CandidatesIn The Workplace

GB Solutions 5 top tips for working from home

Tess,   10th February 2021

GB Solutions 5 top tips for working from home

Many of us have been working from home for over a year now. As soon as Lockdown 1.0 was announced, businesses across the world sent their teams home to work. For some of us, we’d never worked from home before, so the idea of working from home was new.

As businesses slowly reopen, many are choosing to carry on remote working. So, we wanted to share our 5 top tips for those whose ‘new norm’ is working from home.

#1 Time Management ⏰

Managing our time effectively has been an issue for employer’s and employee’s alike since, well, forever! However, remote working makes time management even more difficult. Our tip for managing your time in a healthy and balanced way is as follows:

Make sure you take scheduled breaks:

If you find yourself working through lunch most days then set an exact lunchtime. If you were in the office, you’d be expected to take your lunch break, and it is no different when home working.

Set some boundaries:

Lets say you usually start work at 9am, give yourself a rule that you won’t check any emails, or log into your laptop before 9am. The same goes for finishing work, sometimes we run over, that’s life! But when you do shutdown your laptop for the evening, make sure your workspace is clear, so you’re not tempted to log back in. Clearing your workspace also helps with unexpected work thoughts – you’re more likely to think about work if your workspace is still within eyesight.

#2 Dedicated workspace 💻

This leads us on to our 2nd top tip. It’s important to have a ‘dedicated workspace’. This way, you can differentiate between your home and your work. Providing you with a healthier work/life balance.

If you work from your laptop on your sofa all day, and then sit on your sofa all evening, for 5 days per week, you’re going to quickly find yourself in a bit of a rut. If you can’t work from a dedicated room, then make a dedicated office space. I work from my dining table, and clear everything away once I finish work. To begin with, I sat on the sofa all day but I soon found I wasn’t as productive.

#3 Get out of the house 🏡

Being indoors all day will not do anything to help your mental health. Even a short, 10 minute walk will improve your mental alertness, energy and positive mood. So, on your lunchbreak, when in the office you’d usually drive to the shop, or drive home, take that time to get your body moving. Or, get up 10 minutes earlier and go for a short walk, or go for a walk straight after work. Your mental health is important, and requires looking after, so get moving!

#4 Use tools to help you 🔨

We’ve all been using Teams and Zoom for nearly a year now, but there are so many other tools at your disposal to help working from home more effective:

Trello:

Trello is a web-based list making application that can be used on both computer, and phone. This is where you can list your tasks, set deadlines, share with managers etc.

Yammer:

Yammer is similar to Facebook, only it’s designed for organisations to connect and engage. It is great if you need to arrange company training sessions, meetings, or gather feedback.

#5 Act like you are going into the office 🧑‍💼

Do all of the things you would do if you were going into the office. Set an alarm for the time you’d normally get up. Have your morning coffee and breakfast. Do whatever it is you’d usually do – put on makeup, wear appropriate clothing etc.. The association you make between work and the office can make you more productive. So apply the same principles when working from home.

If you’d like to talk to us about any of the above, or if you’re looking for a new role, then be intouch with us at hello@gbsolutions.co.uk