How To Improve Your Work-From-Home Experience

Working from home has become the norm over the last year or so, and this, of course, is largely down to the disruption caused by the coronavirus. Many of us have been asked to work remotely by our employers, and this is for obvious safety reasons.

There are those of us who work from home anyway, perhaps because we’re self-employed or because our employers have already given us the opportunity to do so. 

Whatever the case, one thing is true. Working from home isn’t always easy. Distractions can be a problem as can feelings of isolation. 

So, to improve your work from home experience, here are some tips we hope you find useful.

Create a designated work area

To work productively, you need to feel as if you are actually at work. Sitting on the sofa can be fine for a while, but you might be lured by the TV or the need to have a nap. So, it’s important to find a room in your home that is suitable for working purposes. If you don’t have a spare room, it might be that you could set yourself up in the corner of your living room, perhaps with a large corner computer desk and a comfortable office chair. If you do have a spare room, you could include such furniture, alongside those other features that will aid your work, such as a printer, a filing cabinet, and perhaps even a designated phone line. 

Check out this home office set-up for more advice. 

Set boundaries

To help you work productively, boundaries need to be set. It’s no good your next-door neighbour popping over for a cup of tea when you’re trying to meet a deadline, and it’s no help to you when your best mate pops up on Messenger for a chat. You need to be strict with yourself and others, so create a work schedule that you think you will be able to stick to and let the people in your life know when you’re busy. It might be useful to turn your mobile phone off too, as you won’t be interrupted by personal calls when you’re busy. 

Take regular breaks

Here’s the thing about working from home – you can easily do overtime! You might be tempted to work through your lunch break if you have a lot to do, and because you won’t have a boss telling you to shut down for the day, you might work into the evening too. It’s easy to do, as being at home, you will always be in close proximity to your workload. 

You need to think of your mental health, however. If you work more than you should, you will start to get tired and begin to work less productively. As a consequence, you might start to experience feelings of stress and burnout. You might also start to feel low and isolated when you realise you have had no social company. So, take breaks throughout the day, and set yourself a cut-off point as the day closes. You will then have more time to socialise with others, be that your family at home or your socially distanced friends on the phone. 

Working from home is great, but it can prove problematic too. So, use these suggestions, and look online for other tips on how to improve your work from home experience.