If working from home is a whole new kettle of fish for you, then it can feel like a mixture of ‘Wow! Look at all this freedom!’ to ‘I miss the structure of the office’. That’s normal, in fact it’s to be expected. BUT, it’s important to ensure you keep your normal working day as structured as possible (although some things can be overlooked such as working in PJs… unless you’re video calling a major client of course).
So, here are a few ideas to keep you productive and on the ball over the coming months of social distancing and WFH:
- Keep your routine, set your alarm, allow time for breakfast and a peruse of Facebook, the daily news etc
- Ensure you have a set working space so when you start your day, you ‘go to work’ at your desk
- Keep your sofa a work-free zone, believe us when we say that sofa will be your time-off haven over the next few weeks so you’ll appreciate it more when you don’t see it as a workspace
- Plan your lunch breaks and stick to them, it can be easy to eat at your desk but a break away from the screen will do you the world of good
- Keep in touch with your colleagues, have staff meetings over video conferencing, use instant messaging apps, set up a work whatsapp (just make sure whatever you’re using is encrypted and secure of course).
- Finish the day at a set time and leave your work space behind.
- Avoid Netflix and other video streaming sites during working hours. That black hole of ‘one more episode’ will come back to bite you, we promise.
- Keep up the communication, share your workload and to-do lists, let your colleagues know when tasks are completed, plan regular catch ups and discuss any issues as you would in the office
- Plan an epic playlist. No more office politics over musical tastes, this is your time to shine! If you work better with heavy metal, go for it! Musicals more to your taste? Get curating! Secret love of 90’s pop music? No judgements here, turn it on up!
- Oh and unless your job is involving social media, log off Facebook, Insta, twitter etc and stick to ‘check-in’ times. Particularly with all the news at the mo, it can be an easy distraction.
Putting all of these in place now means you’ll be able to easily step back into normal working once the Coronavirus threat is a distant memory and office working resumes.
Over the coming weeks, we’ll be available anytime between 6am and 7pm (phone call or video chat) if you need to talk about anything in relation to the strategic placement of your IT services or to come up with any action plan to help with the operation of your business. This applies to our existing clients PLUS any other businesses which need support. Give us a shout and we’ll get things sorted for you.
