In these unprecedented times, many of us are finding ourselves working from home for the very first time. We found that there are lots of tips on advice on the legal, practical and technological side of things, but not so many on how we keep well in these changed circumstances. Outside The Box offers flexible working to all our employees, so who better to offer some advice, based on their own experiences.

Read our blog on keeping well and finding support. 

Ciara Maguire, Community Worker:

• Give yourself a ‘commute’. So I get up and go on a walk before starting work to feel as if I’m ‘going’ to work rather than just moving from one room to another. It helps clear my head a bit and get me in work mode and it’s usually pretty quiet at that time too.

 

 

 

Jill Keegan, Community Development Advisor:

• Don’t feel guilty that you haven’t cracked how to manage all this uncertainty with innovative community engagement approaches whilst managing a three-year-old who can’t go outside to see her friends, as well as your husband’s work responsibilities.
• We’re trying to communicate effectively our work priorities [there are a lot] so we can divvy up our working days so that we have time with our child too.
• All the above means giving yourself space to think and making it clear you need this so everything else works well.
• Be flexible with yourself and your day. Don’t be hard on yourself if things don’t turn out how you envisaged.
• It can feel lonely – so make sure you phone someone in your team for a chat or make use of Zoom and other tools – if they can’t speak right away they’ll tell you, so it’s OK to reach out.
• I run to keep my head calm and to create space for new ideas/solutions and to get peace from my new work buddies (my husband and child!)
• Procrastination is normal, I think. Maybe you’ve just not reached the point of action you need yet to move forward.
• Setting and maintaining deadlines are important to keep organised and on top of things.

Christine Ryder, Community Worker

• I try to make time for a walk if I am at home working all day.  If I know I am going to have a busy day/a deadline to meet, I try to do it first thing, clear my head – then I’m ready for work. If it is a more of a jumping from one thing to the next kind of day, I am more likely to wait and go for a walk at lunchtime.
• You need to get up and move about regularly and take a break from the screen. I try not to eat my lunch at my desk!
• It’s OK to go and put the washing on, hang it out, hoover the living room etc
• If I need to do something that I have been putting off as it’s not my favourite kind of task, I set myself a time limit. Usually I will work on it for longer once I have got started, but I just need the time limit as a push to actually get started.
• It can get lonely sitting in a quiet room all day so I sometimes turn on the radio in another room just so I hear other voices but it isn’t too distracting
• It’s OK to call someone for a chat. If you were in the office with other people you would chat/be distracted by conversations etc. so it’s fine to do it at home too.
• I think also it is really important to know how you work. If you can be distracted by knowing that the house isn’t tidy then do that first as you will be more productive! I can block out the mess which always astonishes my husband when he comes in from work – he can’t concentrate unless it is tidy!
• It’s also OK if you can’t concentrate on something during your normal working hours to stop. Working from home can give you the flexibility to work in the evening/early morning when you have worked it out and are ready to concentrate.

At the moment whilst I have the kids at home, it’s a bit more tricky and we are all still adjusting to this new life.  We have tried to set a loose routine. I get up and start working early so I can have a few hours before they get up and that way I can take a break and get them sorted for the morning. The kids do the work they have been set by school and I can get a little more work done, but I try not to do anything that needs lots of concentration as there are constant interruptions.

After lunch, the kids do more fun things baking/learning coding/playing football/little jobs outdoors and I can get a bit more time to work with less interruptions.  That’s the theory but it doesn’t always work in practice!  It is also important that the kids get breaks away from the screen too, so we take time mid-morning to do PE with Joe Wicks!

Anne Connor, Chief Executive:

• Be prepared for the rate of tea drinking to increase – a lot
• Build in chats on email, phone etc
• Embrace being able to play whatever music works for you when no-one else is there to be disturb
• If possible, do different tasks in different places – go to kitchen table for something that doesn’t need the computer, or for reading stuff
• Set times when you focus on something and don’t look at emails etc, then have an hour when you catch up with what has come in – like having meetings breaking up other tasks
• Allow for regular time to do thinking and sorting out your ideas on something – this really works
• Getting outside for even 10  mins helps me work out things when I’m stuck
• Going off to do some ironing is another useful sort of break and good for my back –  what a revelation and intellectual challenge that was!
• Set a time when you stop work

Fiona Thomson, Community worker

• My first thought is that home workers tend to think they have to be 100% on it all the time – when office workers chat and have tea every now and again.
• I put thinking time into my day which can be done as a walking/running meeting with myself – this is often my most productive hour

Rhiannon Davies, Communications Coordinator

• There are loads of digital tools out there that can help. But it’s fine if you prefer to do things in a more analogue fashion. Figure out what’s best for you.
• For example, many home workers recommend the Pomodoro Technique, a method of time management which breaks your working day into 25 minute chunks.
• If you find your phone to be a distraction, keep it in a different room and have set times when you check it. Same goes for social media – you can download extensions such as Stay Focused that limits your time on these.
• Don’t feel the need to be immediately responsive and on call all the time, just to prove you’re working! Set your calendar as busy when you need to focus, and open your emails at a time that suits you.
• Keep regular hours, don’t let work time merge into leisure time.
• Get up and get dressed just as if you were going into the office. Don’t give into the temptation to work from the sofa or bed.
• If your partner/housemate is working from home too, it can be useful to have a word that let’s the other know now is not a good time for a chat.

There is also some great advice on how to prioritise you work in this blog from our friends at Animate Consulting. 

What works for you? We’d love to hear your tips and advice in the comment section below.