A healthy approach to home working

15th April 2021

WORKING from home is being mooted as a means to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus, with businesses around the world encouraging staff to stay at home.

Twitter, Facebook and Microsoft, are among the companies who are encouraging workers to telecommute rather than commute. Sony closed offices in London, Paris and Gdynia, Poland, while 8,000 workers at Google HQ in Dublin have been told to stay at home.

 At Active PR we’re regular home workers and take a healthy approach to balancing work and home life. Here are our top tips to making the switch to working from home.

Space

make sure you have a work space that works for you. If working from home is only a temporary measure, setting up your laptop on the kitchen table every morning and packing it away at the end of the day could be a great short-term solution. For a longer term or permanent working environment, create a dedicated work space, even if you don’t have enough room for home office. I use a corner of a room in my home, with a split level adjustable desk to help ensure my screen, keyboard, mouse and notepad are all in a comfortable position.

Time management

working from home isn’t an excuse to skive off, if anything it’s a chance to use your time more efficiently. Start the day as you would if you were going out to work: breakfast, shower, clean clothes. Maintaining your regular working hours can help you stay motivated, but remember to take regular screen, comfort and tea breaks. Plus, you can make better use of the time previously wasted stuck in traffic on the daily commute why not sleep in a bit later, enjoy a pre-work workout or prepare a home-cooked meal.

Reporting

those who don’t work from home, often say they wouldn’t be able to stay motivated. The reality is, if you don’t complete tasks it will be noticed by colleagues and clients. We regularly update the team about our plans for the working week, including when we have meetings or conference calls, and have different reporting tools to keep clients updated about work we’ve carried out on their behalf. Socialise – interacting with others is important for our general wellbeing and even if you are having to self-isolate because of the Coronavirus there are lots of ways to stay in touch with colleagues, clients, friends and family from phone or video calls to WhatsApp groups and social media platforms. One of the few things I miss about working in an office is being able to bounce ideas off, but I know I can call on colleagues when I need help to keep the creative juices flowing. And providing you don’t have to self-isolate, it’s also important that you make time to get outside and see other people.