News

Trying to keep up a steady work schedule while surrounded by the distractions of home-life can be a struggle.  If you need help staying motivated and keeping deadlines while working from home, here are a few tips that might help.

• Set up a designated work space. Trying to work from your home computer can be distracting. Create a separate home office in a quiet room or rearrange the furniture around your home computer to give it more of an office feel.   Try to avoid rooms with a lot of foot traffic and digital distractions.
• Set real work hours. If you are going to make working from home an everyday commitment, set aside a certain amount of time each day to work.  It is easy to forgo getting work done when you have other items on your to-do list.  At the same time, it is easy to get so focused at work that you forget to set aside time for yourself.
• Determine when you can be most productive. 9-5 may not work when you have family to take care of.  If your mind is more productive in the morning, you may need to get up a few hours before everyone else so that you can get a little work done before family time begins.
• Make a to-do list. Make lists of what you want to get accomplished today, this week, and any major projects you have to work on.   Make updating your to-do list the first task of every work day so that you can review and prioritize.
• Make a planner to keep track of deadlines and video meetings. It is easy to forget what day of the week it is.
• Don’t work in your PJs. You can still dress comfortably.  But the physical act of getting dressed each day will help put your mind in that “ready to go” mentality.
• Don’t sleep in. Don’t skip your morning routine.  Not only will you get started later and later but it will be harder to get back into the routine when it’s time to go back to work.
• Eat healthy and exercise. If you had health and fitness goals before you had to start working from home, now is not the time to slack.  Keeping these goals will help fend off the creep of laziness that can also affect your work habits.
• Check in with your boss and coworkers frequently. Make sure you are all on the same page with projects.
• Stay vigilant against security risks. Make sure your antivirus is up to date.  Your home computer may not have the same protections as your work computer.  Do not download or open any files unless you trust the source.

We hope this helps you in the next few weeks while you work at home.  For more tips, please check out the following links.

https://www.nextiva.com/blog/working-from-home-tips.html

https://www.themuse.com/advice/coronavirus-work-from-home-tips

https://www.npr.org/2020/03/15/815549926/8-tips-to-make-working-from-home-work-for-you