Tips for Working from Home

Now that March has begun, many of us are about to celebrate our one-year anniversary of working 100 percent from home. While we should feel like remote work pros by now, the fatigue has likely set in, which puts you under the risk of falling into lazy, unproductive habits. Here are a few things you can do to get your work done while working from your couch or kitchen island. 

Create a Daily To-Do List

Being in a physical office environment and seeing the coworkers you’re accountable to every day goes a long way in creating structure. In the absence of this structure, it’s easy to find yourself doing the bare minimum or losing track of time. Before you open your email inbox each day, make a list of three things you absolutely need to get done that day. At the end of your workday, revisit this list to be sure you accomplished what you planned to—you’ll feel a lot more productive! 

Dress Up

Your formal business suits probably haven’t seen the light of day since early 2020. While working in comfy sweatpants can have its perks, if you’re like most people you might feel like slouchy attire impacts your attitude. There’s no need to dress in business professional every day, but throwing on a blazer, some mascara, and pants with a zipper might help you feel more professional. 

Keep Up Your Connections

Since you can’t grab an impromptu coffee with your coworkers or meet your clients for lunch, it’s easy for those relationships to grow stale. Scheduling a Zoom call just to catch up and chat about your lives can remind you that your colleagues aren’t just images on a screen or names in your inbox, and help bring a human sign to your work. 

Unplug

One of the biggest challenges about the new normal is the blurred lines between worktime and non-work time. You might figure that there’s no harm in answering an email at 8pm—after all, you don’t have anything else to do. However, this behavior isn’t harmless at all; it can accelerate feelings of burnout and, if you’re a manager, make your staff feel pressured to surrender their own work-life balance. Let yourself have your evenings and weekends to focus on family, friends, and hobbies. 

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