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Working From Home...Now What?!

Working from home is much more than relaxing in your pajamas all day long and eating ice cream for breakfast, lunch and dinner! Now that we are all on a mandatory work-from-home policy that means lots of us are dealing with an unusual challenge: working from home for the first time, full-time.

Even if you have worked from home before, working from home because of the coronavirus can create a sense of uncertainty and urgency during this time of quarantine. Check out our Working from Home tips video to get some handy ideas!

These tips will help you make sure that you’re successful, both at getting your work done and at maintaining your mental well-being:

Get dressed! – You don’t need to dress formally like if you need to go into the office, but simply changing clothes out of your jammies will boost your morale and productivity. If staying in your jammies is your jam, great! But many feel after a period of time not getting “ready” for the day wears on a person and you slowly become less productive. So…get dressed!

Designate a work space or office – Balancing your work and personal life are hard enough as it is when you leave every day for work. When transitioning to working from home, it may take a day or so to figure out where that spot will be and when you do find that sweet spot it’ll make it easier on yourself to focus on your work. When you designate a specific spot to work it really creates a feeling of a “workspace” for you so that when you show up to that spot you turn “on” and feel ready to go.

Set your work schedule that works for you - You’ll get your best work done and be most ready to transition back to the office if you stick closely to your regular hours. If you have a family or others living in the same household as you, setting your hours and sticking to them are even more crucial. Adjust to your situation and keep your team and manager in good communication. Set boundaries to the best of your ability and just roll with it. Having a separate time and space to work will allow you to be more present in your home life.

Create a to-do list – Write down a work list of tasks and other things you need to do. Then give yourself a schedule for them, whether it be daily or weekly, create a schedule with those tasks to help you stay on track!

Utilize technology – Needing to meet with the team or others but cant because of the quarantine life, no problem! Use Microsoft Teams or WebEx to help you make conference or video calls. If you are having trouble setting it up get ahold of a fellow co-worker to help or your IT experts to get you taken care of, you can also learn more about this at https://itd.idaho.gov/employee/ > Microsoft Teams!

**Manage your stress – Working from home brings all sorts of distractions and added stresses trying to figure out how to balance the work/home life. Most of us are not used to working from home full-time and don’t have a rhythm or routine quite figured out. With kids, spouses, pets, livestock, chores…the list goes on and on. It can be overwhelming! When you get that overwhelming sensation and need to let of some steam…get up and walk away from what you are doing now! Walk away and move around, go for a walk, play with your kids/pets, get some fresh air…find some way to burn off the energy and re-focus. Do this for 15-20 minutes and come right back to work. You’ll thank me later for that tip as it’s my fav!

Communicate often – Stay in tune with your co-workers and managers. It’s easy to fall out of communication when home, so talk, text, email your co-workers often so you all are on the same page. Also, it helps with your sanity too!

Listen to music – To ease the silence which typically adds to stress levels, turn on your radio or tv in the background to help drown out the silence. Doesn’t need to be loud, put something on that will relax you and keep you focused!

Eat Healthy – We all would love to lay in bed, eat chips and watch movies all day but reality is we cant…or at least shouldn’t! To add to keeping you mind positive and focused, try to make healthier food choices from home. Good nutrition = improved focus.

Be Positive – It’s so much easier for us to get down and be pessimistic than it is for us to stay upbeat and positive. Be a light in your life and others, whether you believe it or not. Every day say or write down one positive thing about that day. Stay optimistic and you’ll always succeed!

Here are a few links to read more on tips and tricks to working from home:

https://www.nextiva.com/blog/working-from-home-tips.html
https://time.com/5801725/work-from-home-remote-tips/
https://www.pcmag.com/news/get-organized-20-tips-for-working-from-home

These are just some of the top 10 things to help you adjust and stay focused while working from home. Stay positive and take it one day at a time. Stay healthy and happy!

Update: Now that some of us have had some time under our belt working from home here’s a few things I’ve learned while being home.

It takes time to get a rhythm or system down - Now that I’ve been working from home for a little while now im finally down to a rhythm of what to do, when t take a break and I’ve also learned when im the most productive.

In time you’ll figure out when you’re the most productive - I have and have learned to get the more demanding & high priority projects done when I am the most productive. In doing this it has really helped in keeping the ball rolling on my tasks along with making me feel more productive and accomplished because I was able to get those priorities done.

Taking breaks often have really helped my sanity - Personally I am not used to sitting still or really sitting at all so here at home it has been an even more change of pace because my setup at home is sitting. SO, now that I am sitting at a desk I am learning to “hone in” on my energy and focus, which for anyone that knows me is quite the undertaking…haha! I have learned that when I get antsy and more fidgety than normal I just get up and go for a walk or do something with my kid/animals outside…basically I just go outside for 15 minutes or so and then come back to work! Try it, it really helps.

DUUUUDE…the distractions are killer! - Yes, the struggle is real. Between the kiddo, homeschooling, pets, livestock and other everyday distractions it’s hard to stay focused. What I can tell you though is to just roll with it! Take it easy, don’t get too uptight about the constant changes, and just take it one day at a time. I’ve learned to not fret about the little things or by being distracted and just do your best to get your things done. Do your best, be patient and it’ll all be good!