Tech Tuesdays with CoRE are in the heart of what we do! Therefore, on Tech-Tuesday, we look into all aspects of IT. Tech Tuesdays with CoRE answer some technical questions raised by our customers and the public.

You might find a Tech-Tuesday article on the new updates available. These will have some commentary on how to make your life easier before and after the updates.

Besides the news on updates, our team is proactively looking into environmental aspects of IT. Consequently, some of our articles emphasize how to reduce E-waste. Our articles are thereby also looking into businesses using refurbished computers and technologies as a way to reduce the impact.

### Self care

This still applies when working from home, it's important to cut yourself some slack, as the transition may make you feel anxious, lonely, isolated, and definitely frustrated when it isn’t as easy as it seems.

- Take scheduled breaks – you wouldn’t work for 8 hours straight without a break in the office, so don’t be tempted to overwork yourself whilst at home. Try setting regular alarms to remind you to take a break, especially when you're working from a screen.
- Don’t eat lunch at your desk or any working environment. It isn’t a break if you’re still facing your emails and paperwork. Breaking up the day like this can boost productivity and morale.

### Protect your time and your workspace

Many managers have concerns about their employees working from home; they worry that they are watching Netflix or doing the ironing. However, people tend to work harder from home as it is hard to switch off once you have completed your working day, and it’s harder to "leave" the work behind.

Protecting your workspace is critical to ensuring you are productive whilst working from home. Talk to the members in your household and establish ground rules during your working hours. It is best to work on the assumption that anything that can interrupt you will interrupt you. A simple “Do not disturb” sign can help with this.

Hands-free headsets: I couldn’t work without mine! It is great for cancelling any background noise you might encounter. They also work great for conference calls.

### Communicate

Just because you are not in the office doesn’t mean you are not part of it. Keep up communication with colleagues frequently and keep them up to date with any and all progress you make. There is no such thing as over-communicating. Make sure your colleagues know your remote working schedule, and they have up-to-date contact information so colleagues and managers know how to reach you.

Ensure you have a system for sharing documents such as Google Docs, Box, or Dropbox to share files. Don’t just scatter your documents across emails and your personal hard drive; consolidate this to make communication and accessing files between colleagues much easier.

### Keeping up morale

Dress and groom professionally, as tempting as it is to work in your PJs! It doesn’t put you in the right frame of mind when working professionally. Your morning prep routine plays a large role in determining your mindset for the day, so keep it professional. Keep in contact with your colleagues; just because you won’t be able to partake in the water cooler chat doesn’t mean you can’t interact with them as you would if you were office-based. Getting feedback from colleagues, managers, and customers on your remote working can boost your morale and provide valuable insights into how to improve your work.

### Most importantly, remember you are still a valued member of the workforce team.

Here at CoRE Educational, we want to assist in any way we can with remote working during these uncertain times we are facing. If you require remote IT support for your school, business or simply hardware to allow your employees to work from home, we can assist.

To contact our account manager, please call Abbygail on [0330 22 35 229](http://tel:0330%2022%2035%20229/) or email [abbygail@coreeducational.org.uk](mailto:abbygail@coreeducational.org.uk) or [enquires@coreeducational.org.uk](mailto:enquires@coreeducational.org.uk).