The working from home thread: tips and advice

You are reading a single comment by @Sam_w and its replies. Click here to read the full conversation.

•

Sam_w
Have worked from home for the last 7 years, so i have a bit of experience here, things I have found that work (echoing others to a degree)
1. Set times, I am always at my desk no later than 8.30 everyday
2. Get dressed, doesn't need to be in "work" clothes, but just clothes
3. Dedicated area is key if possible, and leave the area when you are having lunch etc.
4. Don't try and do chores randomly through the day, set dedicated times to do it
5. Take more breaks, else you could end up sitting there for hours on end with no interaction or movement, I specifically have 2 dogs for this purpose
6. If you are doing video calls think about your background, if you can't find a nice plain background there are apps that will blur your background
7. I have a sliding sign on my office door with vacant\meeting on it, bought as a joke, but my 4 year old has actually learnt not to come in when it is set to meeting
8. I have a TV news\music on in the background on a low level as I like the almost white noise it produces, but don't try and watch proper TV
9. Inane chatter over Teams etc is important, I am in pretty much constant contact with a couple of colleagues and genuinely would have gone crazy if we didn't spend half the time randomly talking shit
10. Enjoy! I can't ever imagine going back to an office situation, the flexibility WFH gives is amazing and has allowed me to move from central London to deepest darkest Devon, and have a much better quality of life

•

rab in reply to @Sam_w

This is all good advice. I've also been working from home for a few years and would only add...

• it takes getting used to. The initial feeling is that you're somehow not part of everyday working life/society, there's no office banter (fine for me as I'm naturally a bit anti-social anyway!) but you WILL get used to it
• bear in mind that without distractions you'll almost certainly be more productive than in an office environment. At the start, it's tempting to overcompensate, but in time you'll appreciate it means you can take more time out to do housework, go out for a run in the middle of the day and generally take advantage of "off-peak life" (empty cinemas, never having to queue etc) and still get your work done
• definitely agree with getting dressed in the morning and being "work ready" within your nominal working hours. Sitting around in your Y-fronts (we've all done it!) makes it harder to engage
• stay on the phone/facetime with work colleagues - this will help with any feelings of isolation etc

I love working from home now and would really resent going back to the commute/9-5 way of operating. Once people have had a taste of this, it wouldn't surprise me if this becomes much more popular once we're through the other side of this whole thing. In the meantime, stay safe people!

About

Avatar for Sam_w @Sam_w started