Tips to work from home more efficiently

One thing I’ve been hearing a lot about lately is the struggles of working from home and especially when you have a young family at home.

With many companies now transitioning from their workplace to working from home during this current COVID-19 situation, there are some common challenges that are arising. I have put together a few tips based on conversations I have had with clients and the many companies I work with.

Here are 5 tips to work more efficiently from home:

1) Dress for Success- get dressed as if you are going to work instead of hanging out in your PJ’s or track pants all day. If you normally wear a business shirt and a tie, then wear that. If you normally wear a nice dress to work, then put a nice dress on. This will help you to turn onto work-mode and feel like you’re at work, it’s also good when you’re running virtual meetings that you are dressed appropriately and you never know when a last-minute meeting might pop up! Also, at the end of the day get changed into your casual attire or sports clothes so it signifies the end of your working day and helps you unwind.

2) Set Clear Boundaries- this is for yourself and others in the house. Firstly, set clear timeframes to when you are working and when you have finished for the day. Create a workspace at home, which signifies to you and your family that you are in work-mode and likewise set that up for your children if they are home schooling at the moment.

It may be more challenging if you have young children at home, you may need to be more flexible with your hours as you may need to dedicate some time with them during the day. When you do spend quality time with them, make sure you are fully engaged with them and enjoy an hour or two with you kids (without feeling guilty) and then you may need to make up that hour later on when they are more settled into the evening. One bonus is, you may have gained some extra time because you are not commuting so you could use that time as your flexible hour.

3) Keep it Normal– during these uncertain times it’s important to keep some routines as normal as possible. If you normally start at a certain time, stick to that and if you normally have a morning coffee/tea break at 10, stick to that. Likewise, with your lunch break and afternoon breaks, it’s good to stick to this routine as much as possible. If you normally take a walk in your lunch break, keep doing that. The mind and body likes routine in your workday so wherever possible keep it normal.

4) Stay Positive and Pliable- now more than ever it’s so important to keep a positive mindset at work and home. There is a lot of uncertainty and anxiety in the world at the moment so it’s good to remind yourself to stay positive and support each other as much as you can right now. It is a time we need to remain as flexible as possible and adapt to the ever-changing circumstances. It may be challenging to stay positive but catch yourself if you are being negative about things and try to turn that around with positive affirmations. Share positivity with others, continue to share jokes, fun and laughter as much as possible.

5) Stay Social- I know we need to respect the ‘physical distancing’ a restriction during this time but this does not mean we need to socially disconnect from everyone around us. In today’s world there are so many opportunities to stay connected via virtual platforms, so as much as you can connect with people, checking on them and even have some fun along the way. I have heard of some creative ideas like; having virtual Friday night drinks and quiz nights etc. so get creative and stay social as much as you can.

There you have it, five tips to help you enjoy working from home more.

I'd love to hear any other things that are working for you at the moment. Email me on melo@mindfulmooves.com

Stay well, stay positive and stay connected!