How to Work from Home

Not even Vogue’s Anna Wintour could have predicted that the hot trends for Spring 2020 would have been florals, medical masks, and working from home. The coronavirus pandemic has seen a huge chunk of the country making the sudden switch to homeworking to slow the disease’s spread – and I know for many, this is a huge change. As someone who’s had her fair share of experience in this area, I thought I’d share a few of my top tips on how to manage yourself and keep productive at home:

Get ready as if you were going to work

One of the advantages of working from home is that you don’t have to waste as much time in the mornings getting ready or commuting – but it’s still probably worth putting a bit of effort in before you begin. Get dressed and have a shower (if you’re a shower-in-the-morning type of person). This will help you feel mentally ready for the day.

Have a dedicated work area

Having a dedicated work area will allow you to switch in and out of the ‘work’ mindset at the start and end of each day. Your set-up should ideally be comfortable and organised: try to find a quiet spot in the house, a comfortable chair, and a clean desk or table with enough space for everything you need. It’s best to keep away from distractions, and resist the urge to work from bed. Trust me: if you don’t, the urge to take a ‘quick’ nap will win every time!

Stick to a schedule

Not only is this key to making sure that you get everything done, but it’s equally as important to give yourself breaks and set yourself a ‘finish’ time. It can be all too tempting to “send one last email” or “finish one last task”, but resist letting your work life eat into your personal life. Either decide a time that you want to start and finish or establish the number of hours that you want to work, and try to stick to this as closely as possible.

Set boundaries

Working from home can be tough if you’re not the only person in the household. Be clear with everyone that you live with (as well as friends you’re in touch with on social media) that even though you’re at home, you still have to work. If you’ve set yourself a schedule, you could let them know what times you’ll be busy and when you can be available. That way, you can all plan around it.

Keep a to-do list

This might sound trivial, but with more distractions, less eyes watching you and more freedom, it can be easy to get off track. Set yourself targets for the day and week ahead, and try your best to hold yourself accountable – even without your boss looming over your shoulder. It’ll help you to keep as productive and organised as possible. (Plus, ticking a task off your list always feels pretty satisfying!)

Reward yourself

Treat yoself! Every time you check something off your list, give yourself a reward – like a cheeky quarantine snack (just make sure you don’t eat all of them at once!) – or, as my friend Hannah suggested, five minutes of music time.

Do: Take advantage of the flexibility

With all of the above being said, the most important thing is to find what works for you. You might discover that you actually work better from home, because having more control over your breaks or schedule can really suit some people.

As someone who suffers from chronic pain and a lot of exhaustion as a result, I love having the option to work in bursts – taking a quick rest in between tasks to recharge my batteries, before getting stuck into the next thing with full concentration. Setting working hours (e.g. “I will work 8 hours today”) as opposed to working times (e.g. “I will work from 9 to 5 today”) really helps me, because I can start later and finish later if I’m having a tough morning, or give myself longer breaks if I need the rest. If these changes help you, make the most of them!

Don’t: Use that as an excuse to slack

Working differently doesn’t mean working less. Make sure you’re still achieving everything that you need to achieve, and reassess what you’re doing if it’s clear that your current methods aren’t working.

Prepare lunch beforehand

Breaks are still just as important when you’re working from home, or else you’ll find that you burnout. When working somewhere like an office, many people tend to bring lunch with them, or grab a quick bite from the nearest canteen or café. To avoid wasting your entire lunchbreak making your food, get this out of the way in the morning or the night before. That way, you’ll have it ready to go when your break rolls around, and you can spend your time eating and relaxing instead.

Limit phone use

It’s a boring rule, yes – but it’s an important one. Without an eagle-eyed manager or nosy colleagues around, it can be tempting to spend far too much time scrolling through Instagram or refreshing your Twitter feed. Set yourself a specific amount of time that you’re allowed on your phone (i.e. five minutes) and only allow yourself to do so at certain intervals (for example, once every hour). If you’re able to, it might be worth muting notifications during work hours. This can be tricky if you’re using your phone to stay in contact with colleagues, but it can be done for select apps like Facebook and Insta.

Stay connected

Keep connected with your boss, manager and/or colleagues so that you can all stay updated on everyone’s progress. Video apps like Zoom or Skype, or group messaging apps like Whatsapp or Facebook Messenger are great for this. Make sure you have a plan in place for how regularly you’re able to check in with each other and when, as people’s availability may be affected by their home lives.

Don’t become isolated

One of the positives of not working from home is that you’re able to have regular human interaction, which is a basic psychological need. Now that you’re at home, it’s important to make sure you’re having at least one human interaction per day – whether that’s by phone, messenger, or video chat. Even if you’re living with other people, you should still reach out to others. Social distancing doesn’t need to be anti-social, and self-isolation doesn’t need to be isolating.