For those working from home for the first time, here are some top tips from the NetIX team who regularly work remotely.
I have been exclusively working from home for the past three years, and for two years before that I only went into my office one day a week to check in with my team or maybe a second day if there was a big interdepartmental meeting I needed to attend.
When people discover I’m a remote worker, I usually hear one of two responses; either I’m told how lucky I am to not have an office and commute to endure, or I’m asked - how do you remain focused for the whole day?
People tend to have a very rose tinted view of what it’s like to work from home all the time - it’s convenient, yes - but there can be drawbacks which I’ve learnt to sidestep over the years, but as many of you have been thrown in at the deep end of home-working, I’ve thought about my daily work life and popped together some observations and tips that I hope may help during this very weird time.
As tempting as it may be to stay in bed until 8:57am and then sleepily open your laptop - don’t! Just as with any task you need time to prepare and get things organised in your head before you begin. You need time to wake up properly, get your brain in gear, and face the day head on.
Whilst you don’t need to commute anymore which will no doubt allow you to catch some extra Zs, still allow the same amount of time you’d normally have from waking up to stepping out the front door before you start work - this’ll help you feel more in control of your day and less like you’re just chasing your tail.
I’ve never been one for smart office wear - the thought of a suit and heels brings me out in hives (another reason why I’m very fortunate to work in a jeans-and-tee-shirt industry like telecoms) - but even if you’re getting up, showering and putting on another pair of sweatpants and tee shirt - it helps the mind differentiate between your on-the-clock work time and your own private chill time. It’ll also help mitigate the mad rush around your home looking for a non-pyjama top if your manager suggests a quick video call!
Now this one will be a little different between regular home workers and newbie/temporary home workers. If you always work from home I’m sure, like me, you’ll have invested in a proper desk in your spare room, a repurposed shed or garage, or maybe you’re lucky enough to have an actual office! But if you’re new to the remote working life you may not have ever needed to think about where to work before.
I’d advise to stay away from working in your bedroom - much like getting up and dressed - changing rooms from where you sleep to where you work helps your mind differentiate between these two roles your home will start to provide.
I know this isn’t always possible - if you’re in a houseshare with housemates watching TV, creating a desk in your living room is not going to work. In this situation working from your bedroom may be necessary, but don’t work from bed - even if you’ve borrowed another room’s table and a kitchen chair, at least you’ve got your own workstation and you’re not reclining back on your bed.
As you’re sitting and working alone it can be tempting to grab something quick from the fridge and eat one-handed in front of your laptop whilst scrolling through emails. Don’t! Even if you’d normally sit and eat lunch at your desk, you’d probably also be chatting with colleagues or scrolling through Amazon - so you need something to help break up the day!
Make time for a proper lunch break - whether that’s sitting on your balcony, chatting with your co-isolators, watching some Netflix, doing YouTube work out, or going for a walk (if government guidelines allow) get away from your desk/room.
Also on this topic, take mini breaks throughout the day. When you’re in an office you’d go into the kitchen for tea or coffee throughout the day and have a chat with colleagues in different departments; the odd five-minute coffee break and catch up isn’t out of the ordinary during a normal work day - just because you’re working from home now doesn’t mean being solidly chained to your laptop.
If you were in the office, your team would see you tallying up the spreadsheets, editing word documents and taking calls from customers - unless you log everything you do on a CRM like Salesforce - don’t be offended or feel picked on if your team asks you what you’ve been doing. It may sound like they’re doubting your work ethic, or that they don’t trust you but it’s just because they want to make sure you’re feeling supported during this new work phase and able to tackle everything as you normally would. They’re not mind readers and they’re just checking in!
No one ever speaks of the loneliness experienced when working from home but it’s very real. Normally, if you live alone and work from home, unless you make a point of going out to the gym or grocery shopping, you may not have human contact for days, but during this Coronavirus lockdown period where gyms are closed and grocery shopping is discouraged unless necessary you may not have human contact for weeks.
Even though it can be tempting to rely on emailing, texting, or a quick WhatsApp message, this is the time to pick up the phone - or even better use FaceTime or a Zoom/Skype call - and the benefits are twofold; you can get an instant answer to your query, and you can provide a friendly voice (and face) in an otherwise very silent day. You wouldn’t WhatsApp a colleague a quick question in the office - you’d probably nip around the end of your desk to ask directly - do the same here!
Try to stick to your normal finishing time. Of course this can vary due to workload, projects or your team’s needs and only you can judge that, but the main point I want to get across is don’t work endless hours just because you’re home and your laptop’s switched on.
In the evening if you’re watching Netflix and a notification pops up saying you’ve got an email - don’t feel the pressure to open it (unless this is part of your job role - obviously!). This is your own time and that email can wait until tomorrow.
You may have seen social media inundated with images of people showing off how amazing their houseplant-filled and natural sunlight-flooded their new work areas are; and I’m sure they were... for a solid 30 minutes until notebooks emerged, and pens and charging cables became strewn all over the place.
It’s okay that last night’s dishes are sitting on the draining board, it’s fine to have your normally silent dog bark in the background or to have your children decide to wander in during an important video call. How many times in an office environment would colleagues accidentally walk in on a meeting after misreading the room-booking schedule, or overhear a colourful conversation through thin office walls?
Remember - we’re all in this together and it won’t be long until we’re all back to normal having our morning coffees in the office kitchen talking about our weekend plans!
