People around the world are Working from Home (WFH) temporarily to help shorten the spread of COVID-19. If this is your first time WFH, you’re probably a little excited because this means, no more commuting to the office and you can work from the comfort of your home! While all of this is true, you have to set up some guidelines to be productive during this time and still get your work done. I am giving you my tips and what not to do’s from experience. When I first moved to NYC, I still had my previous job from Colorado and was working remotely. I am not going to lie, it was a bit of an adjustment because I was used to having separate spaces for my office and my sleep but now, I had to separate that. I made a lot of mistakes and was not as productive as I would have wanted to be in the beginning but overtime and as I became more and more serious about my blog I’ve learned to get this WFH thing down a bit more. Here are 9 tips for working from home.
(more outfit deets at bottom of post)
1. One thing that distracts anyone from getting work done is a messy place. The last thing you need is to be distracted by your place and start cleaning when you’re supposed to be working. Clean your place before you go to bed. That way when you wake up, your place is already clean and you dive into your morning without being distracted.
2. Designate a specific spot for where you will work. This is not the couch, and this is definitely not your bed by making a desk out of pillows. I may or may not be face palming from my own experience. It’s a No. Just no. Do NOT do it. If you have an office, make that the designated area. If you’re in an apartment, sit at the kitchen table, or bar stool area. You can use your desk in your bedroom if you have enough will power to not transfer to your bed. If you have roommates, make sure you respect one another’s designated work area.
3. Work normal hours like you would at your job. If you work 9am-5pm with your hour lunch break, do that. If you work 7am-4pm keep it that way. Don’t mix up the hours because by keeping a specific time to get your work done, makes you manage your work and time while at home more efficiently.
4. Turn off/silence your non-work phone and devices. You can check these devices during your lunch break and after your work hours. This is very important because with everything that is going on, the last thing you need is to feel fear and panic which can distract you from giving your best foot forward in work.
5. Use the normal time that you would use to commute to work to do other things. You know, the things that you previously wish you had more time for like working out, meditating, reading your bible or books, praying , stretching, or listening to podcasts etc. This is the perfect way to get your day going and off to a nice start. Don’t check your phone first thing in the morning.
6. Prepare your snacks, water, food etc. BEFORE you sit down. If you are a snacker, this is important because you could end up wasting the day away with continuous water breaks and finding things in your pantry. If you’re prepared, you will not waste time looking for food. Below I have some yummy snacks that I enjoy!
7. Get your background noise (or silence). If you like white noise whether it is listening to music or the AC you can download apps (I like White Noise Lite) that contain different white noise noises. Make sure that the device that the white noise is coming from is a device that you won’t get distracted by. You can also pull up websites with white noise. Do not even entertain the idea that you can work with the TV/Netflix on in the background. That is just asking for distraction. For those of you who love silence or have children, investing in some noise cancelling headphones can be a great idea.
8. Wear your Blue-Light Eliminating Glasses. This is for anyone who works with a computer and not just for people who are working from home. You can read all about the importance of these glasses here. I personally like the ones from Aspire Eyewear as they make cute styles and have a higher grade of eliminating technology than your standard pair.
9. Wear comfy clothing! Yes, you can work from home, however, make sure to change out of your PJ’s as staying in your pajamas while you work will make you want to get back into bed. By wearing normal casual clothes while you work you can be comfortable enough to work efficiently without being too comfortable to want to watch TV. Below, I have linked some comfy denim and cute cardigans for your WFH days!
Here are my 9 tips to make your WFH a success! Let me know if you already practice any of these tips. or if you have any additional tips, leave them in the comments!
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