How To Make Working From Home Work For You

If you’ve recently moved to a remote working arrangement, whether thanks to Covid-19 or a more flexible working policy, here are some tips to make it work for YOU.

It could actually be a great opportunity to set up some new healthier, more productive work and lifestyle habits.

1) Define your work space

Try to create a space in your home where you can work as distraction-free as possible.

If you don’t have a convenient spare room to requisition, designate a space to sit that you can think of as your ‘office’.

Keep it as clutter-free as you can, and ideally out of sight of the dishes or laundry, which can become surprisingly attractive propositions when you're looking for ways to procrastinate.

Tempting though it may be, try to avoid working from the couch, your bed, or any other areas where you would usually relax as this can make it harder to transition out of work-mode at the end of the day. 

2) Take breaks

There might be fewer natural interruptions and breaks when you’re working from home, so take control of the rhythm of your day from the outset.

Use time blocking techniques to chunk similar tasks together, working in 30-60 minute blocks with short 5-10 minute breaks in between them.

My preference is to work in Pomodoros, which is 25 minutes of surgical focus followed by a 5 minute break… for example this article was written and published in 2 Pomodoros. 

Not only can regular breaks keep your productivity sharp, it will help give you more of a structure and allow you to…

3) Move around

A 2018 study published in the Occupational Medicine Journal demonstrated how uninterrupted periods of sitting constitute a serious risk to physical and mental health.

Use your 5-10 minute productivity breaks to get up and move around… climb a set of stairs, do some squats (you’re at home - nobody’s watching!), stretch, get outside and walk around the block… it doesn’t matter what you do just MOVE!

I take 10-20 minute walk breaks once or twice a day not just to ‘get active’, but because it helps my creativity and I come up fresh ideas I never would have thought of had I remained at my desk.

4) Go easy on the caffeine, and stay hydrated

I love a cup of coffee. I love the smell, I love the taste, I love the ritual.

But I’m a sensitive soul and more than a couple of cups disrupts my sleep, makes me more anxious and destroys my productivity and performance.

It’s tempting when working from home to use your breaks to grab another cuppa, but keep a track of how much caffeine you’re consuming. Your body is keeping score regardless.

A friend of mine once offered me a coffee after dinner to which I declined, saying that I’d never get to sleep. He poured himself one and told me ‘it doesn’t affect me, I can never get to sleep anyway’.

Sleep is your best friend when it comes to managing stress and change, so if you’re not feeling tired by 10pm or your sleep is less than perfect, examine your caffeine consumption and consider imposing a curfew (for me it’s a maximum 2 cups before midday)

Working from home you may also have a better chance at increasing the amount of water you drink. Keep a large glass on your desk, and refill it at each of your breaks.

5) Schedule your lunch break

Give yourself at least 20 minutes - ideally 30-40 - minutes to take a proper lunch away from your work space (hey think of all that time you’ve saved by not having to commute!)

Eating at your laptop may feel like you’re making time, but your body is likely to be in the wrong state for optimum digestion. Take this time to read a book, listen to some music or just snatch a few moments to sit outside and be quiet.

You'll extract more of the nutrients from your food, and could find you experience less bloating and more afternoon focus.

6) Work from coffee shops

Work from home doesn’t have to mean working from home.

Depending on company policy and your own state of self-isolation, you may be able to block a couple of hours aside for a particular task to work out of a local coffee shop.

One of the biggest challenges of working from home is the impact it can have on mental health, as we become more disconnected and separated from human interaction.

A couple of hours surrounded by people (though perhaps not too closely!) can still be productive yet tick many of the connection boxes.

This has been my go-to for years, and if I’m not presenting or coaching clients you’ll usually find me tapping away on my MacBook at one of my favourite wi-fi-enabled coffee shops.

The key here is to have a clear agenda for what you want to achieve in that location. I use some venues for writing (like the one I’m sitting in right now), some for blasting through small tasks, and others for emails and messages.

7) Posture / desk stretches

You may have your work station set up ergonomically in the office, but your kitchen table might be less forgiving on your back.

Try sitting on a gym ball which can help keep you more mindful of your posture. When you take those regular breaks, check in with your body and imagine pulling from the top of your head with a piece of string to realign your spine.

If you have phone calls to make, stand up to make them to get your body moving between different positions.

Here’s a short video I filmed as a recap for a corporate client last year with some stretches that can help keep your spine supple.

8) Get dressed for work

Yes you can work in your PJs when you’re in the comfort of your own home, and I’d be lying if I told you that I’d never done it.

But there’s something psychological about getting dressed for work as though you were heading into the office… to me it feels like I'm stepping into my work identity and flicks the switch that gets me into work-mode.

9) Set out your agenda for the day

I’m most productive when I have a set agenda for what I want to accomplish during the day. I like to think I can freestyle and react, but I know I'm just kidding myself. 

Set your day up the night before or first thing in the morning, including when you’re going to take breaks and pre-arranged meetings, as these provide the scaffolding off which you can hang the rest of your tasks.

10) Use Strict-Workflow

Strict-Workflow is a Chrome extension that blocks social media, email, news sites and any other non-mission-critical websites for a period of 25 minutes.

If you - like me - are easily distracted and find yourself using the ‘I’ll just have a quick check’ excuse to procrastinate on your real work, then check this out and put it to work.

Also keep your phone out of sight and on flight mode… standard advice regardless of where you’re working, but even more so when you’re WFH and nobody’s checking up on you.

11) Control your sounds

Background noise can help or hinder your productivity, so take control.

I love listening to music when I work, but if it’s a catchy tune or interesting playlist I know that it distracts my focus.

I realise that I'm making it sounds like I have the attention span of a labrador, but I know (most of) my weaknesses and try to create an environment and systems that minimise their impact.

Try binaural beats which get your brain waves resonating at a more creative or focused frequency (lots of free and premium options, here’s a link to a free one on YouTube that I'm listening to right now).

If I’m listening to music I often pick one track and listen to it on repeat (my current go-to is Insomnia by Faithless).

Finally, as you may have guessed, I like working out of coffee shops and sometimes if I’m working from home I head over to coffitivity.com where you can stream coffee shop sounds as background noise… weird, but it works for me!

12) Let others in the house know that you are working

If there are other people in the house when you’re trying to work, it’s important to set up some boundaries. 

Make sure you let other people know when you can’t be disturbed, even if it looks like you’re just taking a break.

This is important for everybody else in the house as well, not just you.

13) Stay connected

Keep connected to other people in your team. Schedule some virtual face time for a catch up, and perhaps arrange a call at lunchtime to keep each other accountable for taking a break.

If we don’t deliberately plan human connection in times when it doesn't happen organically, it can quickly get squeezed out.

14) Exercise

With all that time saved on the commute, this could be the perfect time to embark on a more structured exercise regime.

Not only is exercise awesome for physical health, it’s a foundation for good mental health and resilience also.

Try my two week 6-minute-a-day core training program - the Plankathon - which you can access for free from plankathon.com

15) Plan your food

One of the other major issues with working from home is that you have immediate and easy access to cupboards full of food!

Mindless eating and snacking is a common but ineffective long term strategy to manage stress, so get a grip on this from the start.

As well as planning your day in advance, plan what you’re going to eat for lunch and snacks.

Omelettes, salads, last night’s left overs, fruit, nuts & seeds, peanut butter and banana on oatcakes… try and keep the sugar consumption to a minimum and get in more high-nutrient fresh food.

Not only is this better for your waistline and health, it’s better for your productivity and how you feel, as you’ll have fewer sugar highs and corresponding lows, and generally feel more in control.

Summary

Your old routine was a square peg, and it fitted perfectly into the old, square hole shaped world.

But your world is now a round hole, you need a round peg routine if you’re going to continue to thrive.

Not all of these ideas will be relevant or resonate, but hopefully some might.

Now is the time for self-leadership, and to inspire those around you by taking control of what you can.

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If you’d like to find out more about how I’m currently helping individuals and organisations navigate these uncertain times, through in person and remote resilience, performance and wellbeing training, send me a message and we can have a conversation.