Working from home during Coronavirus lockdown

I know you’ve probably seen a ton of these posts already, but it wouldn’t feel right if I didn’t put something together myself with regards to working from home during coronavirus lockdown. After all, I’ve been working from home for nearly 5 years now, I run 3 small businesses and am a mum of two, so I’ve got used to working around other people, random schedules and juggling!

Here’s a few basic tips that I’ve put together for anyone else (probably most of us!), who will be working from home during coronavirus lockdown…

Working from home during coronavirus lockdown

Tips for working from home (any time!)

1. Get organised!

Even the most chaotic of us and the most laid-back, need to consider getting their sh*t together when you’re working from home. If you don’t introduce some serious organisation and planning, you’ll quickly lose grasp of the tasks at hand and end up with a mountain of work to sift through.

2. Create a schedule!

Following on from point 1, you really do need to give yourself some structure when you work from home. Yes, you’ve got the luxury of flexibility, yes, you could take an extended lunch break or squeeze in a work-out session if you want to, but if you don’t plan in your work adequately, you’ll soon regret it! I use my Hello Day Planner to manage each day when I work from home and to focus on the key tasks I need to get through that day (plus, she’s a small business working from home, so let’s support her!). For project organisation and more top-line to-do’s, I use an online tool (and app), called Asana. This helps me juggle multiple projects (ie. blogging, WeBlogNorth, my Travel business and study!). To manage everyday life, the hubby and I have a joint Google Calendar, which means we know what’s happening each day, school pick-ups, events, travel etc. and can manage accordingly. (See, there’s a lot to think about huh?).

3. Get dressed!

Sounds silly I know, but it’s important you don’t just laze around on your laptop in your PJs. You need to keep your head in “work mode” and there’s something about being dressed for work, that psychologically has an impact. I know I’m far more productive, as a whole, when I’m washed, dressed, hair straightened etc.

4. Take regular breaks.

It becomes easy to be locked to your laptop/phone when you work from home and somehow feel like you’re not entitled to a break. It’s a mindset shift you have to make, especially if you don’t usually work from home, that you’re not skiving and that you don’t owe anyone anything more. If you work 8 hour days usually in the office, with 2x 15 minute breaks and a 45 minute lunch, then aim for about the same at home. In any case, make sure you take regular short breaks to refresh, get yourself moving, or you’ll quickly become stuck to your desk, with achey legs and back and a cloudy head!

5. Get some fresh air.

Leading on from point 4, when you work from home, you do have to make sure you get some fresh air! (This may be harder for some during coronavirus lockdown!). Even if it’s a quick stroll round the garden, or 5 minutes on the balcony. Perhaps it’s just a case of standing on the doorstep with a cuppa for 10 minutes. Even just cracking a window. Take some slow deep breaths, put your devices down and regenerate.

6. Don’t drink booze!

This is for anyone that enjoys a tipple now and then. When your’e working from home, especially if you’ve never done it before or don’t get to do it often, it becomes easy for every day to feel a bit like a Friday. Ie. because you don’t have to get up and commute to an office where you’re surrounded by others (including your boss!), you can get a bit lax on your evening activities. This goes for staying up all night and binge-watching Netflix too by the way! So what I’m saying is, don’t crack open a bottle and party like it’s the end of Coronavirus, on an average Tuesday evening and still expect to be productive working from on home on Wednesday. Hangovers are still just as crap when you work from home, as they are when you’ve got to go into an office – it’s just there’s less people to witness it 😉

Pin me…(plus more tips below…)

Tips for working from home during coronavirus lockdown…

Obviously, we’re experiencing a bit of a strange time at the moment, a bit of an anomaly for everyone! Lots of us will be forced to work from home and many of you may not be quite prepared for that. So here’s just a few, coronavirus-specific tips to add to those above…

1. Have Zoom calls.

Zoom is an amazing tool that lots of people are cottoning-onto now. It’s a great way to a) host work meetings and connect with your colleagues, b) present your services in a different way now you’re confided to the house eg. run workshops, webinars, live yoga sessions, meditations…the list is endless! and c) still remain social and have that incredibly important human interaction (even the introverts amongst us, need this!)

2. Eat well.

Anyone else chowing-through the survival snacks already and eating take-aways every night (in the name of “supporting local businesses”)?! Yup! I’ve already put on about 1/2 a stone and although I say this with a smile on my face, it is also a serious point. Working from home, it can become easy to become complacent with eating, snack at your desk, or perhaps have access to foods you wouldn’t have had access to in your regular office. We need to feed our bodies and our minds, particularly now! We need to stay healthy, physically and mentally. One key way of helping to do this, is by eating a full and balanced diet.

3. Join communities.

Lastly, some of the social aspects of work-life are lost when you work from home, coronavirus or no coronavirus! So it’s important to try and remain social in whatever ways you can. I mentioned Zoom calls earlier, but taking that further, I’m really passionate about people finding their “tribe”. Ie. those likeminded people that just “get it”, whatever “it” is. This is why I started WeBlogNorth, because I craved community and friendships from other content-creators who were interested in what I do and could help/inspire me. There are so many groups out there, instagram pages, twitter groups etc, so do consider joining one or two, so you have that connection and support!