a house full of home workers ...

randr are all working from home for the foreseeable future either self-isolating or social distancing…

However mine is a family of 5 and we are all working from home, so technically we are operating like a small company. We have space to all have our own personal work locations even if one is the dining table! I am also caring for my mum who is in the high-risk bracket, so I have adopted a home workplace routine so ensure that we are all safe in our very limited movements over the next few weeks or months.

Each morning, as I get up I thoroughly wash my hands first and then armed with anti-bac wipes and hot soapy water I move around the house, unsetting the house alarm, opening up rooms and I clean the handles, keypads, stair bannisters etc. I then wipe down all of our PCs, laptops, phones and tablets along with the communal items such as a toaster, kettle, fridge light switches and microwave handles, so that I know all of these items are clean at the start of the day. Then throughout the day as people take breaks, I wind everyone up doing it all over again!!!! ;-) (We have had SMART light bulbs throughout the house for a while, so we just ask Alexa to switch lights on and off now too. Wish the lads responded like she does!!)

The boys ( I have 3 grown-up sons) all know that the house is ‘clean’ and if they do have to leave and return then they leave their shoes in the porch, outdoor coat is taken to their room, where I anti-bac mist it. They then wash thoroughly before joining the ‘workplace’ again

I have several pairs of gloves that are in my bag, the car and in the porch and if I do go to the shop or pharmacy I wear them at all times, only use ipay or contactless and I have actually washed all my credit cards in case they were contaminated before this really took hold. Don’t forget cash points and payment keypads, wear gloves or clean hands directly after using.

In the workplace remember those communal items being used; photocopiers, printers, kitchen appliances, door handles, light switches, shared or communal landline phones, keep all of these items ‘clean’ and have each person responsible for wiping over after use. Hot soapy water is just as good as wipes. But if hands are kept clean before touching we are reducing the contamination spread too.

Am I doing too much, too little? I don't know but I am doing my best to keep my family and others safe. I have also adopted 3 elderly neighbours who are fine but just need that little bit of interaction, a card, a bunch of daffs on the 2 for a ￡1 from Tesco and to see their smiles is priceless I tell you.

So am I missing a trick, is there anything you recommend or want to share that you have found gets you through the day either at work or home? Share here or on our Facebook or Twitter Pages, we need to keep in touch right now and sharing good practice will help everyone.

Take care ladies and gents, we will get through this and we will resume normal service, but in the meantime be kind and support each other, service swap were necessary to keep head above water and where possible support local small businesses where you can.

Speak soon

Jayne