Working From Home (WFH) - 12 tips from COREcruitment

With more and more people working from home due to the current situation, here at COREcruitment, we have put together our top 12 tips to help you work more efficiently at home and avoid that isolated feeling.

1.    Push on in the morning to make your afternoon easier

2.    Pretend you are still going into the office

3.    Plan, plan, plan and plan again

4.    Create a dedicated workspace

5.    Sign out of Social media

6.    Increase your Workload – you will be surprised what you can achieve

7.    Go with the ebb and flow of the day and schedule breaks

8.    Try Schedule calls for the afternoon and don’t forget human interaction this will get you through the isolation in the afternoon

9.    Stay Active

10. Stay Busy

11. Set boundaries and expectations with people in your house

12. Create a playlist/Listen to your favourite radio

Push on in the morning to make your afternoon easier

Get stuck in from the word go – as you will not have the morning commute that wakes you up, the best way to start a day productively is to get stuck straight into your tasks – push on in the morning and the afternoon lull will be easier (more on this later)

Pretend you are still going into the office

Still prepare yourself personally as if you are going to the office. I know it is tempting to stay in your Pyjamas, but DON’T. Get up, shower and dress as if you were going in, it may sound silly but trust me, this gives you the feeling of work, which is very important when you are in the comfort of your own home surrounded by tempting distractions

Plan, plan, plan

And plan again – make sure you have a schedule of tasks you want to complete each day, tackle your admin tasks during a time when you can’t reach people on the phone. Later on, the phone will become a savour when the isolation sets in, remember when working from home, sometimes the only people you speak to are your clients, team members and candidates. Try to stick to your schedule start times lunch times and finish times so you have a routine.

Create a dedicated workspace

Set yourself up a dedicated workspace, it is very tempting to have a lazy morning working on your laptop in your bed or on the sofa Infront of the TV watching the morning news – and we are all watching the news at the moment, but set up your desk away from distractions like TV.

Sign out of Social media

Social media – LOG OUT OF ALL YOUR ACCOUNTS – social media is one of the biggest drains on productivity, get rid of the temptation to flick to Facebook, Twitter or TikTok by logging out.

Increase your workload – you will be surprised what you can achieve

Don’t underestimate the amount of work you can get done at home, with none of the office distractions around this can and should be a time of increased productivity, during your planning phase plan to do more than you would normally, you will surprise yourself what you can achieve and maybe even your boss.

Go with the ebb and flow of the day and schedule breaks

Go with the flow, work when you are at your most productive, it is hard to stay on it 100% of the time, work when you are in the groove and schedule your breaks and stick to it, this will break up your day into bite-sized chunks and give your day even more structure, grab some fresh air (if it is safe to do so of course), get your hourly steps in, grab a coffee and drink it in the garden or on your balcony and feel refreshed.

Try Schedule calls for the afternoon and don’t forget human interaction this will get you through the isolation in the afternoon

As the day comes to an end, the afternoon lull can set it, use this time to make calls speak to people not only on the phone but make use of technology. Set up a skype call, facetime, remember you are probably not the only working from at home at the moment, and or change your routine by using skype, Zoom, Hangouts or facetime could be a welcome distraction and also keeps that “personal touch” going, this will keep your mind occupied and your motivation levels up as you keep the isolation at bay with human(ish) interaction

Stay Active

Now you are not commuting, make the most of it and go for a run, do some home exercise or jump on your bike, you have just got 1-2 hours of your day back and a healthy heart leads to a healthy mind

Stay Busy

And most important STAY BUSY, I’m not sure about you, but, the busier I am the more I can take on and the more productive I am, keep your momentum going and ask for more work if needed, see if a colleague needs help and use this time to hit those project you have put off.

Towards the end of the day, you should always be looking at planning the next day and the remainder of the week do what you can to keep your self-engaged and your mind on the tasks you are going to achieve.

Set boundaries and expectations with people in your house

Set expectations with people you are at home with, let them know what time you will be taking a break if you have children explain to them what you are doing give them times in your schedule that you will see them, I set a timer for my child so they know when I am next on a break, this helps with stopping the unexpected interruptions when you are on a call with your boss or a new client – we have all seen what happened to this guy on the news – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mh4f9AYRCZY

Create a playlist/Listen to your favourite radio/Stay Active

And my final tip is – music, radio find yourself a playlist or radio channel that will keep you motivated, don’t sit in a silent room, have some background noise, it will keep you motivated working to your favourite tunes, and the radio will keep you up to date with all the latest news, so no need to get distracted by that TV you have (as tempting as it is)

Stay in touch with all the industry news on our website https://www.corecruitment.com/news or give us a call on +31 (0) 202620088