Following the outbreak of the coronavirus and the recent government recommendations for social distancing and to work from home where possible, more of us than ever before will find ourselves working from home. So we thought we would put together some top tips for how to do it successfully!

Tip One - Find Your Space

It's super important to make sure you set out a designated working area. Not only does it give you some consistency and help productivity, it also helps to create a 'work/life barrier' and a way to shut off at the end of the work day. Set up either at a desk, dining room table or other work surface.
No, the sofa is not a work surface, nice try!
Once you're all set up with everything you need make sure you use that space for your working hours. E.g. if your working day is usually 9 - 5:30, make sure to be sat down at your work space for 9am, and leave there at 5:30 to give you the structure of a standard working day.

 

Tip Two - Take A Break

Yes it's important to make sure you're staying productive and using your time wisely but it's also very important to take regular breaks. Make sure you're exercising and taking a full lunch break. Be as strict about a break as you are about being at your desk for 9am.

Ideas for your lunch break - Go for a walk and get some fresh air, do a mini home work-out, listen to a podcast, prepare a fresh lunch, read a blog. Try to avoid putting on the TV as it can be very difficult to turn it off again. One minute you're 2 episodes into a series, next minute you've binge watched the whole series in an afternoon and zero work has happened! (We've all been there, promise!)

Tip Three - Communication

If you're used to an office environment and are already missing your work buddies, make sure you stay in touch. Social distancing doesn't have to mean you cannot communicate with colleagues, friends and loved ones. A great tool to keep in touch with your work colleagues whilst working from home is to sign up for an office communication tool. We're using Slack here at SR which feels little bit like going back to the days of MSN (great fun!) but you can also add files, video chat up to 15 people and create chats for different divisions & teams. Keeping in contact and chatting helps to feel less isolated and keep productivity up!

Tip Four - Get your pets involved!

This tip is definitely our favourite! According to a blog we read earlier by Tyla.com, working from home with your pet can actually make you more productive. We are all for for that! You can have a read of it here. We're huge dog lovers here at SR so we're all for getting our pets involved in keeping our team's morale up.

Tip Five - Switch Off

Easier said than done, we know! But learning to properly switch off at the end of the day is so important to keep that work/life balance and to not burn the candle at both ends.
This is the great thing about a dedicated work space that once your work day is over you can leave that room and fully switch off. If you're using your personal phone for communicating, try turning off notifications during out of work hours too.

If you guys have any great tips for working from home we'd love to hear yours too!