take regular breaks

Taking regular breaks is necessary for good workplace health, and can help to maintain productivity. Just getting up and moving about for a couple of minutes every half an hour, planning in longer coffee breaks, and breaking properly for lunch, will make you more effective and support good physical and mental health.

 7.    Minimise distractions

Depending on your situation, distractions will come in different forms. It might be colleagues on a messaging platform, which constantly alerts you to new messages, emails coming in, or others trying to work from home in the same space. It might also be your kids asking you to open something, if they can have a snack, or why cats get fur balls. Whatever it is, try to minimise the distractions to help you focus. Planning time to answer emails, rather than checking them as new ones come in, turning off alerts and coordinating schedules with others in the house, will all help to remove some of them. But it’s also worth reminding yourself that some distractions are inevitable, when they arise deal with them, but try to avoid getting side tracked by them.

 8.    Take a walk to get some fresh air (unless you’re self-isolating)

Taking a walk outside once a day, and stepping outside for some fresh air throughout the day, is good for your mental health, It will help you to think more clearly and avoid getting cabin fever. It’s easy to get stuck going around in circles on a problem, especially with no colleagues around to bounce ideas off. Just 5 minutes outside will help you get some perspective and come up with more creative ways to tackle the challenge.

9.    Stay hydrated and plan healthy lunches and snacks

Keeping hydrated is really important. Start the day with a water bottle on your desk, topping up as necessary. You could set an alarm every half an hour, to remind you to get up from your desk and drink water. With the stocked cupboards and fridge at your disposal, it is easy to end up snacking on unhealthy foods all day, leaving you feeling sluggish and annoyed at yourself. Prepare healthy snacks that aren’t going to give you a sugar rush, only to leave you crashing 30 minutes later. Fruit, nuts, chopped veg and hummus, or a yogurt, are better than raiding the leftover Easter treats.

Follow these nine steps to working from home and you’ll find you are more productive, more relaxed in your free time, and you avoid the aches and pains from a bad home office set up. 

All the tech you need available from Technical Reality

Technical Reality is a leading supplier of IT lifecycle solutions, offering new and refurbished IT; Tech-as-a-Service contracts; extended warranty packages and fully compliant IT equipment recycling. So, whatever you’re looking for, we can make it a reality.

We have over 50,000 tech hardware products, available online, in stock and ready to ship for next day delivery. If you would like to talk to us about great offers and volume deals, get in touch by email or call us on 0800 689 0664.