Tips on working remotely
Blog entry
23rd March
Tips on working at home
In May last year, I was made redundant from my full-time job as a Course Team Leader at Mk College. During this process, it gave me time to consider my options upon where to direct my career and what I wished my life to be like. Don’t get me wrong the fact that I was losing a regular income was rather scary and daunting when considering how will I pay my bills and live each day! I can imagine that many people are possibly feeling the same way during this current situation.
Since September 2019 - I made the great decision to start my own business and since this I have met and had a lot of support from other business owners and businness support agencies. During this time of uncertainty, I still have a vast amount of coaches and Facebook communities that are sharing Vlogs and useful advice and information for small companies/ self-employed workers.
Personally I wish to show others this type of support and this is why I am writing this blog. I had a message from a friend who is a teacher who has now been asked to work remotely. Her question was, have you got any tips on how to keep motivated and sane while having to be isolated.
Introducing #WELLYVCHAT
1st of all I’d like to offer you all my support and tell you about my #WellyVChat I wish to encourage virtual communication. I have done this with two friends who are working at home & my mother. It was really enjoyable, my mum showed me around her new home, as I had not seen it and my friend continued to walk around her flat while on the chat. It was a lot of fun and a really lovely way to keep in touch.
Okay, let’s get to the point of the blog.
TIP 1 - LOCATION
Make your working area nice to be, comfortable, lit well and as the sun is out, sit near a window so that you can see it. You should also think like you do when you have an office area at work and add some personal touches to your area, like a cushion and possible plants.
TIP 2 - Routine
2. For me, I found it easier to keep focused when I had a routine. By considering when ill get up, with a set alarm time each morning. What I’ll do while eating breakfast, lunch & dinner. Will I add a tea break or exercise? If I was you, make time for work and time for relaxing and eating. We are used to eating while working, but doing this means you’re not having a break from the work and may get distracted later on.
This is my routine:
Alarm at 7.00 am I’ll be honest I get up at 8.00 am.
Go and have a glass of lime/lemon water
Yoga stretch
Have breakfast and a coffee, I always need coffee.
Washed and dressed - Ill be honest, working in Pjs is good too.
Work time allocation
Lunch away from office area or room
Work time allocation till 3.00 pm
Do some exercise/ dance around the room or a walk
Work time allocation till 5.30 pm
Then it is your evening to do what you need.
I do attempt to try and keep to this routine on a day-to-day basis, but I get distracted if my home is untidy or when I decide to look through social media. You will get distracted at some points, we all have a certain attention span, so work with this, you know yourself and what works for me may not work for you. Create your own personal routine and attempt to keep to it and if you don’t, change it. I have tried multiple things to keep focused.
TIP 3 - Organised
To stay on track, organisation will be the key. Get organized by creating a filing system, schedules, and to-do lists. I have listened to many other business people and yoga teachers and they have recommended journaling to reflect upon what you have completed each day and then use this to produce a day-to-day to-do list. Personally I use two things to keep me organised and that is my planner and an app called Asana. I like this app as I can have it on my phone and while out and about I am able to add to my to-do list. Please be aware that Asana app after the trial period is chargeable, so you may wish to try the Reminder app that you can download onto your iPhone, instead. If you are old school a writen list is just as affective, as the apps that I have mentioned.
TIPS 4 - Limits
I am sure that you are aware of the negative aspects of working from home and keeping yourself focused.
I am suggesting that you try and limit yourself from these distractions.
For example:
Emails & social media - have these on silent and freeze your notifications during work time.
TV - this is easy to have on during work for sound, but if its something interesting you may start to watch rather than work. I listen to music instead, although ill admit I do sing or have a dance around my room if the feeling takes me.
Outside - this is so distracting when its a lovely day, I have my office table near the window so I can look outside and make sure that at break times ill go outside to enjoy it.
Fridge/ food - Get a glass of water and have a selection of snack bars near your work area and a bin, so that you can throw away the empty packs once eaten.
TIP 5 - Take a break
Taking a break! It is not a bad thing, you have set up a working area, a routine and now you can have a break. Some days you will be more focused & productive than others. This will probably be because you are tired, so try and keep to a good sleeping pattern. On these tiring days you might find it difficult to focus for long periods of time. Remember every person has a set attention span, what is yours and what affects your attention to be distracted. Thirst, tiredness or being hungry.
Everyone is different and currently, this blog is for readers who are having to work from home during this time. We are not sure for how long, but we all still need to work, communicate and stay healthy.
So to clear this up, HAVE A BREAK, LIMIT YOURSELF, COMMUNICATE, BE ORGANISED & work remotely with a smile on your face.
Here are a few suggestions that I am doing to keep myself focused, inspired, safe and smiling:
I am watching this fun Vlog from Engine, the co-working space that I have joined. These guys are creating a virtual community for all of there members and using the members to help form this regular Vlog.
For my own exercise, I am completing a regular yoga class, provided by Gravity Yoga Uk.
Some people are re-organising and selling unwanted items to others.
You could take up walking, running or cycling during this time.
I am taking the time to read past books I have missed out on and some new business books that I need to complete.
Here is a link to a really good article you may wish to read - Ricky O’Donnell from RJDM upon his positive approach - https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/keep-evolving-positive-strong-ricky-o-donnell/
Also, take the time to learn something new - I will be completing further photography ‘YouTube’ and 1:1 virtual session with people, so please consider signing up for one of these sessions or continue to follow my weekly blog.
I HOPE THIS BLOG HAS BEEN USEFUL AND I LOVED TO SEE YOUR NEW HOME WORKING ENVIRONMENTS IF YOU WISH TO SHARE.
SIGN UP TO #WELLYVCHAT IF YOU FANCY A VIRTUAL CHAT
KEEP SAFE & COMMUNICATE TO ALL. #BEKIND
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