Some of you may have been working from home for a while now. If you still haven’t quite figured out the BEST way to do it, no worries. This one’s for you. Some things take a little longer than others to catch on to, and this has been a big adjustment for some. Some of you may be pretty new to it. Either way, these tips for working from home are sure to help us all.
Tips for Working From Home
- Get up early enough to have at least an hour before clocking in.
The first day I worked from home, I felt sluggish and like my body was still tired the whole day even when I did still give myself that time. I realized the whole process of waking up, preparing for the day, and driving to work wakes me up. More may be required to wake your body up now. If you didn’t have a morning routine before, now would be a good time to start one. If you already have a morning routine, don’t stray from it. I was once almost late to work working from home. How does that happen right? Because you could just roll out of bed and go open your computer. Well, almost being late because of completing a morning routine that you might’ve started too late or got carried away with is better than being on time because you just rolled right out of bed and hopped on the computer. Okay, okay, okay. Being on time to work is what’s important, but the point I’m trying to make is waking up, rolling out the bed, and clocking into work might not be the best way to start the day or produce the best quality of work.
2. Don’t work in bed
I know how tempting this can be. Especially since you wake up there and can just reach over and grab your laptop and clock in. The bed is so comfortable and as long as you’re not laying down you should be okay, right? Wrong! Your workspace affects your productivity, and the bed is not a good workspace regardless of whether you have one of the bed desks or how upright you’re sitting. As we know from “Tips for Better Sleep at Night: Part of a Healthy Lifestyle”, the bed is made for mainly two things and working is not one of them.
3. Get up to move around often
Even on the days when I’m working at the office, I’ve noticed I can get lazy. Due to working from home, shared processes that normally took place in the workplace from person to person are handled differently. It was normal practice for us to sign documents then get up to hand them off to the next person that needed them, walk to the printer to fax documents off, or scan documents to our filing system. These processes were updated due to us working from home and now everything can be done from the computer, meaning sitting at our desks. So, that’s less movement even when I go into work if I don’t force myself to do it the “old school” way. By the way, we were already able to fax from our desks pre- working from home, but still walked back and forth to the printer. And it used to be a lot of walking from desk to desk and to the printer going on. I could actually wear heels to work now if I wanted with the minimal amount of walking I do.
4. Don’t get too comfortable on your lunch break
The last thing I want to do is get in my bed on a break from work. I might not ever make it back lol. If you’ve read “Tips for Better Sleep at Night: Part of a Healthy Lifestyle“, you know that the bed should only be used for two things, and if you do the things required for better sleep at night, then your body is pretty much trained to sleep or at least enter sleep mode when you get in the bed.
5. Don’t snack throughout the day just because you can
Working from home presents wonderful added benefits, such as your refrigerator not being too far or maybe you not having to even prepare lunch ahead of time because you can do it in between working (which I wouldn’t recommend). With your refrigerator being so close and the wide variety of choices available to you, I know it can be tempting. I remember being at work and wanting a snack but the vending machine not having what I wanted. I remember nothing remaining in the vending machine but the things nobody wanted and then laughing with coworkers when someone finally gave in and got the rest of those. I remember the initial complaints about there being no snacks in the building because the person who refilled our machines was no longer coming due to Covid, which we realized as our snacks began to dwindle down to what nobody wanted. Snacking throughout the day can be just as unhealthy as it’s always been, unless you’re snacking on healthy foods. Try to stick to your normal eating patterns, such as eating however many times a day you eat and portion size, as possible. If you live a lifestyle where you eat six small meals a day, then stick to it. If you don’t, avoid snacking if its not healthy. Snacking throughout the day has been a big deal, but now there’s more of an emphasis that should be put on it because you don’t have to pay extra for that snack from the machine or have to worry about having it prepared in advance to take with you to work, or having it prepared and leaving it home on accident because you were rushing that morning. Quarantine weight was and still may be a thing. Don’t add on work from home weight. Use tips from “5 Easy Tips for Preparing Smoothies on the Go” for a healthy snack.
6. Don’t eat while on the phone
So this one may seem miniscule, but it’s really a big deal. The point above proves that its easier to snack throughout the day, so that makes this a more helpful tip than you may think. Many times, it’s not that you’re eating while talking to someone (or at least I hope that’s not the case), but it may be that you’re munching while on hold or waiting for someone to answer. Then they’re on the line and you’re chewing in their ear. This is a big deal because it’s not professional. Don’t let working from home make you unprofessional. It’s the little things like that that someone may take offense to.
7. Don’t willingly use distractions
It’s one thing when something comes along and distracts you because you don’t have full control over your work environment; like a fire drill in your apartment. But willingly using distractions is knowing you’ll get distracted lol. When I work from home, I don’t work with the tv on because the tv is a distraction and I know that I can get caught up in a good show. In the workplace your biggest distraction is probably your cell phone, and for the most part, it’s up to you to control that. When you’re working from home there’s a world of distractions available right at your feet. Don’t get tempted. I try not to even watch tv while I’m on lunch even though its very possible for you to spend lunch pre- Covid watching your show. However, the pre- Covid work environment forced you back to work. Working from home, your body is in a familiar, more comfortable environment where it’s a lot easier for you to say, “let me see this last lil part,” and you end up still watching two episodes later.
8. Keep as much normalcy as possible
It’s all about discipline. If you keep the same energy and habits (if they were good) that you had when you went into work, then working from home shouldn’t be too difficult. You couldn’t cook a full meal at work when you were on lunch, so don’t do it while working from home.
It’s really a discipline game. You have to be disciplined enough to actually get the job done. But that should go without saying with all of us being adults, right? The work needing to get completed should be the only force that’s needed to keep you on the right track and from getting distracted right? Well, the truth is, its not always that easy. The workplace is usually designed to help achieve optimal results, whether it’s where you’re seated in relation to those that work around you or how much natural light a building receives. Because your new workspace wasn’t designed with you having to work from home in mind, you no longer have the added benefit of the forced work environment with controlled surroundings, even though these spaces can be created. Now certain things will still be required like a quite area but following these tips will help you create the best work mindset and habits to allow you to continue to achieve optimal outcomes, regardless of your workspace.
And remember…
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