Until recently, working from home hasn’t been an option for most throughout their career. If you suddenly find yourself working from home after spending most of your career in the office, it may be a bit overwhelming.When tasked with working from home, no-one expects it to be that difficult. How hard can it be to follow the same routine at home that you did in the office? However, most are surprised to find how hard it is to focus due to more digital distractions and fewer social interactions. So, what are some ways to make adjusting to working at home easier?
We’ve narrowed down the top ideas from PC Mag’s article 20 Tips for Working From Home to provide quick assistance on how to make working from home an easy experience.
Set a schedule and work regular hours to help you stick to the same workload you had in the office, without needing to work longer days. It can be hard to set work down once it hits the end of the day. The lack of commuting to and from work can blur the lines of work and home. Keeping to a schedule allows you to finish work and make the quick commute across the house for dinner or to cook it if it’s your turn that night.
If kids or your partner are home it can be easy for them to forget that you are in the middle of a workday. It’s a day off for them, so they may distract you from your work. Taking breaks and communicating with your family is healthy, and you should take the opportunity to do so throughout the day but set boundaries. Put aside time in the day with them and ask them to only come to you if it’s important outside of that time. This can help you keep focused throughout the day.
Make sure to have your own space to work. This can also create boundaries. Having an “office space” at home to work at can help separate work and home life. When you are in that area, you understand that your workday has started, and you can transition accordingly. This can help you avoid distractions coming from outside of your zone and bring some aspects of the office workspace back into your life.
Everyone has their own preferences, so not all of these have to work for you. You may give them a try and decide that setting a schedule has helped, but you don’t need to always have your own space to work. If you are just starting to work at home, try an array of things that you think would help. Eventually a set routine will be in motion and adjusting to working at home will be a thing of the past. You’ll have set boundaries, a space that you like to work, and a schedule that fits. Who knows, you may not want to return to work at an office anytime soon.