My Top Tips On Working From Home

Who would have thought that this horrible virus would have such a massive effect on the world. It’s impacted families and every type of business, to the point that the majority of us are self isolating and working from home. It’s such an uncertain time for everyone right now and my heart really does go out to everyone who either doesn’t have the option to work from home or if your job doesn’t allow you to. I’m very lucky that I work in marketing and social media, which means I can literally work from anywhere as all I need is my laptop. Don’t get me wrong, I understand that this is a privilege as in all my past jobs, I have worked in salons and retail – I just have no idea how I would have coped in this instance, so hats off to all of you that work within these industries. You are just incredible!

This post is for all of you that have started working from home due to your companies shutting down the offices and feel that you may be struggling a bit. I have never worked from home for such a long period of time before and who knows how long it might actually be before we can get back in our offices again and see our teammates. Although, we most certainly will! It could be weeks (fingers crossed) or months (eeeek). Here are just a few tips that I can share with you from my own personal experiences from the past few days.

Get dressed in the morning

Personally, I don’t feel very productive if I just roll out of bed in my Pj’s and head straight to the kitchen table to work. As hard as it was at the beginning, I get up and head straight to the bathroom to brush my teeth (normal things that I would be doing if I was heading into work) and then I get dressed and pop my makeup on. I have found this has made such a difference in my productivity levels and I feel ready to start my day.

Keep away from the snacks!

I’m one to talk right now! If you follow me on my social channels, you will know that I am currently developing an addiction to biscuits. I literally went through 2 packets of digestives in 2 days, do I regret this? Nope, do I eck! But at the same time, I need to stop as I will be 20kg heavier at the end of this and that’s not what I want. Sometimes, we’re not even hungry when we feel like a snack, our bodies are just de-hydrated, so water would actually do the trick. My advice would be to have a glass of water, wait for 20 minutes and then if you’re still hungry, grab a snack but 9 times out of 10, it will just be your body needing to be hydrated. If you do need a snack, then fruit, nuts, or a protein shake would be better than reaching for the biscuit tin.

Keep to a routine

I literally have to keep to a routine or I get thrown off course and lose focus of what I’m meant to be doing everyday. I’m so lucky that I have a great team and my boss is so supportive. I check in with my boss every morning and send him a quick email to let him know my tasks for the day. If I feel lonely and need to check in with everyone, I just send over a Google Hangout and off we go. Like I said, I’m only a few days in so these tips might be obvious to some but so far they are really a lifesaver for me, so I hope these also help you in some way.

Create a working space

I live in a 2 bedroom apartment and we have converted the second bedroom into an office (this all happened before the Coronavirus) and I love my little work space. At the moment however, Gareth is also working from home so he is working in the office as I need 2 monitors to do my work, I moved myself into the kitchen area. The main point here is, you don’t need an office, you can create a work space anywhere in your house but having that little area that’s separate from everything else (AKA distractions) will make you feel more productive and ready to crack on with your day.

Take breaks in-between

Just like you would at work, keep to your break schedule and make sure you take them. I pop on the TV whilst eating my lunch and it really refreshes my mind to the point when my lunch break was over, I was motivated to head back to my little work area in the kitchen and crack on with work. I can’t stress this enough; read a book, watch some TV or do an exercise class at home, I highly recommend the body coach on YouTube. The classes are literally 15 minutes long and are intense.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this blog post and that these tips help you as much as they help me. Just to remember my DM’s are always open if you did want to chat, you’re never alone and we’re all in this together. Take one day at a time, don’t think too far ahead and don’t panic. We will all get through this together. Lastly, thank you so much for supporting me across my social channels and on my blog, it means the world and never goes unnoticed.

*This post contains images from a paid Instagram collaboration with CaseApp 

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