Getting Out of the Office: 5 Tips for Working Remotely from Home

March 31 2020 - COVID 19 has affected everyone in many different ways and for some people, they must now start working remotely from home. If you're one of those people who have never worked from home before, then you might be struggling with adapting to this new change.

One tip that many people will give you is to stick with your same routine but many people's routines and schedules have been completely flipped and shaken upside down because of the quarantine.

Keep reading for our guide to the ten best tips for working remotely from your home so you can stay sane and get work done.

1. Establish a Comfortable Home Office Setup

When you think of working from home you may have the dream of laying in your bed and typing away at a laptop but that isn't real and also isn't a good way to be productive at all. You might even need to bring your desktop computer home so setting up a comfortable makeshift home office is going to be essential.

Unfortunately, we all can't have designated home office rooms in our house so you might have to get a bit creative when it comes to setting up your home office. Make sure that your home office is away from your bedroom, isn't facing a television, and is somewhere you can get some peace and quiet. Of course, your home office might not be perfect but try your best to make sure it is somewhere that you can feel comfortable working.

2. Create a Work Schedule

Creating a remote work schedule will be different depending on each person as well as the job that they're doing. Many jobs might require you to work certain hours each day such as from 9-5 which is great because once 5 pm hits you can be done working for the day.

If you have a bit more freedom when it comes to your work schedule, then you're going to want to try to be a bit more strict with yourself and your schedule.

Try to still wake up at a decent time in the morning to start work. Getting ready for the day by taking a shower, brushing your hair and teeth, as well as doing any other morning essentials will still be important to start your day off fresh.

Schedule yourself a time for lunch and a time for breaks but try not to take too many. Don't push work off and say that you will finish it later in the evening.

If you push work off until too late it will start to feel like your whole day is consumed by work. Try to pick a decent time to have all of your work done by so you can spend the rest of your night unwinding and preparing for the next day.

3. Cut Yourself Some Slack

Once you've created a work schedule do your best to stick with it but remember to cut yourself some slack. Especially if you have little kids, there will be times when you might not be able to stick with your work schedule perfectly.

A good idea for parents who are working at home with kids is to create a schedule for your children too! Give them some work to do so you can get some work done at the same time.

On the other hand, if you're working from home and don't have kids you still deserve to cut yourself some slack too. Working from home can feel lonely, isolating, stressful, or even just unmotivating all together especially when you have nowhere else to go.

Make sure that if you need a break, then take a break! Don't overwork yourself just because you're at home and feel like you have nothing else to do.

4. Make Sure You Can Connect With Coworkers

One of the problems when it comes to working from home is that your coworkers won't be as available to you as they once were when you could just walk down the hallway to see them in the office. Instead, you're going to want to make sure that your office has set up a good channel of communication whether it is through emails, text messages, or instant messenger.

In 2020, one of the best ways to communicate remotely is through an instant messenger platform. This is because it is a direct message that can reach the other person quickly and doesn't need to be as formal as an email or phone call.

Make sure to check out some of these coronavirus work policies so you and your team can work efficiently from home during this time.

5. Limit Distractions

Remember that schedule we talked about earlier? One thing that many people have trouble with when they work from home is other distractions. You may find yourself being distracted by family members in your home or even friends on your phone when trying to work from home.

Remind your friends and family that just because you are at home that they still need to respect your work schedule. This is easier when you have a solid schedule that you stick with because they will be aware of your schedule too.

The problem with working from home is that it is filled with things that can distract you. For example, you may find yourself thinking about all of the household chores you could get done really quickly. Once you start doing them you realize an hour or two has gone by and you haven't got any actual work done.

Another distraction that many people have is watching television or surfing the internet. Just because you're working from home try to treat your home office as an actual office and only do things you would do if you were at work.

Tips For Working Remotely From Home

When it comes to finding tips for working remotely from home there is tons of advice you can take. The number one tip is that you need to make sure that you step out of your comfort zone.

You'll be doing a lot of new things with communication and creating a new schedule for yourself. Experiment and figure out what works best for you and your team.

If you're looking for more business tips, then make sure to keep scrolling.

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