With the majority of the City Region now working from home where possible, we thought we’d ask our readers what tips they had to best maximise productivity, maintain good physical and mental health and not spend all day in their pyjamas
Always get dressed, do hair / makeup etc. as you normally would if you were leaving the house.
Establish a working space that is away from your chill out spaces. When working from home you have to establish clear boundaries between your spaces so you remain productive but also to ensure the lines aren’t blurred between when you are and aren’t working.
Music! Working from home can be lonely. Background music can help you to stay in the zone and fill those silent times that we just aren’t used to these days!
Rachel Hobson, freelance marketing and social media consultant
If your partner is also working from home, work in a different room. Give yourself a proper lunch break of something non-screen related (walk around your garden if you need to). Work in a different room to where you ‘relax’ so you can separate work from 'after work'.
Brandon Egley, SEO account manager at The SEO Works
If you have an office at home shut the door to it when you log off. If you have a space you’re using in the house, tidy your things away when work is over for the day. It will help you to switch off from work.
Holly Crosby, Simply You Coaching
Have regular coffee breaks and check in with colleagues.
Madame Zucchini, Marvellous Vegetable Entertainment & Creativity
Get your team on a zoom conference call. I’ve been having quite a few of these lately. It’s much better than a phone call and will hopefully help to prevent people getting too lonely.
Rochelle Gilburn, property investment strategist
Start a new photography habit on your mobile every day to inspire you. I have been looking at how spring is progressing. Don't miss all the beauty out there!
The cherry blossom is on its way.
Karen Perkins, life coach and career coach
Fix a place to do work. A laptop makes it easy to move around to different parts of the house to work but try to keep it fixed. It keeps you from being distracted and it also allows you to ‘step away’ from work when you need to.
Keep the telly off. As tempting as it may be to sit in the lounge, don’t allow yourself to get tempted by the newest series on Netflix. It is a slippery slope!
Create a routine. If your partner is also in the house working, then he/she is going to be your work colleague for a while. Make tea for each other. Agree on lunch times. Share jokes.
Have a bit of a banter. Remember to reach out to your colleagues.
Escape. Find a spot in your house where you can escape from work (mobile included). It may be a favourite chair or in the kitchen. Grab a book and read. Give yourself a break.
Kiley Tan, founder and director of Mosaic Intenational
Face a window. It gives your eyes a regular break from screen time and reminds you that there is life outside your four walls.
Schedule in a morning and afternoon break, not just lunch.
Find a physical activity to wind down the working day and mark ‘home time’ - a brisk walk, ironing, maybe even a few downward dogs.
Rebecca Erskine, Yellow Bird Marketing & Communications
I make sure that I stretch my body before I sit down to work, and I take regular breaks to rehydrate and exercise.
There is Sheffield Digital Slack with lots of people talking about interesting topics. I also check in with my family, partner and friends.
Sarah Lister, career coach, mentor, creative freelancer
Change the scenery – if possible. Not everyone has the luxury of a home office, however I think it is important to try and find a space, reserved purely for work.
For me working from the sofa all day, (aside from a bad back) I become far less productive and then as a result restless in the evening, if I have spent all day working in the place I hope to relax and switch off in later.
Steve Pownall, group sales and marketing manager, Deeper Than Blue
