5 Top Tips for Working from Home during Lockdown (and beyond)
Despite the unprecedented chaos worldwide, it is business as usual here at Paper & Chain. With an entire business model based upon the concept of flexible working, all of the Paper & Chain consultants are well equipped and familiar with working outside the traditional office set-up. However, we are facing new challenges too - having children to home-school and partners at home does affect the usual timetable and routine somewhat. In the long term our hope is that these enforced work-from-home measures will just highlight the many advantages of remote and flexible working leading to greater inclusivity and diversity within workplaces. In the meantime, we hope our tip tips for working from home help you during this lockdown period:
When working switch off all distractions and set a timer for 1 hour. Then take a 5 -10 minute break. Repeat. No matter how much you want to check the news, take a facetime video call from a friend or browse social media follow this pattern - most people will manage to ignore the urge to procrastinate and be efficient.
Bring normality to the madness by trying to retain elements of your usual non-lockdown timetable. For example, stick to daily exercise at times when you would otherwise be at the gym. Even if this means your children are joining you running in the garden and your HIIT exercises.
If juggling work and childcare is a struggle then try getting up really early and getting in a couple of hours quality work time before all hell breaks loose. At this early time in the day there are no meals to prepare and kids are usually happy to occupy themselves after a good night’s sleep.
Have a designated work space to separate your ‘work life’ and your ‘personal life’. Working from home means it’s much harder to physically leave work which isn’t conducive to a healthy work-life balance. It’s always tempting to flick open the laptop when you had planned to sit on the couch and relax but don’t. Leave it in your work space and put some time aside for you and your own mental health.
If you and your partner are both working then create a timetable with childcare shifts. Colleagues and clients are (mostly) flexible and understand the pressures at home. Block out this time in your diary so that no one puts a meeting that coincides and consider using an out of office email response to let people know when they can expect a reply from you. And, of course, if you’re a single parent the same advice goes. The goal is to set realistic expectations and build clear boundaries for both work colleagues and family members alike.