Working from Home Tips

Working from home can be a big transition, so with this in mind CoRE Educational has put together a list for being productive whilst working from home.

Self Care

This still applies when working from home, its 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 over work 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 are great for canceling any background noise you might encounter and work well 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 frequent and 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 they 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; consolidating this will 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 pajamas! 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 can’t take part 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 give valuable insights into how to improve your work.

Most Importantly Remember You Are Still a Valued Member of the Work Force Team

Here at CoRE Educational, we want to assist in any way we can with remote working during these uncertain times. 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 or email abbygail@coreeducational.org.uk or enquires@coreeducational.org.uk