I’ve been very lucky that I’ve been working from home for several years. The jobs I have now aren’t the first ones I’ve done from home, but they are the jobs I’ve done from home for the longest length of time. All my previous work from home was a temporary thing or only lasted a month or two. And I remember when I started those jobs that I was excited to not have to drive to an office, but I also wasn’t sure how the entire set-up would work for me. And when I started my current jobs, I had that same concern but I also have had enough time to get into a good routine and things seem easy for me now.
And with so many people around the country working from home for the first time now, I thought it would be good for me to share some of the tips that I’ve learned over the years so that others can have an easier time working from home. Hopefully, those of you who are used to going into work (and like going into work) are able to be back in your offices soon. But I have a feeling that it will be at least a month or two before that will be happening. So getting comfortable while working from home is a necessity so you are able to be productive.
The first thing about working from home is remembering that it is still work time. You aren’t having a day off at home with work on the side (unless your job is like that). For most people, the hours that you work are still the hours that you work. You aren’t able to goof off or do whatever you want. I know that some of my friends have said in the past that I was lucky to work from home because I could do whatever I wanted all day. But when I’m working, I’m tied to my computer. I do get up to get water or go to the bathroom, but for the most part, I’m sitting at my desk for those hours. There may be some people who don’t have to work as seriously at home as I do, but making sure you have official work hours is important so you do get your work done.
And going along with that, maintaining some sort of schedule is important too. Still having mealtimes and trying to go to bed and wake up at normal hours is important. It can be easy to snack all day while at home since you have all your food there, but making sure you have whatever meals you normally eat in a day helps to make things feel more normal. And if you don’t usually bring lunch with you to work (so you wouldn’t have easy to put together things at home), make sure you have something that is easy to make for lunch is important. I usually don’t eat a real lunch while working. Instead, I have snacks for lunch that I eat between customers. And going to bed and waking up when you normally do helps make sure you don’t stay up all night and sleep all day (unless that is what you do because you work at night).
This next one might be a bit harder since many of us are stuck at home, but it’s also important to have some sort of break when you finish work. You don’t want to feel like you are still working because you haven’t left the space you were in. For many of us, going outside for a walk (as long as you aren’t in a crowded area) is still ok, so that’s a good idea to break up work time from home time. Even just moving from one place in your house to another can help. Or make a fun phone call when work is done. Just something that splits up the time in your head so you feel like you have left work.
And while some people think it would be fun to work in your PJs and work from bed, I honestly don’t recommend it. Working from your bed can make it tough to be productive. And it might not be the best place to work on a computer for a long time. If you have a desk or kitchen table, I’d recommend that over working from bed. And I am a huge fan of working in comfortable clothes, but they are never what I slept in the night before. Even if that means I take of PJs I slept in and just put on clean PJs, I’ll do that. I need something to feel like I am getting ready for my day.
Hopefully, if you are working from home you are having an easy transition. Maybe your company will discover people can work from home and you’ll be given that option for the future if you want to. And if you aren’t enjoying it, I hope that some of my tips help and that you can get back into your office quickly.
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