Staying productive whilst working from home can be quite challenging and keeping the separation of work life and home life can be too. So, at BlueSky, we have come up with our key tips to help keep us sane, healthy and productive whilst working from home.
- TRY TO KEEP A ROUTINE
These are strange times and keeping some normality to your life will help you, try get up at your usual time and do whatever you would normally do in the morning. Take your lunch at your usual time and make sure to finish working when you would usually at work, this way you will keep a balance between your work life and your home life, even if they are currently in the same place.
- GET DRESSED
Although being off and working from home might seem like the perfect excuse to wear pyjamas all day it won’t help you get into the right head space for working. Keep your usual routine by getting up, showering and putting on clean clothes. This will physically and mentally prepare you for the day ahead. This will also get you into the mindset that you are now working and should make you feel more productive.
- CREATE YOUR OWN SET UP
Finding a place in your home to work from will also help to make a distinct line between work life and home life. Try your best to find a table or somewhere you can use to work from, this will help you feel as though you’re sitting at a work desk and is much better then slouching on the sofa or even worse, working from your bed. Once you finish up work for the day you know that you can leave that space and only return to it tomorrow when your next workday begins.
- STAY IN CONTACT WITH YOUR COLLEAGUES (DIGITALLY)
One of the biggest changes right now is only being able to interact with people in your own household. But thanks to modern technology, we can stay connected more than ever before. Regularly having check-ins with your colleagues, whether that be a meeting via zoom or an informal catch up through WhatsApp, it’s great to be able to connect with the people you usually spend 8 hours a day with. And if you’re finding that no one has anything to say, try something different like hosting quizzes to get the team interacting and lift the spirits. Or, make the effort to have a virtual lunch break and sit and have a chat over lunch just like you usually would, to bring back some normality to your days.
- TAKE BREAKS
Taking breaks away from your screen can be very helpful in boosting your productivity when you sit back down. Although it may not seem like it, at work there are plenty of different things that breakdown your day. Things like meetings and phone calls to more mundane things like coffee breaks or going to fetch something from the printer, help to break up your day into sections. When you’re sitting on your own all-day with no reason to move from your desk, the days can seem like a drag and productivity can be lost. Therefore, taking regular breaks away from the screen can boost your mood and help you tackle your workload from home.
Hopefully these will help you keep sane and make your working from home life that little bit easier!
Stay safe