A good portion of us have been, and are still working from home where possible given the current Covid-19 outbreak. I’ve been working from home since about mid-March and it has taken quite a few adjustments to the way I would have normally worked, to feel as productive and as balanced as my ‘going to the office self’. Ironically just before it became mandatory to work from home, I had booked a day to work from home because I felt like I needed some quiet working time. Now over three months on, and I am severely missing my co-workers, physical meetings, watercooler chat and even my commute – Yes, I even miss squeezing myself onto the train sardine style. The grass is always greener on the other side, as the saying goes. Working from home always felt like a little bit of a treat, whereas when the reality of it all sets in – things can take a bit of a dive south, productivity-wise. I fell into a bit of a dip after my first 3-4 weeks, but I lived to tell the tale (and I’ve yet to be fired hooray!), so here are some working from home tips and tricks that have helped me settle into this new normal. 

Be Prepared.

When it was announced that we would all have to work from home, I thought long and hard about my work set up for the long term. How many monitors would I need? Should I take my office blanket home? Would I be able to come back to the office if I forgot anything? Would this really be more than a month or two? In the end, I ended up lugging my laptop, one monitor, one keyboard, one mouse and a lot of cables home, knowing that anything else I would need could be amazon-primed to me. Aside from making sure I had everything i needed to work from home easily, I also upped my organisational skills – making sure the working day ahead has been co-ordinated properly, be it using physical notebooks (Joules gifted me this lovely worker bee one to help with settling into my new routine), or using online organisers such as Trello. This preparation allowed me to hit the ground running and I eased into things well because of it. 

Jazz Up Your Workspace.

Most people across the globe are shorter on space than they would like, myself included. In an alternate world, I would have a beautifully decked out office with a millennial pink chair, gold-accented everything and possibly a pup or two at my feet, but in the real world, I have a very practical desk set up in one corner of my bedroom. Prior to having to work from home, I spent quite a lot of time at my desk regardless and one of the things I do often to keep me happy at said desk is jazz it up! Every Saturday I give it a good dusting and cleaning and then I make sure that I have a plant or two visible whilst I’m working as well as colourful little postcards that have words of positivity on them to lift my spirits (I bought a few from Ohverlee last week!). You’ll most likely spend at least 9 hours or so in your workspace so make it a place you really feel comfortable working in.

Get Up & Get Ready

I didn’t understand the true beauty of actually getting ready ‘properly’ in the mornings whilst working from home until I began enforcing it one week. I made myself get dressed (no pyjamas or loungewear!) and did my usual everyday makeup – simply to sit at my desk. After five consecutive days of doing so, I felt a huge difference – The simple act of getting dressed served as a signal to me both physically and mentally that it was time to work, and when it hit 6 pm and I would change into my cosy clothes and remove my makeup, it was a signifier that my working day had ended. Another thing I noticed is that I felt more confident on my zoom/google meetings as opposed to how disjointed I felt in my loungewear. My reccomendations are wrap dresses, jersey jumpsuits and free-flowing midi dresses – Comfort and style? Count me in! The wrap dress I’m wearing in this post has been in many a zoom meeting so far! 

Block Out Time.

Working from home has meant that a lot of us are now far too familiar with the soul (and time) sucking nightmare that is video calls. As much as I love catching up with my colleagues and seeing other human faces – I struggle to ‘reclaim’ my time for quiet working, and now that I am managing a team even more so. Blocking out time on a weekly basis on my public calendar has been a LIFESAVER! I block out chunks of time, usually two hours or more where I say no phonecalls, no videos, no messages, no emails – Just a few hours to work on whatever I need to with absolutely no distractions. During these power-hours, I also turn off slack and mobile notifications so I can truly just chug along at my own pace and not be disturbed. These block-outs have helped my productivity tremendously and you might find them useful too if you’re finding yourself swamped with comms.

Set Boundaries.

Setting boundaries is something I’ve never been good at (my therapist can also vouch for this aha!), but I am actively working on setting and upholding them, both in my professional and personal life. I noticed that whilst working at home, I have managed to let any boundaries I once had, completely fall to the wayside in a bid to be ‘seen’ as extra productive. From starting work at 8 am and finishing at 8-9 pm some evenings, to not taking a lunch break, and to looking at slack messages on the weekend – eventually, I became so fatigued and stressed by the whole thing that I had to almost build myself back up again. Setting boundaries is paramount to a healthy work-life balance, from clear communications, learning to delegate and even saying no when you feel it’s appropriate, job stress is a major source of anxiety for most of us and it’s important to vocalise and set boundaries to offset some of it. Now I sit at my desk at 8:45 am and work no longer than 6 pm, unless I really have to – and if I do, I’ll take time back to make sure I’m getting good work and life balance.

So here are my five basic tips for helping to make working from home that bit more productive and easier. How are you coping with the Covid-19 situation yourself?