Make Working From Home Work For You!

*This is a guest post 

2020 has been a pretty tough year for the vast majority of us when it comes to work. Regardless of what industry you work in, chances are, you’ve faced a whole host of changes to your usual working protocol and working routines as a direct result of the coronavirus and Covid-19 pandemic. Chances are if you’re reading this article, you’ve found yourself switching from an office based role to a work from home role.

While you may have previously been used to commuting, working nine to five in a dedicated office space and heading home, things are likely to have changed. The majority of governments around the world have recommended that anyone who can work from home does work from home in a bid to slow the spread of the virus. This is fine and completely understandable. But many of us have felt thrown into a new way of working where we’re struggling to pair workplace productivity with an intimate home environment. Considering many of us aren’t all too sure about how much longer this will last and how long we will be working from home, it’s important that you start to take actions to make working from home work for you.

Here are just a few things you can do to make your home environment as productive and professional as possible!

Schedule Your Time

Working from home can also blur boundaries between when you should be working and when you shouldn’t. When you work from an office, you arrive at a set time and leave at a set time. You only focus on your work while you’re in this location. But when you work from home, you may find that you end up working longer hours. You may keep checking back in on things, or work overtime to “just finish something off”. Avoid this. You need to make strict working hours to ensure that you get all of the work that you need to complete done, but also so that you don’t overwork yourself, which can result in a burn out. Take a look at some of the top work schedule apps to find one that works for you. Then, use it to manage your time!

Make A Designated Work Space

The first step that you need to take to make working from home comfortable and productive for yourself is to choose a dedicated workspace. When you work from home, it can be extremely easy for boundaries between work and home life to become blurred. Many people find themselves working from their bed or sofa, which is less than ideal, as it becomes hard to draw a line between work activities and home activities and you can easily become distracted, sleepy or lose focus. Plus, if you work from any old space in your home, others who you live with may not be able to easily distinguish between when you are working and when you are taking a break or free for a chat. You may find that you become interrupted regularly and that you find it difficult to get your work done while exposed to others’ noise and distractions. So, choose a set room or space in your home and let everyone know that when you are here, you’re not to be interrupted. When choosing your work space, you may want to consider the following!

A Closed Space

If you have a spare room, you may want to consider turning it into a home office. An enclosed space with a door that can be closed is absolutely ideal for working from home. You can shut yourself away there and focus on the tasks at hand. Being able to shut a door means being able to shut off from all distractions, noise and other issues that could make working difficult.

Lighting

Next, you need to consider the lighting in your chosen space. Remember that natural light is extremely important in any work space. This is why the vast majority of professional office spaces and other work spaces will be flooded with natural light. If you aren’t aware of the effects that natural light can have on your overall health and wellbeing, it’s time to find out! Put simply, natural light helps to regulate your body’s sleep-wake cycle, which is controlled by circadian rhythms. Your circadian rhythms tell your body when it’s time to get rest and when it’s time to be awake and productive. So, if you aren’t exposed to sufficient natural light during the day, your circadian rhythms can become confused and you quickly find yourself suffering from sleep problems. Alternatively, if you don’t get enough natural light during your working hours, your body will think that it’s night and start winding down when it’s time to be productive. On top of this, natural light can make a space look and feel nicer to work in. You’re more likely to be productive in bright and airy spaces. To get maximum natural light in your work space, you may want to:

Place Your Desk Near a Window – this way, natural light will naturally pool on your desk, ensuring everything is well lit and ideal for being productive.

Use Mirrors Wisely – if you can’t place your desk next to a window, you may want to make clever use of mirrors. Remember that mirrors reflect light, so you can still achieve an increase of natural light by placing mirrors opposite windows and in other clever locations so that light can bounce off them and throughout your workspace.

Consider Having a Skylight Fitted – if you want to go all out and have the budget available, and the windows in your workspace just aren’t big enough, or a window isn’t existent at all, you could always have a skylight fitted. Skylights are a type of window that can create a tunnel of light from the roof of your property down to your workspace. Just make sure to get planning permission and to find reliable, well reviewed contractors with great portfolios before getting started on this project!

Invest in Ergonomic Furniture and Equipment

When you work in an office space, chances are, all of the furniture and equipment you use on a day to day basis is ergonomically designed. This means that it has been designed to support your body while you work and reduce your chances of developing injuries or strains while you are working. Repetitive strain injury is a great example of an injury that ergonomic furniture and equipment can help to prevent and reduce. But when you work from home, chances are you’ve switched to simply working with the furniture that you already have available to you.

It’s highly unlikely that this furniture is ergonomically designed for your working day. Sure, this furniture may be okay as a temporary solution for furniture to use while working from home for a short period of time. But if you’re going to be working from home for a while, or permanently, you really should consider investing in ergonomically designed furniture and equipment for your work space. There’s all sorts of ergonomic furniture and equipment out there, ranging from desks to chairs, back supports, leg rests and much more. Each will help you to maintain the best posture possible while you are working, supporting your body and maximising your overall health and wellbeing in the long run. It’s definitely more than worth the investment!

These are just a few steps you may find yourself taking when it comes to getting used to working from home and being as productive as possible from home. Each piece of advice is worth bearing in mind and could make all the difference to you!