How to Survive Working From Home
With so many of us transitioning to a work from home environment, we wanted to share some tips and tricks we have for maximizing the experience while continuing to be efficient with your work.
The first and most important part of working from home is to identify the pros and cons of doing so. Normally working from home is a choice, but for many right now it isn't. It is helpful to identify the good and bad, so you can focus on the good things, and try to find ways to minimize the bad.
Pros:
Extra sleep with a 0 minute commute
Freedom to take small breaks, walk around the house, and check in with friends and family
Listen to music/podcasts/Netflix without bugging anyone
A favorite podcast of ours is Science VS and they have some great info on the Covid-19 outbreak too.
Enjoy the comfort of your own home
Easy access to snacks, beverages, etc.
Cons:
Easy to get distracted
Harder to communicate with co-workers
If working over a VPN, sometimes things are slower
Possibly more time on the phone with co-workers
As someone that has worked from home exclusively for the past 6 years, I have some experience with all of these things. One big bonus is being able to wake up, get some coffee, and start work. Sometimes this is a double-edged sword for me, but overall this is a nice bonus. You can take that extra moment in the morning to either sleep more, or just relax and fully wake up instead of rushing out the door.
The freedom to go down to the kitchen, stretch my legs, make some coffee, is really a nice perk that you can’t always do at the office. You also get to do all this in the comfort of your own home, which is a bonus.
The downside of this situation is I get interrupted by my toddler, I have learned to focus, but it is easy to get distracted by the millions of things on the internet, or stuff around you. Many are also dealing with it just being harder and slower to get work done over a VPN or remote solution.
So how do we deal with the negatives of working from home?
Identify all the positives of it. Just being generally positive about the situation helps immensely. Deciding that working from home is a positive experience will help you overcome the challenges.
Find a dedicated work environment. Some may have a dedicated office, others may have corner in the living room, but either way try your best to find a dedicated space. Try not to work from the couch, or kitchen. That opens you up to more distractions of people around you and other forms of entertainment. Find a place you can go to and leave.
Get dressed. It is easy to just work while in your pjs and honestly is understandable. Getting dressed (maybe not as fancy as you would going into an office) helps you mentally be ready for the day, try to keep your routines as best you can.
Hopefully these tips will help you adjust to working from home. We will continue to support you and provide tips to get you through this difficult transition.
For some more great tips on working from home, check out this article from Mind Genius: https://www.mindgenius.com/homeworking-homeschooling-in-covid-19-by-brad-egeland/