How to survive (& thrive) working from home
Once upon a time I used to work in an office. I had a daily commute, a desk that I’d sit at for 8+ hours every Monday to Friday and an in-house barista that I’d hit up for that 10am caffeine fix each morning. And I would dream of the days when I could work from home, knowing how much more I could get done when in my own environment.
When coronavirus hit and homeworkers went from being a small select few to the whole world and her dog, my friends came to me for advice. Having never worked from home themselves bar the odd day here and there, they wanted to know how to work from home productively and effectively, without going stir crazy.
So, I crafted a list of tips for them. And it seems only natural to share those tips with you too, in the hope that we can all learn to adapt to this new world we find ourselves living in together.
1. Set Yourself Office Hours
When you work in an office, it’s clear when it’s time to head home. Your meetings are wrapping up, your coworkers are packing up their things and (eventually) the lights go off. When you work from home… well, you’re already there.
Set yourself office hours so that you have a cut-off point for the end of the day. If you’re anything like me, it’s easy to get stuck into a project and keep working all night. But then you miss out on valuable family time, neglect your rest time and start down a dangerous spiral towards overworking. Be strict on yourself and set those boundaries.
The same goes for taking breaks. When you’d usually meet a colleague for a quick cappuccino run between meetings, make the time to treat yourself to a homemade version. That time away from your laptop screen is just what’s needed for ideas to brew and develop, ready for when you return to your desk.
2. Buy Yourself Some Decent Coffee
Long time readers will know that I’m a bit of a coffee addict so I don’t take this tip lightly. Allow yourself the indulgence of a decent cup of coffee – even if you’re the only one drinking it. Just because you’re working from home doesn’t mean that you need to make do with that jar of Nescafe from circa 2012. You’re worth more than that.
Contact your local coffee shop to see if they’re doing deliveries or check out this list from Caffeine Mag to get your favourite beans sent straight to your door whilst supporting small businesses across the UK.
The same goes for taking breaks. When you’d usually meet a colleague for a quick cappuccino run between meetings, make the time to treat yourself to a homemade version. That time away from your laptop screen is just what’s needed for ideas to brew and develop, ready for when you return to your desk.
3. Get Dressed For The Day
Whilst I love a cosy work from home day in my sweats and slippers as much as the next person, I also know that I need to be showing up as my best self to serve my clients and my business. This means getting properly dressed (90% of the time) and making myself feel professional.
Some folks may opt for formal office attire – totally cool if that works for you – or I go down the route of office casual with jeans, a nice top and a little bit of make-up. The outfit itself doesn’t matter so much as to how you feel in it. You need to be feeling dressed and ready to take on whatever the day may bring (and, these days, who knows what that’ll be!).
4. Shut Your Phone Away
When you work from home, there’s nobody to catch you out as you get sucked into an Instagram scroll hole. Which means distractions can be frequent and irresistible, unless you take steps to prevent them.
Despite having limiters set-up on my social media apps I find that the most effective way to return my focus to my laptop screen is simply to leave my phone in another room. Out of sight, out of mind. I can then fully engross myself in the project at hand and, when needed, open up Whatsapp and socials in my browser.
5. Make The Effort To Get Outside (If You Can)
I find that it’s incredibly easy for the day to get busy, work to take over and then I look up at the clock to see that it’s 6pm and I haven’t so much as put a foot outside my front door. When this happens on the occasional day it’s fine but everyday? That’s not so healthy.
Make the effort to get outside and soak up some fresh air and vitamin D (if you’re able to). Not only does this do wonders for your productivity levels with some much needed time away from the screen but it’s essential for your health as well.
If you’re unable to get outdoors or just need to switch up your environment, take a look at Noisli. This free website enables you to mix different sounds to create your perfect workplace soundtrack. I often combine their coffee shop sounds with a Spotify playlist to try and imagine that I’m in a cafe again…. Yes yes, I know.
6. Divide Your Work Space and Your Home Space
Being a fan of a ‘fresh space’ for new ideas, I’ll often move my laptop to the couch for an afternoon work session. But I’m careful about how frequently I do this. Why? Well, I’m a firm believer in having a physical boundary between your work space and your home space.
When you’re working and relaxing in the same physical environment, the lines become blurred between the two. You might find yourself working but struggling to focus as your mind is still in ‘home mode’. Or you’ll be trying to relax but your brain is still whirring with business ideas and everything that’s left on your to-do-list.
If you can, set yourself a barrier between the two. If you’re lucky enough to have a set office space, keep that door closed at the end of the day. If not, perhaps it’s simply putting your laptop away and clearing your work materials out of the way.
7. Maintain Your Connections
Don’t let your connections fall by the wayside just because you’re not in the same physical space. If you have colleagues, keep up the water cooler chat and continue to focus on those personal relationships you’ve worked so hard to build. Before you dive into the meat of your meetings, take a couple of minutes to ask how everyone’s doing and how they spent their evening. We all need to feel those community tiles, even when we’re miles apart.
If you’re a solopreneur, find yourself a community or form one of your own if you can’t find one that fits. There are so many online communities out there just waiting for you to join in. The Homeworker is a personal favourite of mine, as is Freelancing Females. Both have Facebook groups available for you to ask any burning questions, get advice or just have a chat.
8. Create Your Own Commute
Wait a second, shouldn’t we be celebrating the end of commuting for a while?
Well, sure but have you ever noticed how your commute allows you to shift out of ‘work mode’ and into ‘relaxation mode’? With most homeworker’s commute taking an average of three seconds (according to unscientific data) it can be hard to switch off at the end of the day.
When I reached out on Twitter to ask fellow freelancers how they mark the end of their days I was really surprised, and inspired, by the results. Some cited simply closing their office doors to mark the wrap of another work day, others have a particular lamp that they turn off to signal that the office is closed, whilst some opted to take a walk around the garden as a type of pretend commute.
Work from home? What tips did I miss? Let me know in the comments below:
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