6 Tips for Working from Home During Lockdown.

Never had to work from home before?  Follow these simple steps to get yourself set up in no time.

Getting set up

Set yourself up in a suitable area where you can be productive and not disturbed by other family members.  Also make sure there is no distraction of technology in the home.  Make sure you are comfortable where you are working, with an appropriate chair and suitable height table.  You could perform a quick workstation assessment on your home office – posture is very important.  Why not take a look online and see if you can find yourself a suitable laptop stand to create that perfect work station.  Often the dining table is the best place to spread out if you don’t have home office space.  Try not to find yourself sitting on the sofa with a lap tray, this will be not good for your back for long periods of time and it won’t be so easy to spread out.

Keep to routines

Try to be self-disciplined and stick to your regular working routine.  By getting up and get dressed for work, don’t try and work from your laptop or phone in bed.  Take your regular breaks and try to stick to your regular working hours.  Why not create yourself a timetable to display in your workspace, or you could keep a record of the times you are working on a spreadsheet.  If you do work longer hours to get a job done make sure you take the time back for yourself.  You could even set up a timer on your phone if you think you might get carried away.  Along with setting your alarm for the morning, you can set up alarms for your break times too.

More than one person working from home?

Try and make your own designated workspace.  If you have a small home you could divide the space between you with one working in the kitchen/dining room and the other at a desk in the bedroom.  Try and keep your space tidy, as there is nothing more distracting than housework that needs to be done.  Make sure you create the right space for you to work in, maybe share an area at different points in the day if you need that quiet for that video conference call.

Help each other out when possible, you might be able to brainstorm with each other much like in the workplace.  Keep each other motivated by checking you have written out a schedule for the day and stuck to it.  Also, if you are putting the kettle on, don’t forget to look after each other and prompt each other to take scheduled breaks.

Hold virtual meetings

Using an app such as Zoom will help you stay in contact with your work colleagues and hold team meetings too.  Although you can swap your office wear or uniform for something more comfortable.  Just remember if you have a meeting you still have to maintain to your company standards when representing your business online.  Yes you can probably get away with keeping those comfy pyjama bottoms or joggers on, but don’t forget to check what is behind you too and keep the background tidy.  I have seen a couple of clever posts online from people to have used an image behind them to hide their surroundings.  So maybe you could be in the office, in a luxury apartment or have a city backdrop like on the news.  Zoom video conferencing allows you to add a virtual background which could be your brand logo.

Also, if you are having a meeting, make sure the family know not to disturb you and maybe lock the door if possible.  You don’t want someone having to come and grab the children out of the room when you are in the middle of a meeting!

Having to combine working from home and home schooling?

With schools now closed to help stop the spread of the coronavirus, we now have to juggle work and home life at the same time.  The best way to work around this is to be extra organised and come up with a timetable, this way everyone will know what they are doing and when it is family time.

If you have young children that need more attention, you could make up a schedule around their activities, so you can occupy your children and have time get on with your work.

Most important - Stay social

Whilst it is important to be able to continue with your work at home, it is also important to maintain your wellbeing and make time for yourself and family members.

With the schools closing and whole families being at home together, you may feel cut off from other family members and friends.  You might be missing out on your weekly clubs, hobbies and nights out.  Make the most of the internet and find ways of staying connected, by setting up a group online.

Photo credit by The Coherent Team on Unsplash