How to make the most of remote working during COVID-19

Sometimes life throws unexpected things our way. Frequently these are on a personal front, but occasionally they’re on a national or even a global scale. The tragic outbreak of COVID-19 has pushed countries around the world into lockdown – in these trying times, those of us who can uproot our jobs and move them into the home are very lucky indeed.

Of course, many people are, and already were, working remotely. In our technological age, all that’s really needed to do typical office work from home is a laptop and a Wi-Fi connection. Even so, for many businesses and individuals, to be thrown so intensely into full-time remote work is a massive shift. There are absolutely benefits to working from home, but there are also likely to be some unforeseen challenges. The most important thing is that we learn to make the most of the benefits while we can and seize opportunity rather than dwelling on the problems. So, without further ado, here’s how to make the most of working from home.

Tailor your day

When working in an office, there are certain limitations to the structure of our day. You have to factor in commute time, put in the hours within a certain time frame and bend yourself around the schedule of your colleagues. Working remotely, it’s much easier to be flexible in how you organise your day. With no commute time, you can start work earlier or get a bit of extra sleep. If you find your energy levels naturally spike and dip at certain times, you can do more hours over a longer period of time, factoring in more breaks so you work with your natural productivity levels.

You’re much less likely to spend time in unimportant meetings when working from home, too. The extra level of organisation required means people think that much more about whether the meeting purpose can be fulfilled without a long and exhaustive team of people to discuss it. All in all, when working from home, you call the shots – so make sure you tailor the day to work for you.

Work you, but at home

If working from home seems like “a treat”, you may be tempted to do your work from the sofa, or worse, from your bed. But believe me when I say all seasoned remote workers will dissuade you from this decision. So please, step away from the duvet. The same goes for working in your pyjamas. Tempting? Yes. Good idea? No, absolutely not.

You need to get dressed and create a dedicated workstation at home. This isn’t just for the sake of your productivity, but also your own sanity. It’s easy to forget the big benefit of commuting to and from work: it bookends your day. It gives you time to let work hours melt away so that, by the time you get home, you can truly switch off.

Working from home, the end of your day is not so clear cut. That’s why pulling out your laptop and working from the places you also relax sends very mixed signals to your subconscious. It might even make chilling out or getting to sleep more challenging than usual. Combat this by getting ready for work as you usually would and setting up a proper desk and work area. Learning to concentrate and work hard from home is an incredibly valuable skill and one you’ll thank yourself for establishing.

Thinking time

Working from home, your calendar likely looks a little more free than usual. People are better at prioritizing communication when it requires setting up, and as a result, the usual meeting chaos is streamlined when working remotely. It may be tempting to fill all this extra free time with task after task, but it’s important to still factor in some thinking time – or more accurately, time to let your mind wander.

Whether it’s taking some time out to go for a walk or cooking yourself a healthy homemade lunch, including space in your schedule where you’re disengaging from focussed work will help to keep your creativity levels up. During the current situation, people are doing less than usual.

A dearth of experiential input can mean a dearth of inspiration, but making time to daydream will help to keep the wheels spinning in your creative mind. If we’re honest, creative ideas are more likely to crop up at home while doing the washing up than they are in the boardroom, anyway. So, working from home is the perfect time to capture and action these budding ideas.

Peace of mind

These are difficult times. There is little use in shying away from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic; it has changed the way of life for hundreds of thousands worldwide. While it’s unsurprising that such a huge, unprecedented event is affecting the way we interact, one thing we can (and should!) do when working from home is establish our sense of gratitude for being able to keep working and maintain our sense of purpose in these difficult circumstances. Working from home will aid your peace of mind and keep you and your loved ones healthy.

We are very blessed to live in a time where we can still connect with those outside the home, no matter how far away they are. Make the most of this while working from home by scheduling daily catch-ups with your team and talking about things beyond your daily tasks: check-in with each other and talk openly about your feelings. Doing so is good for both morale and wellbeing, so you can stay in touch whilst staying safe.

Written by Chris Griffiths with Caragh Medlicott. Chris is the developer of ayoa.com – an intelligent digital workspace which allows teams to manage meetings, build plans, and action tasks – all in one app.

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