10 Tips to Thrive Whilst Working From Home

You may be a seasoned remote worker, or just fancy a couple of days not commuting a week. Either way, although working from home seems like the dream for many, it comes along with its own host of problems. Without the spontaneous coffee breaks with your colleagues, the face-to-face meetings and strict working hours, the pandemic threw most professionals straight into the deep end. Sounds simple right? Just do the work you normally do but in your own home. Oh, how wrong we were. I've had a fully remote job for almost 2 years. Here are 10 tips, in no particular order, that have helped me thrive as a remote worker.

1. Create Boundaries

Your home has walls for a reason. Imagine even in a studio apartment, but without walls even for your neighbours. There will be no privacy and boundaries between your lives. Not that apartment blocks are even built with thick walls in the first place! (Thank you 5 am workout man upstairs)

If you're like me, you very likely have had to adapt your work set-up to your existing living space. My living room is now my dining room, lounge and office. However, this doesn't have to literally be your physical space. One of the easiest boundaries is to have clothes you wear only when working, and others only when you're not. I have a strong rule of not wearing my fluffy dressing gown if I intend to sit at my desk to do work. Psychologically, now whenever I put the dressing gown on, I know it's time to chill and I instantly relax. Ditch the pyjamas, and the sweatshirt you've worn for 5 days in a row. You may also have a separate desk for working, and one for personal use. Hide your work laptop away in your bag after work, just like you may do in a locker if you were in an office. Creating mental space between work and your home life is just as important as physical, which may not actually be achievable with the space you have.

2. Make Your To-do List the Night Before

This is a general productivity tip that has made mornings (especially Mondays) slightly more bearable. When you're finishing off work, you may mentally note what needs to be continued tomorrow, or, check over your to-do list of what you didn't get to today. Instead of looking back at yesterday's list and forgetting that super important thing you said you'd get to today, writing your future list the day before 'brain dumps' all your tasks whilst they're fresh in your head.

Not only does this ease the friction of getting started on work when you're all groggy (although tackling the hard tasks first is probably more productive, some of us just really need to be eased in) but it means the day before you can completely switch off from work when you're done for the day. You can be confident knowing that there is a record for future you of the tasks to complete.

3. Set Out Time for Deep Work

On the Macbook, if you hold down 'option' and click the date in the top right-hand corner of your screen to switch on 'Do Not Disturb' or 'Focus' mode. You can now vary this for personal and work. For example, when switched to personal, I only allow notifications for my iMessages. When for work, only my Slack messages. You can also set them to come on automatically at certain times through 'Focus Preferences'.

One step further to tip no. 3 is to write your status on Slack (or 'presence' on Microsoft Teams) as 'Deep Work Mode' and pause your notifications to let your colleagues know you're not to be disturbed, unless an absolute emergency, in which case, there's a thing called a phone(!).

Carve out deep work in your work, or personal calendar. I say a work calendar may be better for this, so someone doesn't book in a meeting at the same time and so your colleagues, reports, or superiors are aware of times you will be out of contact. Remember not to carve out too long (an hour maximum) otherwise your focus will begin to waver and you're back to procrastinating!

4. Avoid Context Switching

Did you know that on average it takes you 23 minutes to regain focus after a distraction? Different areas of your brain are activated for different tasks whether that's using formulas in a spreadsheet, typing out your performance reviews or having a general conversation about a celebrity scandal. Even a task as simple as answering a quick question whilst writing a report can draw your attention away. Your brain is subconsciously still working on the task before.

'Haven't they asked that already?'

'I should probably have given a clear answer'

'Did I reply quick enough?'

'I wonder why he was asking that'

and so on, you get the picture. When you set out to do a task, stick to the one task no matter how quickly you can reply to an email. The thinking process before you type a message takes up a lot more energy than you think. The benefit of working from home compared to an office is that you can control your distractions a bit more. Don't want a colleague to speak to you? Just turn off your notifications. You can't really stop that in an office where anyone can just stick their head round the door or come to your table and where you may have to be a bit more strict on your time for beating traffic or catching trains.

5. Have a Morning Routine

Get up, brush teeth, eat breakfast, make your coffee, sit on your chair to start work...again. Sure, your body was not made for hectic starts, sitting in traffic, commuting on smelly trains and drinking copious amount of coffees just to get through a meeting but it wasn't made for moving two steps from your kitchen to your desk either. Now you've got all your commuting time back, I'm sorry but you're out of excuses (unless you have small children) for why you cannot fit in a morning routine that works for you. I'm not talking about 4 am starts with an hour of yoga and journaling (but if you can do that, go you!) but even just a small walk around your block, or walking circles in your garden will give your body the fresh air and the light exercise that it needs. A morning walk offers excellent benefits for both your mental and physical health, creating that barrier (remember - boundaries) to get into work mode.

6. Take Breaks

I know, you must be so sick of hearing this. 'How can I take breaks when I've got a million things to complete?'. Inhale. Exhale. Out of your to-do, is everything really so important that it's worth sacrificing your mental and physical health for? Burnout is still rife whilst working from home and there are no longer the usual chatty lunch breaks away from your desk, or buying a coffee outside anymore to ease the stress. Breaks are in fact, even more important now because of the constant pressure of 'I need to prove that I'm constantly working so my boss doesn't think I'm slacking off'. In which case, that's not your problem. If you truly know that you deserve a break, then you deserve a break - no matter what anyone else thinks. Your brain simply cannot focus at its best when you're completely drained.

My favourite breaks are walks, baking, cooking, making a cup of tea, cleaning, tidying, knitting, reading or some light yoga. Some of my colleagues go on a cycle ride, and come back to work later, whatever works for you! Although it's better to have screen-free breaks, sometimes this is inevitable and that's fine. If you want to mindlessly doom scroll on Twitter during your break, then you're less likely to have that FOMO whilst you're actually working and less likely to procrastinate. The more you resist your body from resting, the more it will demand it.

7. Plan a Social Life Around Work Time

This probably sounds like the last thing you want to do when you're drained after a day of work, but we are primarily social creatures. Even the most introverted people need some sort of human connection to stay sane. Obviously, it is better to plan some face-to-face time with friends and family, since I'm sure having yet another video call fills you with dread.

Isolation is a seriously detrimental part of working from home, and is really not talked about or taken seriously enough. Although sitting in a cafe or hiring a hot desk can fix this to some extent, nothing can replace the full office experience everyday. The banter and chats about your weekend plans now are squashed into scheduled meetings, on a screen, which then run over way too long. I wouldn't say I'm a super extroverted person, but I definitely need some human contact every day. I live alone, so this is especially important. If some days I'm feeling particularly lonely and isolated, and I can't be bothered to leave the house and spend money on a coffee in a cafe, then just having the plan to socialise with a friend in the evening can keep me going. No amount of video calls can replace human connection.

8. Take Meetings Away From Your Desk

You know the drill, simply change from one app or tab to the next to attend a meeting and then back to your work. Although taking notes during meetings are important, try moving your laptop over to an armchair or another spot in your home if you take them on your laptop anyway. If you rarely take notes but just want to listen, why not dial in on your phone and take that opportunity to go on a walk. What difference will this make if you're on mute anyway?

Once I started taking meetings away from my desk, they felt less like work meetings and more like chatting with friends. We still have productive conversations, but there is less 'formality' about having to take notes and that way, I'm more relaxed and creative with more ideas to chip in with. It also means a chance to actually move around, stretch your legs or your whole body. When I then sit back at my desk, it's work mode time. The importance of boundaries strike yet again!

9. Invest in the Best Desk Set-up

I'm sorry but your kitchen table was not made for you to work at efficiently for 40 hours a week. Thousands of pounds (or dollars) are spent on chairs and desks in office spaces to make sure they're as ergonomic for employees to be their most productive, and you home office is no exception. In fact, this is better because you can personalise your set-up as much as you like. If you are not completely comfortable with yours, then it is definitely worth investing in a better chair, keyboard, a mouse and extra monitor screens. Make sure to have fun with it! I just bought a cute little desk tidy and it has made my desk way more organised and less chaotic. Plants are meant to help you feel calmer and more creative too. Most of the essentials your employer should definitely pay for you (and if not, then please just leave that company). You being comfortable is how you will bring out your best work, without getting aches, pains and strains because you're on a wooden chair on your kitchen table.

10. Screen-free Meal Times

The final, and probably quite controversial, tip is to get away from a damn screen when you can. If you're anything like me, the day consists of little screen (phone), medium screen (laptop or ipad) and big screen (TV). Aaaand repeat. No wonder my eyesight is deteriorating rapidly and I have a constant headache. Having screen-free meal times where I listen to a podcast (obviously use a screen to switch this on) or an audiobook, or a youtube video that mainly requires audio can be an amazing alternative to watching TV or scrolling on Instagram. Even better, choose your audiobook or podcast episode beforehand so you're not sat there choosing what to listen to because we all know how irritating that can be on Netflix whilst your food going cold. Oh, and never eat at your desk. Boundaries!

Remember that working in an office space, as some may remember isn't perfect but neither is working from home. Make the most of your personalisation and flexibility in your work day on how you want to spend your days. Thank you for reading these tips and that they are useful for you to put into action straight away.