There is a song from Fifth Harmony, often shortened to 5H, “Work from home”. Check the song here. This song is not my type but I have heard this song a couple of times in the last few years. Who knew this song would be a pandemic soundtrack because of the COVID-19. Because of this coronavirus situation many of us have been forced to do home office.
My company moved to the home office model a few weeks back. As a software development company, it was very easy for us to make the decision. Here are some home office tips that we all can follow to make our work more effective. Home offices can be challenging for many peoples because of the personality and lifestyle.
Change your philosophy
We all know that it is not possible to do every work from home. For example a pilot can’t fly from home. The works that can be done electronically can be done from any place. You don’t need to punch a card and enter into the office place and start working. You can work in the coffee shop or in a shared co-working place. Remember that you are not alone.
Maintain fixed hours
Maintain a schedule of your work. During your working hours keep 1hr lunch break , 15mins tea break etc.
Use productivity tools
Use productivity tools like Slack, Microsoft Teams, Git etc. There are lots of interesting features introduced by these tools targeting remote working. Microsoft team has introduced AI based background blur or put a different image feature during the conference call.
Exercise
Move out from home once in a day. Maybe during your lunch break. Keep a treadmill at home if you can’t go out from home. Your body needs movement.
Create a boundary between personal work and office work
As you are at home, you can do some personal work if you want. Inform your family members about your home office time. Provide some guidelines, e.g. can’t turn off television during the time. You can have a working desk. When your laptop is on the desk, you are doing home office. Once your laptop is on your lap, you are doing personal work.
Don’t be a domestic labour when you are at home during your home office hours. Be the master of your plan.
