Home Working

More and more of us are working from home than ever before. With no end in sight to the COVID-19 Pandemic there’s a tremendous amount of dining room tables that have been converted to boardroom tables. But a lot of people are struggling to be as effective working from home as they are when in the office.

We’ve been helping businesses big and small to enable their staff to work from home long before the words ‘lockdown’ and ‘social distancing’ were in our day-to-day vocabulary. With the combined work from home experience of #TeamJMV – here’s our top 5 tips…

Stick to a routine

Whatever your normal routine is, stick to it. Routines are important to mentally and physically prepare your body for work and to ensure you work to the best of your ability. If your work allows it, why not start a little later and get some extra time in bed!? Like you do when working in the office why not get ready for work at home; put your office clothes on, put your make on, make it feel like you have a job to do; this will help set you mind ready for the day “at work”.

Remember, screen breaks are important too. If you spend most of your day at a computer screen then you should aim for a 5-10 minute screen break every 60-90 minutes.

Don’t get distracted

Just because you’re at home doesn’t mean you should be doing the dishes or putting on washing during a break. These tasks often take up more time than you expect and are a productivity killer. You wouldn’t be able to do them at the office – so don’t do them now.

Find your own space

This one is easier said than done, but it’s safe to say that a lot of us will be working from home for the foreseeable future. If you can find a patch at home that can be your permanent workspace then take it! Being able to separate work and home (no matter how small the space is) will do wonders for your mental health.

Look after yourself

Your mental health may take a serious hit when working from home. Years of office relationships and social interactions will have disappeared overnight and once the novelty wears off you’ll probably start to miss interacting with other people. Modern technology makes it easier than ever to catch up with your friends and colleagues over video calls – so make sure you do!

Use the right equipment

We see too many people “making do” with equipment that simply isn’t fit for purpose. Whether this is an out of date and insecure computer or keyboard with missing letters we see it all. You don’t have to spend a fortune, but investing sensibly in reliable equipment will safe you time, money, and a great deal of stress at the end of the week.

Other columns by James Vincent