How to work from home

If you are new to working from home, there is definitely a learning curve involved. Not everyone can start remote working like a rockstar straight out the gate. It takes adjustment, it takes trial and error, and it takes patience.

While there are certainly some major benefits from working from home (no commute, working in your PJs, more availability during the day, etc.), there are also aspects of remote work that take some getting used to. 

In light of recent events, I want to give you some of my red hot tips to help you work smart and efficiently from home right away. Knowing some advice going in will definitely set you up for success as you navigate your new work-from-home life

Find a dedicated workspace in your home

If you don’t normally work from home – or maybe you have a smaller home – you might not have a dedicated room that you can call your ‘home office’. That is totally OK and is definitely not a requirement for getting work done at home. A coffee table, tall dresser (if you like to stand) or kitchen table will do. I really like using my kitchen table as my workspace because, at a certain time of day, I need to clean it off to use for food prep. This sets a clear boundary for me to end my remote working day or take a break. 

Get ready for the day

Treat your ‘work from home’ situation like a job. This could mean different things to different people but in a nutshell, I recommend that you forgo your desire to stay in your PJs all day and get dressed – whatever form that may be for you. Even if it’s a different set of PJs or loungewear, just change into something other than what you slept in. 

This might sound a bit weird, but what I am trying to tell you is, make sure you are physically and mentally stepping into your ‘workday’. Rolling out of bed in your PJs and going straight to work might sound great, but it can be hard to mentally adjust from your ‘home zone’ to your ‘work zone’. Having that transitional element (changing your clothes) can help you set those boundaries of what is acceptable for you at home and what is acceptable for you at your home office. 

Eliminate distractions

If you work from home, eliminating distractions means no television in the background. Unless you had it on at your work office, chances are you won’t be productive if it’s on at home. Trust me, I’ve tried. The same goes for music. Find melodies or beats that help you focus. Don’t play T-Swift sing-a-longs unless you think it will help you write that 2,500-word report on Q2 KPI’s. 

Then there’s the kitchen and even seeing my roommates now work from home I know that snacking can be a BIG distraction. Something I’ve started doing is eating the same thing for breakfast every day and lunch. Lunch varies slightly based on if I have leftovers or not but if I don’t, I eat an arugula salad every day. This helps take the guesswork out of it and limits endless snacking because you don’t know what to eat. 

Work when you feel your best

I’m a morning person but I know not everyone is. We only have a certain number of productive hours, so it’s important to use them wisely. Some people may be able to put in their hours first thing in the morning, while others need a coffee first and maybe breakfast or walk before they get into the “zone of genius”. Find what works best for you and work it like a pro. Remember, you do you. And always take breaks when you need them!!

Set a schedule

No matter if you start your work from home day at 6 am or you start at 11 am, make a schedule and stick to it. I promise, this really helps with productivity. Create a routine that works for you (and your family if that is something to consider) and avoid straying from it when you can. 

Am I telling you not to go for a run? Heck no. Get that movement in. I am telling you to schedule it in. Don’t get distracted by an unstructured workday. If you have a schedule, your run is scheduled in before (or after) a few hours of work. If you don’t have this set schedule, your run could turn into a 40-minute gossip fest with a neighbor, which leads to coffee at the local cafe – which leads to you losing hours out of your workday. Not. Good. 

Shut work down

Hear me out first, but having a commute can actually be beneficial. That commute journey serves a purpose – however stressful or long it was. What it did was separate you from your work and help you mentally transition to being at home. 

While working from home has some major perks, it also has this one major downfall: being able to completely shut work down for the day. This is harder said than done. When you have your computer handy, and with apps like Slack or Asana pinging you at all hours of the day – it becomes increasingly hard for us to step away from our work, especially when our work is inside our home.

So what can you do?

Make sure you turn off notifications from these apps at the end of the day. Set boundaries with your boss or your customers by telling them when you are available to be reached – like 8 am to 5 pm. Don’t answer outside of those hours. As soon as you do – you are letting them know that you will become available when they need you, opening up the possibility of them reaching out to you more in this way. When you shut your computer down, go for a ‘transitional’ walk or do something that will help you mentally adjust to being off of work.

Hopefully, these tips help you adjust to working from home so you can have productive workdays in your new (but oh so comfortable) working environment.