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With many of us now working from home, the therapy of work breaks and mingling with colleagues is missing. Working from home often involves trying to juggle home schooling and family life. It can be distracting and exhausting. We can feel isolated and lonely. Here are my top tips for people working from home:
Manage yourself and your time well
Working from home can result in a breakdown of the work and home boundary. It is important to keep your home and family life separate from work. Implement a regular start and finish time for your work. Place a curfew on emails and phone calls after work.
A well-planned work structure is particularly important when working from home. Get into the habit of doing your work plan for the following week, in advance. Set aside one hour for this on the Friday – it will have a huge impact on your productivity the following week.
Take advantage of any flexibility your work offers, starting earlier in the morning and taking a longer lunch break, to allow for a daytime walk in the fresh air.
Invest in your office and IT equipment
Your place of work should be separate from your living space. A separate office in your house is essential.
As well as a laptop, phone, lighting and good broadband, you need the communication tools, such as microsoft teams or zoom and you need to use them well. Choose the right tool for what you want. Where you have poor broadband connectivity, use hot spots on your phone. Have a fall-back plan in case the technology doesn’t work. A telephone call can work just as well as zoom!
Communicate better than before
Working from home, you need to communicate more often and at a deeper level with your team, your boss and your customers. Allow time in the conversation for non-work topics, to exchange stories, shared interests and humour. Remember, they also may be struggling with a sense of isolation.
Being part of a team is a powerful asset for remote workers, when you have access to trusted people with whom you can collaborate. When you feel doubt, want to check your assumptions or develop a new idea, check in with your team.
Self-care – protect your health and wellbeing
Your mental health and wellbeing is the most important of all. Cultivating a positive mindset is key. Psychologists tell us we do have choices in how we interpret and how we respond to a particular crisis. Affirmations such as, “I am going to use this break to ensure that I will become better at...” can be particularly powerful.
The most important things to get you through a stressful time are food, sleep and regular exercise. A good sleeping pattern (aim for eight hours) makes the world of difference to your mood and mental health. You need to eat well. You need to make time for at least 30 minutes exercise every day. Make sure you are taking time to do things you enjoy. Read a book, listen to music, or whatever you love doing, that truly makes you feel good.
Take on a new project
Maureen Gaffney in her book Flourishing tells us the key to living a flourishing life is to embark on a new project, or better still three projects – a personal project, a family project and a work project. Such projects will increase your motivation and energy and will provide a sense of purpose and meaning in life, particularly in difficult times.
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