Working from home has always been this indulgent thought – something that you had to earn over time. But now, its reality. We’re all working from home – and honestly, its not as easy as you’d think.
At the start it seemed like a luxury – sleeping in, squeezing an at-home workout at 10:43 on a Tuesday and being within three metres of your kitchen for optimum snacks. While this sounds like the best of both worlds, shifting your home environment into a dynamic and creative workspace is an artform, and were here to spell it out for you.
Here are Piccolo’s top tips for creating and maintaining a productive work environment at home:
Define Your Workspace
Now you’re no longer heading into the office, you must make sure you have a space to work in. And its not that simple. What was once an oasis of relaxation is now a place function, productivity and Zoom meetings. Make your workstation somewhere you can escape – say goodbye to work as soon as 5pm hits. Ensure you can both work and play at home. Other than the obvious, your laptop, Wi-Fi and PowerPoints you must ensure you can work comfortably in your space. Is your back supported on the living room couch or is it time to invest in an at-home office chair? Do you have enough privacy, or can you hear your housemate binging Netflix as they #StayHome?
Limit your distractions, re purpose your space and make a distinction between work and play.
Play Pretend
To make the process easier, find your office trigger points. Set your day up how you would if you were heading into work. Whether that’s endless amounts of coffee, a morning exercise routine or a cooked breakfast – do what you need to do so that by the time 9am rolls around it feels like a workday. Get dressed (yes, that means shoes…), give your day a purpose and dive in.
Personalize
While your WFH station should be just as functional and productive as your actual office, it’s important that there is still a clear distinction between the two. Personalise your space, create an environment that you want to work in. Whether that’s with a house plant, artwork, a candle or your favourite mug, put something on your desk that inspires and reminds you of you.
Collaborate and Communicate
Working from home can seem like a solo experience, really taking the term self-isolation to a new level. But it doesn’t have to be. Check in with your colleagues, diagnose your communication channel and use it.
It’s All About Routine
While your typical 9-5 office life is on hold, its time to say hello to a new routine. WFH. Being in your home environment creates distractions, making it easy to drop the game. Your finding yourself walking into the kitchen every half an hour for snacks (…guilty), It’s a lot harder to focus. Setting yourself a schedule and sticking to it has never been so important.
Being productive at home relies on organisation, discipline and comfortability. Get these down and you’ll be a WFH pro, dreading the day you have to go back to the office.