While we are all counting the days until the end of the world and many people having to self isolate and work from home (WFH), I would like to help you WFH virgins get through this pandemic especial with many reporting it to be expected to last a while. If you are one of the people having to WFH for the first time and finding it a little more challenging than you first thought check out some of my top tips to get started.

*** Update 25th March 2020 ***
The status has changed dramatically in the UK since the article was written, I added the link to the GOV website where you can get the latest on what you can and can not do in the UK. Stay safe.

Your calendar, use it!

First and foremost share your calendar with details, not just free busy. Most if not all calendar systems allow you to set specific events as private, just in case you need to fire Bob. Sorry Bob.

With the lack of being able to walk over to a colleagues desk and ask them if they want to chat over a coffee or that you have a quick question, you'll need to be more considerate when virtually reaching out and respect their calendar. Are they in a customer call (dont ping in case it pops up on their screen) are they in an internal call, who is that with, can you ping to interrupt?

Be honest, are you going to pop out to the shops to get more milk for your coffee? Do an airport or train station run because the in-laws needed a lift, take that 20 mins that you have free between meetings to walk the dog? great!

It is fine to do so, a different environment has different needs as long as you put them in your calendar. If someone else looks at your calendar and sees you are driving, busy or indisposed they can plan around it or know that you are actually available during the slots that are empty in your cal.

If you don't have many meetings in the day, but have plenty of work to get on with use your calendar to schedule your work and breaks. I find doing this helps getting work done and prevents procrastination.

I'll pop some TV on in the background

Don't, you can make it easier on yourself by finding a place to work and ensuring there is no TV in your workspace area. You can go into the living room during your break or after work to watch TV.

It can be very tempting to put something on TV in the background of something not mentally taxing, just for a bit of background noise.

Even some of the boring day time TV shows can draw you in, I mean who doesn't like a bit of Judge Judy! All it takes is one word said of something you recognise for your attention to be drawn. Same goes for podcasts and radio shows, these require your attention and you find you lose focus on your task at hand.

If it's too quiet, put music on. It's a great way to block out the odd distracting door closing or family members arriving early from work or school. There are even studies that show music can help focus and concentration. More info here.

Disclaimer: My wife insists it works the total opposite way for her, so find what works for you.

Be in clear view of a clock 

Not the clock in your task/menu bar of your computer but a clock in the room or on a stand, keeping track of time can be difficult when working from home and you may find you look up and it's all dark and you misplaced 2 or 3 hours. It sounds silly but it is very easy to do especially when there is no one around to distract you.

No one will kick you out of the meeting room when working from home, and if the person at the other end of your video call is also WFH or at their desk you may find you both go on and forget about the back to back meeting you have leaving some poor sod waiting for you on an empty Meet/Team/Zoom call, staring into that empty black screen all alone.

Put your shoes on! 

I live in a relaxed household where shoes are optional however, they are not optional during working hours in the home office. It's less about the shoes themselves but more about the routine. The simple act of putting on shoes in the morning to get to work can have many benefits like getting a routine and habits.

Why do I need a routine? When working from home a routine becomes quite important, it becomes a subconscious signal when it's time to start work, it could be saying bye to the wife and kids, it could be that first sip of coffee, but I personally feel putting on your shoes is a solid reminder that its work time. But most importantly when I kick them off at the end of the day it feels like I have left work.

Get personal

Put your webcam on, if you do not have one, get one. The thing that makes working from home the hardest is lack of human connection and a “cam on” policy keeps it much more personal. With this comes many considerations, keep the cam at a good angle (above your monitor), do not be that guy showing off your nasal hairs because your cam is low pointing up.

Make sure your back is to a wall, not a doorway not a hallway, the last thing you want is your other half dragging the kids in from school as your backdrop as we have all seen something similar before:

Staying Sane

Especially when talking to/working with clients, managing a team or communicating with others, feeling fully clothed (inc shoes) and in a state that you feel you could be there in person will benefit your mentality and affects your confidence in your meetings and work. Just because you are at home does not mean you can afford to be less presentable, greasy hair, fury teeth and stretchy pants does not shout confidence and affects your own mentality and perception of yourself. Working from home should not change your morning routine, instead of heading to the car or station go to your desk.

Schedule breaks

This is so very important as it's so easy to get to the end of the day and realize you have not had any breaks or even moved. If you find this happening schedule them, put them in your calendar, create a reminder. If you do not take them you will suffer just a few days in, feeling more tired, lethargic and less motivated.

Do NOT work from your bedroom

Unless you are in a studio flat or you simply have no where else to work, this is the start of a long dark road of not being able to stop working or switching off. You need to have an area to work and an area to chill, these need to be clearly set as different locations.

Not everyone is lucky enough to be able to have a separate space and the key to working from home in this case is to transform your work area. Make sure you put your laptop away and pack up your stuff. The act of cleaning your work area at then end of the day will give that mental closure of finishing work.

Personal Vs Work life on your digital workspace

Keeping personal life and work life separate on your laptop is important. Keeping them separate is not just about reducing distractions, it also avoids you accidentally using the wrong mailbox or saving a word doc to your personal Google drive or dropbox.

The key here is to use different internet browsers. Use Firefox for personal and Chrome - or dare I say it…. Edge - for work or the other way around. Whatever works best for you.

A browser will save your logins, it's the reason you don't have to log back into Facebook every time you open the website. You can thank those tasty tasty browser cookies for that. Each browser has their own cookie jar, and they don't like to share so if you log into Facebook on chrome it won't log you in on firefox.

If you want to stick to one browser you can use Chrome’s profile feature. Chrome calls this ‘People’ and acts like a different browser per profile/person.

It means you can minimise or close the window with your personal life and focus on work in the work browser when needed, or you can open up the personal browser or profile with your social media and youtube videos or getting that online bill paid during your breaks.

Remember to get up and keep the blood flowing

If you are in a large meeting and listening in and not presenting or talking, stand up and walk around while listening (do not stray too far). Perhaps do this more for internal calls and if you're not sure how they will react, let them know you are stretching your legs. Doing this actually helps keep you engaged in the conversation and you may find yourself more actively thinking about the conversation. This is not for everyone, my wife tells me I am a pacer.

Get a standing desk, if you are presenting, conducting a working session or a workshop it really helps. A recent study has shown the benefits of standing while working increases productivity (link to study here) and I feel it really helps with confidence. I imagine this is similar to how doing the superhero power pose raises confidence, in fact a study showed that “participants who assume a couple of superhero-type stances for a grand total of two minutes feel more powerful and act that way: Stand like a superhero, feel like a superhero, act like a superhero.” - study details here

Set an alarm for when it is time to start winding down work

It becomes very easy to forget to stop working. I have a team that is based in India, UK, Portugal, Netherlands, USA and Mexico so there are always people online to work with and this does not help knowing when to stop working. I have most definitely had days where no one is home and I look up from the screen to find it's near midnight and I am still working.

Create a nice environment, if you are going to be working from home for a while, make it somewhere you look forward to going to. Let's face it, you are no longer going to have a commute of an hour each way to the office. In 2017 UK average commute was 58.4 minutes. So you may find yourself spending something like 9 or even 10 hours a day working if you're devoted. That means you will find yourself working in your home workspace more than any other one room or space in your home during the week so it makes sense for it to be enjoyable and comfortable. In the same way you expect a nice office to work in from your employer, you should expect a nice home office to work in, created by yourself.

Do not skimp out

Especially if you know you are going to be working from home for the foreseeable future buy that really comfy version of that desk chair, splash out on the nice monitor, get that desk that has the cool buttons to go up and down. You are investing in your physical and mental health when you ensure you have a nice home office.

Fun

This is less of a WFH tip and more of a general work tip, with my current employer we ensure all staff hit a fun factor and for different people this will mean different things, for some that means, joining a gym (remember to place in your calendar!), or it could be creating a local social club to ensure you do leave the house at least once every three days, or it could be something as simple as an icebreaker webcam backdrop. Making sure you enjoy each day at work is important to make sure you look forward to your next day at work and also not to take yourself too seriously!

I keep things fun with Her Majesty webcam bombing ALL my calls (including client calls). You can see her in my home office above.

If you have a quirky or home workspace you would like to share images in the link below and please let us know your WFH tips in the comments and perhaps show us your workspace.