Seven tips for working from home

Steph Gubas who is based in our accounts department, discusses the best ways of staying focused in the new world of work.

With businesses continuing to be more flexible – and working from home becoming much more prevalent during the coronavirus pandemic – it is important that everyone is able to stay motivated, remain productive and able to distinguish between home life and work. Here are seven ideas to help us achieve this objective.

1. Working on an important task? Take away all distractions. If you need full concentration on a piece of work for an hour, remove anything which might distract you. These may be particular to you and your job, but it might be a good idea to put your mobile in another room, shut down emails and change your phone status. You could also block out time in your calendar so that your colleagues know not to disturb you. It apparently takes roughly seven minutes to get fully back on task if you get distracted, so you can imagine that if you are easily side-tracked, then this could be a significant amount of time wasted during your day.
2. Have your laptop/screen at eye level. This will improve your posture and prevent muscle fatigue. You also don't need to go out and buy a stand. If you have some thick books that aren't in use, then these will also do the job!
3. Look away from your screen every 20 mins. This may seem excessive, but it could be as simple as stretching in your chair or going to make a drink. It will help to prevent eye strain and muscle fatigue.
4. If you wear glasses, make sure they are clean. I think most people with glasses will be guilty of forgetting to clean them at some point. Once I'd got into the habit of cleaning mine every morning, I couldn't believe the difference it made to my vision. In addition, it helps to reduce eye strain.
5. Keep work in a separate part of the house. In an ideal world, everyone would have a separate office in their house and be able to close the door on it at the end of their working day. Understandably, however, not everyone has this luxury. If you don't have a particular space available to you, it is important to be strict with yourself and refrain from taking your laptop to bed to check emails or sit on your sofa doing work. Try using the dining table or another table in the house. This will help you to distinguish in your mind between work and personal time.
6. Switch off your computer and pack away work. During this period, it is important to make a commitment to switch off your computer at the end of the working day. Don't let the lines between your work time and personal time become blurred.
7. Make sure the weekend is the weekend. In line with the tip above, if you have the facility to work from home, it's easy to think it is necessary to 'catch up' on work over the weekend. Try not to get into this habit, as the lines between work and your personal life are easily blurred. Have a break and spend time with your friends and family.

If you would like further advice on how your business adapts to the ongoing Covid-19 crisis, simply contact us on 0115 955 5500 or email enquiries@pagekirk.co.uk.