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Working From Home: 10 tips that are going to change your life

With new COVID-19 reality working from home sometimes can be extremely difficult and uncomfortable.

But if you read this post it means that you’re full-grown person, and apparently know that staying inside will not only help doctors and nurses to flatten the curve but also successfully heal more people.

Here are a few tips that we, at LaSoft, have learned so far (to be updated ;))

1. Get Dressed.

It might seem like a simple tip, but it’s a crucial one. You don’t need to dress as formally as you might for work, but the simple act of changing clothes serves as a signal that it’s time to wake up and get things done. Feeling human is especially important at a time like this when the breakdown of your everyday routines might make you feel cut off from your “normal” life and the “real” world.

2. Structure your day like you would in the office.

When working from home, you’re your own personal manager. Without things like an in-person meeting schedule to break up your day, you can be quick to lose focus or burn out. To stay on schedule, segment what you’ll do and when over the course of the day. If you have an online calendar, create personal events and reminders that tell you when to shift gears and start on new tasks.

3. Invest in Quality Technology.

Yes, setting up a home office or workspace may require a small investment. Much like starting a new business, you may have to purchase technology, such as a desktop, laptop, tablet, or phone system to do your job every day. A high-performance router will save you from many technology hassles. Since working from home often requires more than chat messages, you need a router that will keep up.

4. Leave Home.

To the extent that it’s allowed and safe where you are during the COVID-19 outbreak, get out of the house, provided you can maintain social distancing of course. The same advice applies to people who work in traditional office settings, too. Leave the building at least once a day. Your body needs to move. Plus, the fresh air and natural light will do you good.

5. Don’t Get Too Sucked in by the News—or Anything Else.

Distraction is one of the big challenges facing people who work from home—especially people who aren’t used to it. “Your home is right in front of you,” – that means that whatever you’re usually thinking about getting home to after work is now with you. It’s human to get distracted. But you need to be wary of how much you let yourself get distracted.

6. Commit to doing more.

Projects always take longer than you initially think they will. For that reason, you’ll frequently get done less than you set out to do. So, just as you’re encouraged to overestimate how much time you’ll spend doing one thing, you should also overestimate how many things you’ll do during the day. Even if you come up short of your goal, you’ll still come out of that day with a solid list of tasks filed under ‘complete.’

7. Discover Your High Productivity Periods.

Every individual is most productive at different times of the day. For example, some individuals are morning people, and they are most productive and focused during the morning hours. For others, their most productive time in the workday is the evenings. Discover when you are most productive and build your work schedule around your peak productivity periods.

8. Don’t Hesitate to Ask for What You Need.

If you’re employed by a company that supports your work-from-home setup, request the equipment you need as soon as you start working from home, or within a day or two when you realize you need something new. It’s extremely important to set precedents early that you will ask for what you need to get your job done comfortably, including the right monitor, keyboard, mouse, chair, printer, software, and so forth.

9. Exercise & Stretch Regularly.

Exercise naturally boosts endorphins, which increases happiness, enjoyment, and interest levels, all of which are important for productivity. Regularly stretching helps you maintain great posture. At a minimum, stretch throughout the day so you don’t get sore or hinder your quality of life. You can also leave yourself motivational sticky notes by your bed, so they are the first thing you see and read in the morning.

10. Match your music to the task at hand.

During the week, music is the soundtrack to your career (cheesy, but admit it, it’s true). And at work, the best playlists are diverse playlists — you can listen to music that matches the energy of the project you’re working on. Video game soundtracks are excellent at this. In the game itself, this lyric-free music is designed to help you focus; it only makes sense that it would help you focus on your work as well.

And the last one! Because why just only 10 tips?

Don’t Forget to Socialize!

When the whole office suddenly starts working from home, you’re cutting off a lot of the casual social interactions you’re used to having throughout the day that helps you feel less lonely and break up the monotony of work. Combat this by talking with your coworkers throughout the day through Slack, calls, text, Zoom, or however, your company communicates.

 

LaSoftians, let’s share in the comments to the article a few more tips, that you have discovered during this quarantine.

 

 

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