How to prepare to work from home with the continuing spread of the covid-19 virus

A few months ago, I wrote a blog on the challenges of working from home, since we are 100% virtual. Now with the covid-19 rapidly spreading throughout our country and more people either being told to work from home or deciding on their own to work from home, we thought we could share some advice and tips on this subject.

If you aren’t used to working from home, it can first seem like a vacation from work. You don’t have to have to worry about the commute and sitting in traffic and grabbing your laptop and sitting on the couch seems like it would be enjoyable to do all day. However, there can also be many distractions too. Here we’ve put some tips together on how to be productive especially if you are new working from home.

Stick to your daily work schedule. A big obstacle when working from home is work procrastination. The thought of oh let me go do my laundry, or my dishes and then the whole day goes by without getting your work completed. If you are working relatively on your own, then a trick you can use is be your own boss. Set your working hours, set your deadlines and set your breaks. If you are a still working in a team environment, set your meetings and keep to your deadlines of getting your work completed.

Designate your own office space, especially if you don’t have an office. If you are going to designate your kitchen table as your space, put your laptop there, put your papers there in a neat pile and work there. If you have a space designated then it’s easier to put in your mind that “you’re going to work”, and then when you are not working move them to a corner or put them somewhere else that way you are not thinking about work during your off hours.

Establish boundaries when working from home. When you have other people in your house such a child let them know when you are “in your office” you are working and shouldn’t be interrupted. You may need to put a sign up or announce it to them before starting that way they are not coming in and distracting you.

Ensure you have the tools you need. Here is a list of some basic tools anyone would need to work from home.

• Phone
• Computer, either a desktop or a laptop
• Headset
• External monitors and keyboard – plus a BACK-UP!
• Webcam
• Access to company email via the company server
• Access to phone numbers and email addresses
• Access to files that you’re currently working on.
• VPN access to your company servers to be able to access, emails, phone numbers, files etc.

These are some basic tools you will need to work from home, and if you are manager make sure to create a checklist of items and have your team make sure they are prepared and have them sign off on it. Also, don’t forget having back ups to things like keyboards, mice, monitors, headsets. If something happens and you are quarantined to your house and your headset stops working, you cannot go out and buy another one, so make sure you have a backup.

5) Schedule team meetings. Having virtual team meetings are great for various reasons, one of them is to make sure everyone is still on track and keeping up with the work they are supposed to be doing. Another is keeping team spirit. Make sure everyone can be seen and heard so here is a reason for the webcams even if someone is working from home and has their pajamas on it doesn’t matter what they look like it’s the interaction with your colleagues.

6) Practice self-care. Make sure you are still washing your hands, keeping your work area and other places disinfected and clean, getting plenty of rest. Remember just because you are working from home, doesn’t mean you have to work 24/7 at home. Try and keep your work time and your personal time separate. As I mentioned earlier put your work stuff away when your working hours are finished for the day, that way you don’t just see it sitting there and think you need to work on it.

There are many resources and other articles on working remote from home during this covid-19 virus outbreak, hopefully some of these tips will help you or someone you know that has suddenly been thrust into work from home. I can tell you from our perspective our employees love working from home and it’s made them more productive and happier while working. Please share with us other tips or advice you may have!