10 Things You Should Do When You Work From Home
Follow these tips to successfully organize your office space and workday
Working from home can seem like the dream, especially on days when the commute feels like a struggle. But while you may have a vague idea of typing away in your pajamas from the comfort of your sofa, the reality of working from home can be a little different. Here are 10 rules for getting the most out of your day.
2. Buy a proper office chair. It can be tempting to just grab a chair from the dining area when you’re working from home, but sitting at a desk for eight hours without proper support for your back is a fast track to posture problems.
Although they don’t have a reputation for being beautiful, ergonomic office chairs are designed to offer the correct support, so if you’re going to be working from home frequently, it might be worth investing in one.
It’s important to ensure that your computer screen is set at the right height too. If in doubt, you could ask your human resources advisor at work to provide some tips for setting up your workstation, or search online for advice.
Browse ergonomic office chairs
Although they don’t have a reputation for being beautiful, ergonomic office chairs are designed to offer the correct support, so if you’re going to be working from home frequently, it might be worth investing in one.
It’s important to ensure that your computer screen is set at the right height too. If in doubt, you could ask your human resources advisor at work to provide some tips for setting up your workstation, or search online for advice.
Browse ergonomic office chairs
3. Get dressed. Yes, you could work from home in your pajamas, but trust me, the novelty of this will wear off rapidly. There’s a reason you get dressed smartly to go to the office: What you wear has a real impact on how you feel.
If you spend the day in a scruffy pair of pajamas, you’ll probably feel more sluggish than if you got showered and dressed. You don’t need to put on a suit and tie to sit in your own living room, but do wear something that makes you feel positive and energized.
If you spend the day in a scruffy pair of pajamas, you’ll probably feel more sluggish than if you got showered and dressed. You don’t need to put on a suit and tie to sit in your own living room, but do wear something that makes you feel positive and energized.
4. Pick out the perfect playlist. The beauty of working from home is that you get to completely shape your office environment, so take the opportunity to make it personal and think about what will make you feel happy and inspired.
If classical tunes help you to be more productive, set up a playlist to run as background music while you type, or if 1970s glam rock gets you into the work groove, then tune in, turn it up and get typing.
If classical tunes help you to be more productive, set up a playlist to run as background music while you type, or if 1970s glam rock gets you into the work groove, then tune in, turn it up and get typing.
5. Factor in storage. If you’re going to be working from home frequently, you’ll need some dedicated storage to house files, papers and stationery. They key is not to go too industrial. Think less “metal filing cabinet” and more “chic shelving.” Even if you just clear a small area in an existing shelving unit and dedicate it to work items, you’ll immediately feel more organized.
Find contemporary bookcases
Find contemporary bookcases
6. Step away from the washing machine. When you’re working from home, there can be a strong temptation to do a few quick jobs at the same time. Don’t go there! Would you have time to do a load of laundry, mop the floors and wash the dishes if you were in the office? No, you wouldn’t, so don’t be fooled into thinking you have time when you work from home.
Spend an hour doing housework and you’ll inevitably find you have to make that hour up at the end of the day, when you realize you haven’t finished the work you needed to get through. So set yourself a “no chores” rule and stick to it.
Spend an hour doing housework and you’ll inevitably find you have to make that hour up at the end of the day, when you realize you haven’t finished the work you needed to get through. So set yourself a “no chores” rule and stick to it.
7. Take a lunch break. When you commute to an office, you’re probably more active than you realize. First, you have to get there; then, you probably pop out to get a sandwich at lunchtime. You get in more steps as you walk around the office and then to the train station or your car when you head home.
But when you work from home, your commute is likely to be a one-minute wander from the bedroom to the kitchen and back again. If you have a well-stocked fridge, you probably don’t need to go out at lunchtime, so it can be easy to get into a sedentary routine.
Break this habit by making yourself go outside for a walk at lunchtime. Even if it’s just a brisk spin around the block, it’ll clear your head and shake some life back into your limbs.
But when you work from home, your commute is likely to be a one-minute wander from the bedroom to the kitchen and back again. If you have a well-stocked fridge, you probably don’t need to go out at lunchtime, so it can be easy to get into a sedentary routine.
Break this habit by making yourself go outside for a walk at lunchtime. Even if it’s just a brisk spin around the block, it’ll clear your head and shake some life back into your limbs.
8. Hide the cookies! You might have ironclad self-control, but I know that if there’s a package of cookies within a 15-foot range of where I’m working, I just can’t concentrate. If your home office is in the kitchen or dining room, the temptation to snack all day can be very hard to resist.
If you think the call of the kitchen might be too much, you could try to limit the number of sugary snacks you keep within easy reach. Or restrict yourself to one midmorning coffee break at the same time you would take one in the office.
If you think the call of the kitchen might be too much, you could try to limit the number of sugary snacks you keep within easy reach. Or restrict yourself to one midmorning coffee break at the same time you would take one in the office.
9. Don’t let office clutter creep into your living room. If you work from a living room, it’s amazing how quickly office clutter can sneak in. A file here, a stack of expense receipts there, and before you know it there are multiple work items out on display, which is the last thing you need when you’re trying to switch off at the end of the day.
Keep a basket or box just for office bits and pieces and sweep everything into it at the end of the day, then put it somewhere out of sight until you need it again.
Keep a basket or box just for office bits and pieces and sweep everything into it at the end of the day, then put it somewhere out of sight until you need it again.
10. Shut down your computer at 6 p.m. With no commute home and no colleagues to bid farewell to, there’s no clear cutoff point at the end of the day for the home worker. It’s very easy to keep the computer on all evening and answer emails as they come in, or to keep working “in the background” as you prepare dinner or watch TV.
If you find yourself still checking emails at 8 or 9 p.m., it’s time to shut down your computer and draw a line under the working day.
Tell us: Do you work from home? Share your tips and advice in the Comments.
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If you find yourself still checking emails at 8 or 9 p.m., it’s time to shut down your computer and draw a line under the working day.
Tell us: Do you work from home? Share your tips and advice in the Comments.
More
7-Day Plan: Get a Spotless, Beautifully Organized Home Office
Find office furniture to suit your style
However, it’s surprising just where you can carve out space for a workstation. Be it a kitchen table, corner nook or breakfast bar, the main requirements are a clear work surface, a power source for your computer and good natural light.