Thanks to ever-evolving technology, more and more people are privileged enough to be able to work from home. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many businesses have needed to evolve to this new normal and trust each other to continue to deliver effectively in this strange new world.
Many thrive given this opportunity, but a few do find it hard to adjust, missing the face-to-face collaboration, and finding it hard to prioritise. I wanted to share some tips and tricks I have found useful when working from home to ensure we stay sane and continue to ensure fantastic or even better delivery.
1. Stay connected
Answer your phone, arrange video chats, and keep in touch with your teammates each day. There are so many free video conference platforms available these days and this is the time to take advantage of them! Some platforms for example: Skype, Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Dialpad Meetings, Google Meet, Slack, and FreeConference. Keep talking and keep collaborating.
2. Take breaks
When we were in the office, we are all guilty of eating our lunch at our desk, it’s still super important to take breaks at home too, especially when working from home as you need to break up the monotony of living and working in the same environment.
3. Overtime
Try not to fall into the trap of too much overtime just because it’s convenient, it’s too easy to jump online in the evenings and suddenly realise you’ve worked a 10+ hour day – this will get old quickly!
4. Home office
Set up a beautiful and motivating office space if you can. Working from your bed or couch can be tempting but again, it’s important to separate your home life from your work life, and having a dedicated workspace makes all the difference.
5. Get dressed
How many jokes have we seen about changing from your night-time pyjamas to your daytime pyjamas? Seriously though, get dressed, it will adjust your mindset to become more motivated.
6. Go for a walk
Many corporates head to the gym before or after work, keep up the exercise, go for a walk, clear your headspace, break up your environment, and enjoy the benefits.
7. Trust each other
Limited visibility of your employees or colleagues can be daunting initially but please remember we are all adults here, trust each other, let people adjust, and give people the benefit of the doubt. You’ll be surprised what effect this has on people’s motivation.
8. To-do lists
I write a to-do list each morning or evening, especially when working from home, this helps to prioritise and keep track of your tasks without getting distracted. You can even add a few personal tasks in there to break it up if you like. How satisfying is it to cross off those tasks right!
9. Calendar sharing
I’d recommend sharing your team calendars, it saves us checking in as much and calling people without knowing they may be in the middle of a video conference or important presentation, etc.
10. Team activities
Keep it fun! I’d suggest organising team events, I’ve hosted many a quiz night during lockdown via video conference and it was so well received. This will keep you connected without it having to be work-related all the time and it will keep up collaboration and team bonding.
11. Leverage your spouse
If you and your partner are both working from home, keep each other motivated, talk about your achievements, and downfalls that day. Perhaps you could even work together for periods, so it feels like you are still part of a mini team!
12. Share your thoughts
Understand adjusting can be difficult, be empathetic to others in your business, check-in, see how they are feeling, and let them know how you are finding the new normal. We are all in the same boat.
I hope you’ve enjoyed this and picked up some work from home hacks to keep you going. These tips have been my path to survival during the pandemic
