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Work From Home AND Be Productive: 5 Simple Tips

Writer's picture: Gary MichaelsGary Michaels

Updated: Nov 13, 2024

It’s hard to imaging when you look back that, in a very short space of time, the coronavirus changed all our lives.


We lost part of ourselves, many of us lost family members, others lost friends and neighbours to that awful period of history.


It also changed to how we live, connect and work having thrown up a whole new lifestyle for many, me included! Many of us are still feeling the impact of it four years later.


If you were used to working in an office before and then found yourself working at home, you may be forgiven if your productivity dropped. Even if working from home is new to you in 2024, there's still an adjustment.


Not because you’re constantly distracted by something on YouTube or doomscrolling on X (formerly Twitter), but because it does take some time to adapt to a new way of working.


Work From Home. Tips & Tricks

Here at PostScript, I'm lucky enough to work from home and did long before the coronavirus invaded our lives. After all there's only me (at the moment), so I don't need anything fancy, but that doesn't mean there wasn't some teething troubles when I first tried it.


If you're a working at home veteran like me, or it's all new to you. If you’re unsure how to manage your day or stay focussed from the comfort of your home whilst wearing your PJs, I’ve got some hints and tips to help you stay productive.


1. Be Disciplined

When you’re at the office, you’re always going to be more focused. After all, it’s a place of work with business to be done and there's people keeping their beady eye on you!


When you find yourself at home, there are so many more distractions that no-one else can see. There just is.


You might have the family at home, there’s a TV there, a kitchen full of food and any number of other time-sucking devices.


To be more productive at home, it’s vital you discipline yourself to strike a balance between your work and home life.


The first thing to help with this is to find yourself a place to work. If you’ve got a home office, then that’s perfect, but not everyone has.


Even if you have to use the dining table or bedroom dressing table, having a dedicated workspace is vital to focus your mind.


With a house full of distractions, discipline is key. Avoid putting on the TV (even for just background noise) as you will get sucked in (yes, you will!).


Whilst it’s understandable to want to keep up-to-date with the news, the 24-hour rolling news cycle means that it never ends, so avoid that too.


Remember that you are at work, so try to mirror your usual working day as much as you can.


Take breaks at break-time, lunch at lunchtime and log off (and mentally switch off) at the end of the working day. It takes practice, but it’s so worth it.


2. Be Comfortable

When you find your little working nook at home, it’s crucial that you’re going to be comfortable long-term.


Sitting hunched on the bed or balanced precariously on a kitchen stool might be OK for sending or reading an email or two, but it’s going to kill your back if you stay there throughout the day.

jasonstrull?utm_content=creditCopyText&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=unsplash">Jason Strull</a> on <a href="https://unspman holding his head while sitting on chair near computer desk
Photo by Jason Strull via Unsplash

If working from home is completely new to you, you might not have the ideal ergonomic set-up, but finding a comfortable chair and a desk/table to work on will really help.


Ideally, it will be an office chair, but if not, find one with an adjustable back support if possible. If that’s not possible, you can use a cushion or pillow to offer some lumbar support.


3. Be Secure

This is something that may or may not be applicable to you, depending on the kind of business you work in, but it’s certainly something you should consider.


Given the amount of data that you’ll be accessing remotely and how sensitive that information might be, utilising a VPN (or Virtual Private Network) may be what you need.


Most domestic Wi-Fi networks won’t be as secure as the one you use in the office, so securing the data you use is an important consideration. Using a VPN means that the IP address of your computer, phone or tablet is changed.


You can amend it so it looks like you’re back in the office, at least electronically. It also means that any connections are encrypted so the data flowing back and forth is secure.


When you’re dealing with sensitive information, it’s a step you might need to take.


Most App Stores will allow you to download VPN software, or your business’s IT department may be able to install one for you remotely. Check with them first as there may be specific settings you’ll need to connect.


4. Be Connected

When you’re used to working in an office with your colleagues, the tools for keeping in touch or working collaboratively might be limited. Even more so if you work alone as I do!


Because you’re all in the same place, you may not be used to working on different systems or software.


As this new working paradigm continues to evolve, it might be a good idea to utilise tools that promote collaboration and encourage contact.


Again, you may need to speak to your IT department lead first, but there are some amazing pieces of software you can use easily and for free that will help you work from home.


In terms of connecting to your colleagues, video conferencing tools like Skype, Zoom and FaceTime are great.


You can have multiple people on the same call (assuming your WiFi is up to it) so you can easily connect and talk about any projects you’re working on together.


Collaboration is a key part of any working environment. That’s fine when you’re all in the office, so when you’re not, things need to change.


For those of you with 'work friends', Slack is a fantastic collaborative tool for working together, even if people work for different companies. Think of it as part email, part instant messaging, part file sharing but fully collaborative.


If you need to send large files to colleagues, doing it over email might be troublesome, so sites like WeTransfer, Google Drive, and DropBox are great to know and simple to use.


Productivity suites like Microsoft Office 365, Google Docs or even Apple’s own range of programs (Pages, Keynote and Numbers) now allow for sharing, so people can work on the same file in real-time, without the need to send it out to people for comment or review like it's the 1990s.


5. Be Active

As I touched on earlier, it’s important you take breaks from work. When you’re used to working in a dynamic office environment with the opportunity to have a change of scene throughout the day, working from home can begin to feel a bit like cabin fever at first.


Seeing the same four walls all day every day (even when you’re not working) can start to feel oppressive, so mix things up.


When you take a break, don’t just stop working and check Twitter for a bit. Take the opportunity to go for a walk outside, even if it’s just down the street or make a cuppa in the kitchen and drink it somewhere else other than your desk.


Getting some fresh air in your lungs and staying physically active will help you focus on work, even if it's just walking around the garden.


It will also benefit you, especially if you live alone, to go out and see other people and interact with them. Pop to the shops if you can, go for a walk, or a run and vary your working day.


Mixing up how you spend your day will help enormously to keep you physically and mentally active.


The Final Words

Working from home has now become the new normal for many people, me included!.


Is it now just part of the new normal? Will we all ever all go back to the office in the numbers we used to? Who can say, but with these simple tips you can make the most of working from home AND stay productive.


Post-COVID, post-Brexit there’s no denying that it’s been tough for most businesses to keep their heads above water, but we got through the pandemic, just!


Going forward, we need to do everything we can to look after ourselves and manage our physical and mental wellbeing. Wherever we’re working, whomever we’re working with is, even if if it’s just ourselves, staying positive, being productive and focussed is going to be important.

 

Have any of these tips helped you stay productive? Have you got any tips of your own that I haven't mentioned? Let me know in the comments below.


If you want to get in touch with us at PostScript Eulogies, the links to do so are here. I’d love to know what you’ve done to adapt to working from home, so if you have any ideas that have worked for you or your business.


Please consider following me across on social media to stay up-to-date with PostScript. As a new business, I’d really appreciate it.


Blog photo courtesy of Chris Montgomery via Unsplash


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