The New Normal: 5 Tips for Working from Home

Empty office buildings, the explosion of home office set ups and screen-share platforms overloaded with new subscriber usage. Whatever you want to call it: remote, at home or virtual working, the way we work has changed because of the pandemic. The structural shift is not just a temporary adjustment. Many of these changes will remain going forward.

There is a growing change in the mindset of many people toward remote working and that change will have lasting implications. The past stigma of working from home has been removed and the views about how we work have changed and it may end up the working from home now becomes the new normal. 

Working from home takes some adjustment but with a little self-discipline and time management, many people find they are able to get more done in a much more efficient way than they would if they were reporting to an office. Working from home does come with its own set of challenges and those challenges can be quite different depending on variables like personality type. 

Working virtually for almost the past 10 years, here are some tips that will help you make the transition and thrive.

Get Off to a Good Start

Mornings are crucial and many times how you begin your day will dictate the course and direction of they day. Having a routine is a great way to preemptively overcome drifting through the day. If you go into the day with a plan, you can execute that plan. No plan and no routine means the day is a failure before you even start.

Don’t Become a Prisoner in Your Own Home 

Get out of the house. Even if for just a few minutes, it helps your productivity and your mental health. If you sit down in a home office for hours and hours you lose the energy, the aggressiveness and the intensity you could bring to the table if you broke the down day down into smaller intervals, say an hour then a break before another hour on.

Create an Actual Office Space

You are not going to be dialed in and getting your best work completed if you are lying in bed with a laptop watching TV. Create an actual work environment and make others respect the office, close the door and section yourself off if need be. If there is not a clear separation between personal, household and office space you may find yourself frustrated and anxious because of the lack of boundaries and set up.

Take Advantage of the Perks 

A break just because you need one, a longer lunch because you took the time to prepare and eat healthy, spending extra time with your spouse and kids, being able to make mid-day personal events if they are important to you, etc. Working remotely comes with unique perks so take advantage of them. Learn to let go and enjoy the things that would not be possible if you were not working from home.

Keep Up with Yourself 

Don’t let yourself go just because you are not reporting to an office or traditional work environment. If you are not careful, days can start to blend together and then the week can seem like one long, never-ending day. Get up, work out, get dressed, brush your teeth, remember to eat, get enough sleep… All of these can seem like stupid reminders but working from home can create a twilight zone like feeling if we fall into the potential traps.

The way we work, the way we communicate, the way we engage and the way we do business is changing. When there are big changes like this, there are equally big opportunities to improve your situation and quality of life.