Top 10 Tips for Working from Home

Working from home?

It can be a weird transition if you’ve never done it before. Usually we like to keep these blog posts short, but there were just too many points we felt were important to share! Here are our top 10 tips for crushing the work at home lifestyle:

1. Establish morning routines

Don’t dive into the inbox immediately from waking up. Those emails will still be there! Instead, give yourself anywhere from 20 to 30 minutes to do any of these things: stretch, hydrate with water, read an article or something inspirational, quick journaling, or a walk!

Whatever helps shift your mindset to something positive and proactive and to help boost your own spirit is helpful. Caring for your own needs first, as opposed to something work related, prepares you for a productive day when it’s time to focus.

2. Find the right environment

Working from home gives you the opportunity to set up your space how you like it! Maybe it’s rearranging your living room or organizing around the largest window in your house. One thing to potentially avoid if possible, working from your bedroom.

Working from the room you sleep in can disrupt sleep cycles and make it harder to fall asleep when it’s time for bed. When it’s time for a virtual meeting, find a different space to take the call, just like you would go to conference room.

3. Keep in touch with teammates

It’s easy to feel isolated when you are working from home, especially if you live by yourself. Staying in touch with teammates throughout the day can help you stay productive and make sure you’re up to date with what’s happening in the company.

Schedule quick 10 minute phone or video calls to keep in touch and not feel as lonely.

4. Block problematic sources

Most companies have some type of web filter set up across their network to block different websites. Working from home off your own network, it can be easy to get distracted by sources that weren’t there before.

Sometimes the best thing to do is remove temptation. If you think certain websites might be a problem for you, set up a blocker so you can stay focused on work.

5. Know how you work

Everyone is going to work from home differently. Provided you’re available for meetings and it’s approved by your manager, you might find it easier to work at different times than when you would if you were commuting. If you find yourself working more productively later or earlier in the day, give it a shot!

6. Dress for success

What you wear can impact your mental game. If you’ve been working from home for years and are comfortable in sweats or pajamas, you do you! But if you’re finding it hard to adjust, wearing what you regularly wear to the office can put you in the right mindset.

7. Take breaks

It can be easy to get lost in the work and realize you haven’t moved in forever. Offices usually have natural breaks built in with meetings and conversations with coworkers.

Make sure you’re standing, stretching, going for quick walks, whatever you can think of! And don’t forget lunch! Having a nutritious meal can be harder to plan if you’re used to eating in a company cafeteria.

8. Continue the collaboration

What resources does your company have to encourage collaboration? Microsoft teams? Slack? Google docs? These are going to be vital tools to use to work with your teammates and will help boost productivity of everyone involved.

9. Reward & recognize

Never underestimate the power of saying “Good job!” or “Thank you!” It can be an easy thing to forget to do but will motivate and encourage teammates to keep up their best work. An email, instant message, company wide chat praising an employee’s work will help them feel essential and bring attention to the awesome work they’re doing.

10. Don’t be hard on yourself

If you do find yourself getting distracted, don’t be too hard on yourself. This can be a big change for a lot of people and if you find yourself struggling, that’s totally normal. Take a few minutes each day to measure your own performance and think about things you could have done differently.

Got any of your own tips? We’d love to hear about them!

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