Working from home - Top 10 tips from a friendly data geek

Working from home will be a prospect that either excites or terrifies you... You might be thinking that this is finally the peace and quiet that you need to rattle through that ever-growing to-do list (probably in your pants), right up to the moment that the next door neighbour decides that now is time for a full garden landscape project to start. As you sit listening to the neighbour start up a 20 year old (and incredibly smokey) chainsaw, you may be wondering how you will keep up any level of concentration and productivity!

Working from home may already be second nature to some of you reading this article, yet in light of the recent Covid-19 outbreak (and UK Government suggested social distancing measures), there are going to be many of you reading this article who have never worked from home before. I've pulled a Top-10 list of tips and suggestions together, which hopefully will help ease some of you 'working from home newbies' into a good routine (also, first tip: you really should wear pants).

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1. Create & Stick To A Routine

Once you get to your desk at the office and your laptop/computer turned on, you will quickly settle into your normal daily work schedule, but you've now lost the usual routine to get you to your desk. Your commute to work and the first 'pre-work' coffee run has now gone. You need to create a routine that gets you from waking up, to marking the start of your working day. It might be as simple as getting dressed and making a coffee, a morning run or jog or even setting a specific start time. Whatever it is, its vital you set a schedule and stick to it

2. Structure Your Day

As your normal schedule of face to face meetings and discussions have now disappeared, it will be very easy to lose focus and structure to your day. Outside of any virtual meetings or calls, its a great idea to create a schedule for your work day, made up of the different segments of work you'll want to complete. It can be a good idea to use a calendar function if you struggle with segmenting your daily work schedule. This may help with fighting off distractions (remember that neighbour, when will his garden project be finished?!).

3. Set Out Your Office Space

Wouldn't it be great if everyone had space in the house to create a home office, complete with a full personal and work computer set up (complete with dual HD screens, the finest of leather office chairs and retro-gaming memorabilia of course), but this isn't always possible! Setting out some quieter space with a desk or surface to complete work activity is vital. It will help with fighting off some of those pesky distractions and consciously, give you the experience of entering your "work space".

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4. Set Some Ground Rules

One of the biggest distractions you will face at home is other people. Whether it be people you live with (who may also be working), children or family pets. You need to set some clear ground rules with anyone sharing the house with you, so they know what they can and can't do in terms of disturbing you. If you can, try and share tasks such as letting in service people or taking receipt of deliveries. Given the social-distancing measures the UK government are putting in place, you may be more frequently faced with others working from home too. In this scenario, it is worth you both/all setting separate work spaces out if possible, not only will it ease the level of distraction, but it will give you a level of privacy for business sensitive calls too!

5. Take A Break

Admit it, you are probably guilty of missing the occasional screen break or lunch stop whilst you were in the office. It is much more important when working from home, to make sure you take a break (in line with your company policies of course!). Having a break whilst working from home will not just give your eyes and posture a well deserved rest, but is proven to improve your productivity, quality of work, attention levels, awareness and how fast you work! I'd suggest not spending your screen-breaks looking at the next best online viral videos, but perhaps consider having a little walk in the room/garden or even completing a quick household chore such as putting the washing on (you could always check on your neighbours garden landscape project, is that chainsaw really still switched on).

6. Don't Forget Your Team

Working from home can see a lot more of us experiencing feelings of disconnect, loneliness and isolation. If you have been working from home for a while, you will have already figured out how best to keep in touch with your team. If you haven't, you might want to consider using technology platforms such as screen sharing software, video chat, telephone conferences or even a good old fashioned phone call. It is very easy to feel 'cut-off' from the rest of the business when working at home, so checking in with co-workers will help you keep up to date with the rest of the business and remind you how your work is contributing to the big picture.

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7. Meal Times

When I first worked from home, I had great plans of making the finest, freshest and healthiest lunches, each and every day. The reality is, this ate (see what I did there) into my time/schedule and used lots of energy in chopping, prepping and cooking meals. The dream of the finest lunches soon fizzled away into either skipping meals or just simply eating very poorly. One key tip is to continue to prepare your food ahead of time, just as you would have when you were in the office. This means you will be more likely to stick to your schedule and use your meal times to actually eat, rather than spend lots of energy just preparing your meals. You may also want to consider preparing your meals the night before.

8. Telephone Conference Etiquette

You will find that working from home means you will be taking part in far more tele-conferences than you normally would. A good idea here is to polish up on some tele-conference etiquette, this will help the calls run much smoother and will go a long way toward making your presence known. Some key tips include:

• Call in from a quiet location
• Make sure you dial in on time for the meeting to start promptly
• Say your name clearly before speaking
• Prepare any documents you need beforehand
• Mute your line when you're not speaking
• Direct your questions to a specific person instead of posing them to the whole call
• Never put the call on hold (watch out for answering other calls coming into you)

9. Don't Be Afraid To Change Your Plan

Some of the best home-workers will more than likely have a very strong reputation of being very self-disciplined. That said, it may take a little time to get into a good routine that works for you. If you suddenly find yourself working one minute, then ordering yourself a chainsaw to compete with the neighbour the next, you may need to ask yourself if there is anything you need to change in your schedule or routine. Don't be afraid to alter your daily plan to make sure it is working best for you and your productivity!

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10. End Of Day Routine

Similarly to how you will have started your day with a clear routine, it is vital that you end your day with a clear routine too. It is very easy for the work day to suddenly blend into the evening, without you so much as even realising it. Try to create a good habit for ending the work day (at the right time of course), this might include a simple log-off and putting your favourite album on, an evening walk or perhaps a visit to the gym. Whatever it is, make sure that you end your day just as strongly as you started your day.

The right answer

When it comes to working from home, there isn't a blanket 'right answer' or 'top tip' that will work for everyone. You may find that some of these tips really work for you and others just simply don't. Always look for inspiration and ideas when it comes to working from home and find what works best for you. It's a great idea to talk to your work colleagues on your next call, see what works for them, the answer that works for you may well just be there!

Your friendly 'data geek' - Jonathan Sammut

Originally published: 17th March 2020