If you have furloughed colleagues, you may feel tremendous pressure to sustain a business for your colleagues to return to, as well as guilt at being selected as a remote worker. It’s important to remember that it is natural to feel this way.  

Below are some tips to help you remain positive and productive with respect to working from home during the pandemic.

Keep your mind healthy

During this unusual time, you may be feeling anxious and worried and that’s totally understandable. Even without the added worry of the COVID-19, research has identified that remote workers can be prone to bouts of poor mental health.  A 2017 study found that remote workers experience higher levels of stress than their office-based counterparts. This can be due to circumstances out of their control such as emails being misinterpreted, feeling isolated from decision making as well as feelings that they might be being judged which can contribute to a cycle of clocking more hours. To avoid compounding these mental health issues,  try starting your day with some brisk exercise or another activity that helps you relax (could you use the time saved from your commute to read a book, listen to a podcast or prepare a healthy lunch?). Regular communications with your colleagues and your managers will help you. If things get too much, speak to your HR department or one of these charities. You are not alone.

Keep your body healthy

It would be so easy to fall into a trap of eating sugary snacks and drinking too much during the lockdown, but health advisors strongly recommend against this. Continue to follow healthy living advice such as a balanced diet, drinking lots of water, being physically active and getting enough sleep which are vital to keeping you healthy. Working from home presents some other areas of wellbeing that you might not have considered before such as posture and stretching.  Are you sitting comfortably and working on a firm surface? Make sure you keep your legs, torso, neck and head in line and vertical; don’t slouch. Perhaps consider spending some time standing which will benefit the neck back and shoulders. Here are some good exercises to keep backs strong. Make sure you get up every hour and walk around – giving your eyes some time away from the screen.

Create a working environment

We appreciate that the role that you do might not need you to be desk-based. Perhaps you have a creative role that allows you to work from the sofa or lying on your bed, rather than a desk or the kitchen table. If that suits you and you can be productive that way, great but perhaps consider a side table to provide space to access paperwork easily (as well as prevent your coffee spilling on your keyboard). Make sure that the room is well lit to avoid straining your eyes.

Keep your working areas as clutter-free as possible; it’s easy to be distracted by washing up or piles of ironing. Emulate the working office as much as you can – turn off the TV, silence your personal phone (or even better, move it away) and keep disturbances to a minimum, where possible.

Get ready for the day

 It’s tempting but try not to sit around in pyjamas all day. With less time for commuting you may find that you tend to stay in bed longer but that will not have a positive effect on your motivation and won’t get you in the right mindset. Get up the time that you normally would and set yourself up for success. Shower and prepare as if you were going into the office. Whilst starched shirts and power heels probably aren’t necessary, dressing for the job you have will help you get in the mindset you need (it also prevents any embarrassing spur of the moment video conference calls!). A 2012 study from the Journal of Experimental Psychology  found that clothes have an effect on a wearer’s performance. Start your day with a filling and nutritious breakfast which is proven to help keep brains focussed and alert.

Give your day structure

Routine and structure are crucial in these challenging times. It might be tempting to flex your hours during lockdown (and if you are caring for sick relatives or home-schooling children, some tweaking may be necessary to your day), but we’d advise to keep this this to a minimum. By sticking to your regular start and finish times, not only will you be more productive and motivated, but it sends a clear message to your customers, colleagues and suppliers that it is ‘business as usual’ – continually building on the trust that they already have in you. Remember to take breaks and time away from your screen as you would do in the office environment. Log off at the usual end of your working day to help create a work/life balance. 

Consider the very simple but effective tool of a ‘to do’ list. This act will give you an agenda to work to as well as give you some satisfaction of seeing what you have achieved.

Keep in touch with colleagues – This could be a quick call or an email but speaking to colleagues is vital during this time. Perhaps consider regular video conferencing meetings via Zoom or Google Hangouts. This will help you feel part of a team, minimise miscommunication and prevent time-wasting, long threads of emails. Regular contact with colleagues and teams will help build a united, remote working community. If you manage a team, bear in mind that your role is more important than ever to reassure, motivate and make their team feel secure so make sure that you are reaching out to your teams regularly.