Over the last 2 years that has been a boom in working from home due to the pressures of COVID-19. It all happened quite quickly, and many workers didn’t have the time to prepare for it properly; and, unfortunately, people quickly slip into habits, and so lots of workers are continuing with back work from home habits. We spoke with an IT services company London businesses have partnered with to help them set up working from home. TechQuarters themselves decided right away that they would go remote, and even got rid of their offices. They have listed their top steps for effective home working in 2022.
Establish Regular Hours
When working from home, it is incredibly important to set boundaries for yourself. If you don’t do that, you will struggle to maintain an effective work-life balance. Sadly this is a common problem for many home workers, and one of the first steps aware from it is to maintain regular working hours. Set yourself a schedule and stick to it – your employer may even let you pick a different schedule to what you had in the office. But the important thing is to stick to those hours.
Create a Virtual Commute
Your schedule is the first step; the next step is establishing your routine. Back when most of us worked in an office, are routine was pretty straightforward: Get up, wash, dress, and travel to the office – perhaps you eat before or after leaving home. Nowadays, if you’re not careful, you might end up rolling out of bed, straight into work. This is definitely unhealthy. The virtual commute is a novel idea – it involves establishing a morning routine that emulates the mental and physical steps we take to prepare for work. That transition is important to enter a productive mindset.
Establish your Workspace
As mentioned before, maintaining a work-life balance is a bigger challenge when it comes to working from home. Unfortunately, it can be especially hard if you live in a small apartment. But the best thing to do is to make a concerted effort to establish a workspace. Make sure that workspace is clean and tidy, and arranged in the most efficient way. Having a clear workspace might also involve setting ground rules for other people you live with – such as roommates, your partner, or your children. Making sure other people are mindful of your workspace is important. Setting up a workspace also means entering and leaving your work phase is easier.
Schedule Breaks
Your work may have their own policies for break times. Some businesses may not have such policies, but it is common for there to be a culture of tea and coffee breaks – nobody is productive 100% of the time at work, and the best way to fill periods of lower productivity is to take breaks.Many people have cited taking fewer breaks since working from home – unfortunately less breaks does not equal more productivity.Getting some headspace and stretching your legs can actually make you more productive when you return to work.
Take Time to Leave Home
The blending of work and home spaces can be difficult. As we have talked about, workers used to have clearly defined phases where they were at work or travelling to work, and where they were at home or travelling home. Now, there is even less need to leave your home, because your commute is gone – but you need to make an effort to get outside at least once every day. Fresh air and natural light have real, recorded benefits to our health and wellbeing. We used to get that inadvertently from our commutes, now it is time we go out and seek it.
