With recent events (COVID-19 and stay at home shelter) work from home has become the norm for anyone who can do their job responsibilities at home. While working from home may be nice, it brings a new set of challenges that you might not be used to if you have only worked in the office. It was this case for me, so I had a difficult time when making the transition to working from home due to recent events.
In this post, I want to share 6 ways how I am making work from home easier. Do note the information in this post is completely based on my personal experiences and it may not work for you.
1. Create Boundaries
With the ability to work from your home, it is easy to get yourself stuck in work mode the entire day. That’s probably because the settings don’t change much — you’re still at home after you’re done with work. If you relied on the physical distance away from the office to take youself off work mode, now is the time to change that habit. Instead, define hours that you are working then stick to it. Outside of those hours, anything work-related can wait for the next day (with exceptions that might happen once in a rare while).
Since most work involves collaboration nowadays, you need to set your work schedule to overlap with your teammates. Make sure they all understand your availability.
2. Overcommunicate
When you’re working from home, you’re losing the physical interaction aspect to communication. So, it becomes more important for you to communicate more than usual. Post frequent updates on what you’re doing that way miscommunication issues can be identified quickly. After a discussion, summarize what you understood out of it and share it with those you discussed with to see if you’re all on the same page.
Sometimes communicating through text just doesn’t cut it. Maybe it is something new that wasn’t talked about before. For situations like such, it is better to have a voice chat. Once the discussion happened and everyone has context it would be fine to switch over to text.
3. Dress for the Part
Being able to work while dressed in your pajamas or loungewear might seem great at the beginning, but it quickly loses its luster. Also, if you’re dressed like you’re ready for bed it just makes it so much harder to do work. Maybe it is just me, but when I’m dressed in loungewear I’m expecting to do activities that are relaxing and work (software development) is not under that category. Needless to say, on days I was working in my loungewear, I found myself less productive and have difficulty getting into work mode.
After researching for tips for work from home, something I always see is to dress like how you normally would for work. I gave it a try and I do notice a positive difference. It was easier for me to get into work mode and I was more productive, it could still be a psychological thing but it seems to work well for me. If you’re struggling with work from home and you’re working in your pajamas give dressing up a try.
4. Have a Dedicated Space and Set up Just for Work
Working from home means you can work anywhere inside your home right? Well, yes, but it seems to make it harder for you to separate work and life when you do that. It makes being in your home feels like being at work and it becomes difficult to get out of work mode to relax.
This is where having a specific location for you to work while at home becomes important. Set up an area (it could even be a corner) that is dedicated to working. After a few times, it becomes easier to switch between work mode and life. If you didn’t notice, this is similar to the idea of working in the office and once you’re out you leave work there too.
5. Remember to Take Breaks
For some people at the office, going to the restroom or getting a cup of water is a break. That’s when water cooler talk happens or they might walk a few flights of stairs to the nearest restroom. However, when you’re working from home, it’s not the same. The water might be nearby or just a few steps away and so is the bathroom.
When working from home you need to actively remind yourself to take breaks. It helps keep your mind fresh and to keep you energized throughout the day. If that’s not easy for you then try to set a timer. There are apps out there that remind you to take brakes periodically. You can also pair this together with the Pomodoro technique if you do use it to work.
6. Keep Active
Working at home will probably mean you’ll be less active than at the office. When you go to the office at the very least you’ll have to walk from your means of transportation to the office and vice versa. At home, you’re probably walking a few steps to where you work and then sit for the majority of the day.
Since you’re likely to be less active when working from home, it is important to set aside some time for you to exercise. Not only does it help you keep healthy, but it also helps increase your cognition so you can be more effective throughout the day. Plus, you’re saving a lot of time from not having to commute.
I hope this post was helpful to you. If you found this post helpful, share it with others so they can benefit too.
What is your work from home routine like? What do you do to keep yourself from burnout when working from home?
Are you looking for a more detailed guide to work from home? If so, you can check out the work from home playbook by Toptal, which is been a fully remote company with remote work practices rooted into their culture.
To get in touch, follow me on Twitter, leave a comment, or send me an email at steven@brightdevelopers.com.