Following on from my post yesterday on how to stay positive through uncertain times, I wanted to also share with you my 5 top tips for working from home successfully. As most of us are now working from home – or even if you would normally be working from home – it’s important to make sure that your day is similar to that of when you’re at the office.

It can be really hard to stay in a routine when there is so much uncertainty around, but keeping busy and productive with working from home can help alleviate the anxiety of what’s going on right now.

Get Ready Normally

This might be one of the hardest challenges to face when working from home; temptation. The desire to stay in your pyjamas all day will undoubtedly be through the roof, but by working in your PJ’s you are likely to be less productive overall.

Set your alarm for a similar time to normal – this will help you to stay in a good sleeping pattern throughout this time. And whilst we may not know how long this is likely to last, it’s important to stick to normal as much as you possibly can.

Get up around the same time, shower, get dressed into something other than pyjamas! Have breakfast, coffee and get ready to start the day.

Routine

Similarly to the point above, sticking to a routine is imperative to working from home successfully. I would highly recommend altering your normal-going-to-work routine into a very similar one. Consider swapping your commuting time for developing some skills, your mindset and improving your personal development. This time you save commuting whilst working from home can be put to great use, if you allow it.

When you’re working from home, it can be very tempting to skip lunch and carry on working… Take a break! Make sure you take that hour for lunch like you normally would and go for a walk.

Dedicated Work Space

This has to be one of the most important points within this post – creating a dedicated work space. Ideally, this should be away from your main living area, but definitely not in your bedroom if you can help it! If you’re living in a small flat you may have no choice, but I would strongly recommend avoiding working from your bed or the sofa. It’s too easy to switch Netflix on and chill instead!

If you need any tips and advice on how to create your perfect working from home environment, check out this post on how to create the perfect home office for some great tips!

To-Do Lists

Whilst we will all have our own ways of organising work and tasks that need completing, I’m a huge believer in lists. I have lists for everything; the food shop, blog tasks, work based tasks – all sorts. The feeling of crossing off things one by one from the list brings me (weirdly) so much joy!

Lists help you to stay focused on what is needed. If you can list out everything in order of importance, you can work through the list easily and stay productive throughout the day.

Breaks and Exercise

As briefly mentioned earlier, taking regular breaks is so so important. Get up and away from your desk, have a stretch, make a cup of tea regularly and get outside for some exercise (within your current government’s allowances of course! Written in March 2020)

Although we not be able to get outside as much as normal, with our isolation protocols of the infamous March 2020, it is important that we make the most of our one outing a day. Get out for a walk at lunch time, or go for a run in the morning when you’d normally have your long commute. If walking or running isn’t your thing, try at home workouts, yoga or pilates. Many of which can be found on YouTube.

---

How have you found working from home? Do you have any do’s and don’t’s? We would love to hear all about them in the comments below.

Stay safe,

Jessica xo