THE RIGHT WAY TO WORK FROM HOME.
Self-isolation, social distancing, quarantine – we have heard it all within the past two weeks amidst this COVID-19 crisis.
Many businesses and multi-national corporations have implemented remote work operations and procedures. After all, it is important to understand that you are practicing social distancing to fight against this virus by at least not being a carrier.
You may be thrilled given this work from home opportunity; I know many are excited to work from the comfort of their homes.
But, while you’re enjoying this “flexibility” and saving money on your commute, what is the impact on your productivity? Your personal life? Being a workaholic, where do you draw the line? Or how do you motivate yourself to get out of the comfort of your bed and work regularly? (Well, you could just work in bed! – Just kidding, that’s only fun for like a day).
Let’s get into this post so you can learn how to deal with working from home – the right way.
1. Gather Your Work Supplies
Before you can even begin working from home, ensure you have all your work supplies! By supplies, I don’t just mean pen, paper and sticky notes. Have your charger, monitor, HDMI cable, keyboard, mouse, ethernet cables – high-speed internet, etc. Whatever you need to ensure your work is completed and you are productive throughout the day!
This is very important:
Before you begin, make sure you have access to EVERY platform you need to use for your work.
This includes ensuring access to your company’s server/VPN, video/meeting platforms, internal communication network – at home. Call your company’s IT department or your manager to grant access- they will be working from home too at this point, but I’m sure they will be able to help!
You can’t begin to work if you can’t get in!
2. Know Company Procedures
It is important to review your company’s work from home policies or current procedures in these circumstances. As an employee, you need to be aware of how you need to conduct your work activities and interact with clients as you are representing your company and ensure you are working within your operating policies.
Most companies will be sending email updates to ensure that every employee is on the same page. To ensure you are up to date, I recommend you turn on your email/desktop notifications if you haven’t already.
3. Find (or Create) A Work Space
I have a little sister in grade 9 who strongly believes she can barge into my room (also my home office) to either annoy me or show me a meme. Siblings, right? -.-
Anyways, after you have “gathered your supplies,” create a workspace or find the place you believe to be the most productive in your home and use that as your home office. A place where you can be as efficient as you are at the office and can hold video conference meetings.
For starters: it needs to be quiet, close to an outlet, and have a desk (bonus points if you have a stand-up desk).
Make sure you alert your family members about your “business” hours. For instance, I have advised my loud, talkative family members from 9AM – 5PM, everyone should observe quite hours and knock before they enter my room. They may or may not listen – but hey, it’s worth the shot and it’s always good to lay down the law!
4. Follow Your Usual Morning Routine
Sure – you don’t have to wake up as early to commute to your work. But, this doesn’t mean you can take on your new commute: crawling out of bed and logging on at 9AM.
Please wake up at a reasonable time and freshen up to start another great day to maintain your routine and quality of life. Don’t just crawl out of bed and call that your routine (I know you have done this at least once). Treat yourself to a healthy breakfast – a nice way to start the day.
This will ensure that you are motivated to perform at your best and are able to work productively.
5. Communicate With Your Team
Working remotely also means that you may not have as much contact with your team. Honestly, I miss all my coworkers, having lunch together and occasionally shooting “3-pointers” in our mini basketball hoop.
Besides that, active communication is vital, especially if the work you do is collaborative. Keep in touch with your team and your manager regarding status updates, via meetings to keep everyone in the loop. Set up Slack for your team, your internal communication app or at the very least a WhatsApp group (depending on where you work, this may not be appropriate).
Be a team player and try to maintain the same level of contact with your coworkers to allow operational efficiency.
But, please don’t constantly and unnecessarily message them – this will do quite the opposite.
6. Maintain Your Regular Work Schedule
When you are working from home, you may either be enjoying the flexibility or you could be immersed in your workaholic nature. I was the latter until recently. You don’t have to be working around the clock. For your sake and the quality of your work, please ensure you log-in and log-off on time. Work efficiently – get your work done with the 8 working hours.
Don’t feel overwhelmed to work 24/7. If you need to ensure you are productive and need help with time management, check out this post to read A Busy Girl’s Guide to Time Management and Productivity.
It’s also very important to take your lunch break and other small breaks from time to time. Keep your mental health in check and don’t burn out. Also, avoid junk foods and have healthy meals!
And we have reached the end of this post.
Remember you are working remotely to practice social distancing to fight this pandemic.
Keep yourself in check. After all, that’s what personal empowerment is for.
Do you have more tips to share? Please comment down below or tag me on Instagram at @_reallifewithrainee. Click on the top right corner of the page for all the socials! I can’t wait to hear your tips and what has worked for you! Stay healthy & stay safe. 🙂
Real Life With Rainee 