I've been working from home for the last two days as an IT test but it's now been extended indefinitely.
The IT side of things is sorted and I got myself a new office chair today as the previous one wasn't up to a full day (or my back wasn't).
I'm sure there are plenty in my shoes but maybe some who have done it longer. Does anyone have any tips for working from the house?
I had to go out for a stroll at lunch time today as I was going a bit stir crazy so God knows what I'll be like in a few weeks....
Cheers,
Adam
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Get up from your seat every 60 mins and have a walk about the house, make a brew, etc ...Originally Posted by stoneyloon
Make a point of going out for a walk every lunchtime.
Pop the radio on.
When people Skype you for a work related chat give them a call on the phone.
I've been working from home for years.
Put the radio on. Get up and walk about every hour. Phone colleagues just for a chat.
You'll get used to it soon enough. I have the opposite problem - when I go into the office now I find it noisy and difficult to concentrate.
^^^^^ great minds ��
Also have a little walk before settling down to work in the first place - just enough to wake up your body and clear your head
I’ve spent the last 11 years working from home and the flexibility is great, but it does take good discipline. I’ve never suffered from a feeling of isolation, but other field based colleagues have struggled.
Personally, I am an early riser and I use the early hours to break the back of the day and get much of my admin done. It’s a very quiet time when others are commuting. This approach frees up the late afternoon and early evening for more quality time with the family after achieving a full working day. Really valuable.
Taking regular breaks is important. My lunch hour at home consists of a ride or run and this is really important head space from the home office.
I try to stay engaged with colleagues as much as possible. Don’t rely on email for all communication, pick up the phone especially to your reports.
If you can, get a defined space in the home for WFH. In our previous property I had a garden office built that really made it feel like you were heading off to work in the morning and provided separation from the house. In our current home I utilise our 4th bedroom which is tucked away in the back corner of the house. Again, it feels isolated and away from distraction.
The positives generally outweigh any negatives, but different people respond in different ways.
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I’ve never had to but my dad did a few years ago. He told me the thing that helped the most was to dress for work. If you’re in your shorts / PJ’s or whatever, the brain is less productive.
If you use teams or the like - arrange to have chats with other work mates at various times..
Cheers folks, I'll certainly take these tips into account.
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Echo the above, I walk the dog first thing and lunchtime plus make a coffee every so often. I have music on low in the background.
IT though, Teams has really been struggling this week, assume as so many now on it but Skype was better although not perfect either.
Never really had problems before.
I've actually used a long cable today to connect to the router rather than wifi which may have improved things.
Never had that before!
Top tip , stop looking in the fridge and don't buy extra biscuits. There is a real temptation to graze when taking a break and all your treats are close by.
Should I claim for extra leccy and gas bills?
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With the kids home from next week and working from home as well I wonder how it's all going to pan out.
We will see!
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Today was my last day in the office. The IT staff have been phenomenal in ensuring everyone has a laptop or similar, and VPN access to the relevant servers.
I've had a 25" monitor delivered to my home, and a Macbook Air and iPad Pro. I bought myself a decent desk (hopefully delivered tomorrow) and extension cables and paper. The two kids and wife will also be at home for the foreseeable, so I have the front room and they have the back room.
I won't deny I'm nervous about it because we have a huge deadline at the end of next week, and this way of working is unprecedented. But that's secondary to the general anxiety over the situation we find ourselves in. It's friggin' terrifying and I truly believe we are in this for a long, long time.
I don't have any daily plan yet as it's all panic stations, but after next week we should have a better understanding of how to work more effectively. There are 20 of us on the team and already today the emails were reaching the half century so that needs to stop.
Good luck everyone
Remember to drink plenty of water.
Take frequent breaks from the screen(s)
A walk / exercise at lunchtime (I’ve been doing cycling 5-10 miles)
Keep in touch with colleagues - make an effort to do so
Set a finish time and stick to it!
Don't just do something, sit there. - TNH
I’m working from home next week and need to purchase a monitor.
Is it better to purchase a cheap LED HD ready, 24 inch TV rather than a monitor.
This would allow me to use it as TV and monitor?
Don’t forget your DSE assessments when WFH and double check your companies lone working policy!
No as the pixel density is different so it will strain your eyes close up. There are plenty of decent 24" 1080p monitors just over the £100 mark. If you get one with HDMI input (plus whatever your laptop needs) then you can always use a Firestick or the like with it.
Radio on all day
Plenty of fluids
Have a proper lunch break, preferable leaving the house
Call colleagues
Don’t assume that as an email has left your outbox that the recipient has (a) read it or (b) is dealing with it
Arrange meetings at intervals throughout the day
Don’t turn the TV on
You will get more work done guaranteed but you will also miss the engagement with colleagues and likely bore the other half silly after a few days.
Looks like I'll be WFH from Friday til..... who knows.
I used to do it one day a week, back in my free and single days - had a standing desk, and made sure i used it, plus a walk or outdoor activity at some point in the day. My focus levels were amazing - got so much done compared to being in the office. I used to get started later then work much later - my current job is anti WFH and typical timing, we've just moved from a house with an annexe to one with a cold garage.
I've spent part of today clearing a space in the loft for some ikea trestles and some old plywood for the ultimate desk - hopefully I'll be hidden well enough that my, and my sister in laws kids wont notice me - I'll definitely be avoiding the drink lots of water advice! ;)
Good luck OP - make sure you keep your posture - leaning over a cramped laptop all day will do you no good at all.
Seems the world needs a beak, stay safe
I mostly work from home and sometimes from clients' premises.
For what it's worth, when working from home I find it important to actually get dressed and, as far possible, have some physical separation from pets, family, etc. When you're at work, you're at work, so no answering the doorbell, no answering the house 'home' phone, no helping with little chores, in fact no domestic activity at all unless the house is burning down or it is lunch time.
If you use a single computer for both work and personal use, it can be sensible to create two entirely separate login profiles.
I've spent a fair amount of the last few years writing reports from home, and for the last 2yrs working from home on a Friday (if work demanded). I actually get more done at home, but not so easy when it is all week.
A good tip above - to go for a short walk before starting, and at lunchtime.
Don't get into the habit of working in your PJs until lunchtime - it's slovenly, and you might just have to take a video-call.
I find it helpful to “get dressed” for work. In other words, dress as if you are going to the office rather than on your day off. This includes putting on work shoes. It helps me to think I’m at work. Try to set some space up that becomes your office. Make sure other people at home know that when you are there you are at work and they are not to disturb you.
I cannot speak for myself, but my wife is working from home 3 or 4 days/week. All that's already said, is useful.
She maintains a strict routine: first: working 8 hrs a day excl. breaks for lunch. Normally, she starts at 8AM and finishes at 6PM. That gives her 2 hrs/day to do different things like a long lunch combined with a short sprint to the supermarket or online shopping (the latter being done on a different computer!). At least take the time to get out of the house for exercises or go to the gym (now closed in Holland). My wife has come up with a 'fitness-at-home' program, based on body weight exercises that wouldn't look bad in any gym. Take your time to do these exercises and be accurate with when and how. Latest news here is that cycling is a very good defense against covid-19. Regular cycling trips lower the blood pressure, enhance the long capacity, you're normally more than 5ft away from others when cycling and you don't have to touch surfaces that are covered with the virus. So, a daily trip of one hour might help as well.
When you use your phone a lot, there's one 'must': get yourself a proper headset for your phone! There's a big chance that you'll be on the phone for longer periods. Ergonomically that's not the best situation: holding the phone with one hand, or between you head and shoulder... will lead to problems.
Clothing: yes, dress for work. At least get proper clothing on. Especially when you're using Zoom, Microsoft Teams etc. You don't want to be on a screen looking like you've just come out of bed. Mind you, pay attention to the background that's visible when you're video conferencing. No running kids at the other side of the sliding doors to the back room etc.
My wife started working from home 15, 16 yrs ago. The boys were small at that age. We've learned them that 'working = no disturbing'. And until this day, they will not go up to mum's office during working hours. That's of course more difficult to understand/accept when you've never WFH and your kids need to adapt to that. The other way around also applies: my wife never interfered in the social life downstairs during the day - as if she was physically in Amsterdam where she has an office.
Don't get dragged into the daily routine: don't give your opinion about something you've not experienced yourself or that you don't have to deal with: small arguments between the kids, opening the door for deliveries (apart from watches, I presume...). It's sometimes difficult for your partner to leave you out of it. And it is sometimes difficult to accept that you're left out!
I've never had any problems with the routine. It's as if she's 60 miles away in Amsterdam. I often don't know if she's at home or in Amsterdam: the way to tell is a coat on a hanger. I made dinner from Mon till Fri and I send her a WhatsApp with 'Dinner at ...PM' an hour or so in advance. That's all.
When you get thing well-organized, it will be hard to break the new routine of working from home and go back to the office!
Some excellent points above. I'd recommend investing c£240 on two 24" screens, a standard keyboard and decent wireless mouse. My employer doesn't provide them but I wouldn't be without dual screens and wouldn't work from home via laptop only.
I'm lucky to have a home office and no kids so it's *more* productive for me.
Try and work near a window - if it’s a home office try and get a view outside and get fresh air in
Radio is a godsend - so much to choose from
Avoid the tv is what I found
Have set breaks away from your screen - ten mins every hour is good
Don’t worry about the odd distraction
You are helping your firm by working from home - checking in on remote parents is fine
As for bills etc
You’ll be better off by not travelling
Thanks guys. Some really good tips here which I'll try out over the coming weeks.
I've been employed in places which has allowed wfh but I've always preferred going into an office as I feel that I can focus better. So it has been a bit of a struggle the past couple of days, especially with whatsapp going crazy and news distraction.
Trying to do more catch-ups with colleagues and teams though so that I stay accountable. In terms of home office set up I keep my desk minimalistic with an external monitor, headset always plugged in (never know when someone might call) and just some work papers. The phone is proving to be a distraction but I find that I check it less if I use it listening to music.
I've just had to start working from home and for me the biggest struggle was going from two large monitors to one small laptop screen.
To counter this, I have just bought an ASUS ZenScreen which is a portable display, powered and connected via the USB-C port.
It wasn't cheap, but I'm sure it will turbo charge my productivity.
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Start your day with a walk to work - dress up and go for a quick 10-15min walk before actual work. Really helps to get in the work mood. Don't work in your PJ's or whatever you are wearing at home. Take a short break every hour - have a cigarette, make a tea etc. Don't eat while working.
I've been field based for about 5 years now and probably spend about 50% of my time working from home. Get a comfortable & supportive chair, keep hydrated, resist the urge to graze (I should try and practice what I preach though...), keep in touch with colleagues and get up and walk around more often than you think.
There is a temptation to work outside your contracted hours so make a concerted effort to finish just as you would in a regular workplace. Some colleagues of mine will work late into the evening and that's not a healthy habit.
Definitely set some time aside for lunch - I usually close my work laptop and catch up on news/youtube etc whilst I eat.
Don't just do something, sit there. - TNH
I started in IT support last year from a non-IT background. That was challenging and now working from home, it will hopefully be ok. I have never worked from home.
I am expecting an Amazon Firestick to be delivered and with Disney+ starting next week, hopefully my small children will be quiet. A big ask indeed.
Try to spend at least five or ten minutes per hour doing some work. :-)
I just completed my first full working-at-home day
After a few teething problems setting up the equipment, it was a surprisingly productive day. We had a team Skype call at 12, which I was dreading, but ended up being reassuring as we all got down to business and shared supermarket 'zombie' stories.
Emails calmed down as people just got on with their work and Whatsapp was mercifully quiet.
I made sure I kept moving and stretched every hour, and went for a walk to get some essential beers for tonight.
The one thing I do need to do is get a decent chair. I was sitting on a cheap Ikea plastic 'office' chair but it will kill me if I have to do this for 12 weeks. I wish I'd taken my work chair home like some others did.
And the kids were a massive distraction. We're going to draw up a home-schooling/entertainment plan for the weeks ahead so it shouldn't be a problem.
All in all, early days but it wasn't too bad
Sent home today for the foreseeable future. At least I’ve a decent working environment
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Our company were preparing for long term wfh quite a while back so I made the investment in a proper desk and chair and it's paying dividends. Home set up is working well, 2 large screens and no discomfort at all.
Been wfh for over a week now and so far so good, or so it was.....for those with young children, good luck is all I say. Mine were booted out of school (5) and nursery (2) yesterday due to high temperatures so we've had the little darlings at home for the last 2 days. Nightmare. Yesterday had to work late to catch up all that was missed during the day. Today worked about half capacity and too tired to work tonight. Trying to hold down a job whilst entertaining kids, cleaning up continuously after the mess, stopping the bickering, keeping them pre-occupied and juggle meetings/deliverables etc is going to age me considerably over the next coupe of months.
Tough times ahead.
Thanks for your comment because I was unsure if the the pixel density would be an issue.
The TV I was going to purchase is the one below but it has a pixel resolution of 1366 x 768.
https://www.richersounds.com/tv-proj...-24wl3a63.html
I think I may opt for a monitor and Fire-stick.
Cancel your yearly train pass if you can.
I hope that everybody has done their Fire, Bomb and Incident Alarm tests this morning.
Don't just do something, sit there. - TNH
the cats and my mrs are driving me nuts.....
but this works - get dressed, have a shower mid morning - get up now and again for a brew - have a look outside
keep the radio on quietly in the background
go out for the one walk a day you are allowed
and once you've done your hours - disconnect and go back to home mode
keep the routine up
All admin fees on this now cancelled (as of yesterday).
I've been having big problems with both Skype and Teams today, kicking me off and not connecting with people.
We've got four laptops going, my work one is connected by cable with the others split over the two wifi bands plus we have 200Mb+ broadband (allegedly)so I don't think the problem is our end.
Never mind, if that's all I've got to moan about I'm obviously doing well!
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