With the new lockdown many people are going to be working from home.  This can be rewarding and provide a level of flexibility that you cannot get from an in-office job.  But many people think that working from home is as simple as setting up a work desk with power, internet and communications.  After all, that is what you have at work – a desk, your online computer and perhaps a landline.  Why should working from home be any different?

Working from home is not just about setting up your workspace

Working from home is not just about setting up a remote place to work.  To successfully work from home there are some fundamental differences between a work desk and a remote desk that you need to know.  And before you ask ‘is this all about self commitment?’, No, although self commitment plays an important role when working from home.  There are abundant resources on the internet regarding tips and tricks for self commitment and staying focused if you need.  While having a proper, well equipped space to work and reading up about and being ready to face the required self commitment is critical to your work from home success, there are some other things that many people overlook.

Extra tips for successfully working from home

Remember to move

This might sound odd, but it is important.  People who work from home move around much less than those in an office.  Just think of how far the rest rooms, kitchen/cafeteria or smoking/social areas are from your desk in comparison to your home.  And that does not even take into account your travel to work; even if you go in your own vehicle, you still have to go out to the car and go into your work place from the car park.  At the office we are also more inclined to walk to a colleagues desk to get something or to the board room for a meeting.  All these little things add up.  So remember to get up and move around often.

Covid can actually assist you with this.  Setting up a regular workstation sanitising routine (check out our convenient Corona Virus Killing spray HERE and Keyboard and Hand Sanitiser Spray HERE).  You might be working from home but you must still sanitise your workspace regularly.  We would even go so far as to say you should use a fogger canister (CLICK HERE) once a week but at the very least every third week.

Communicate

This is a difficult one as the office environment allows you to communicate with others in your office without consciously trying to.  It might be a simple nod of support and encouragement from your fellow colleagues before a big meeting; Or a colleague that is not busy stepping in to help you when they notice you have too much on your plate.  You will be surprised at how many little things are sorted out effortlessly in passing or casual conversation.

Remote working environments often fall short in effortless and effective communication.  Little things pop up all the time; and sometimes you feel these things are too little or unimportant to bring up in a formal meeting.  The problem is these little things quickly grow into bigger things.

Some companies request employees to share a ‘working document’; this is a document, spreadsheet or program where all issues big and small are added.  Before a meeting everyone is asked to go over the document and answer relevant queries.  This allows individuals to answer questions directly and remove little items from the list.  By the time the formal ‘live’ meeting is held, all the little items should already be off the agenda.

There is much more to working from home that has not been covered here, such as how to sit, air circulation and so much more.  If you liked this post let us know and we will look at doing more like it going forward.

Photo by Denise Jans on Unsplash