A new way of working
During these unprecedented times, working from home has become the new normal. No longer do we have the routine of the commute or the social interaction of meeting our colleagues at the water cooler. Instead, for many of us (and especially those who work in an industry where face-to-face interaction is the foundation of our business) adjusting to working from home has proved to be something of a culture shock.
Every person will have a different experience with remote working, what might be one person’s saving grace may be another person’s distraction. It’s all about trial and error to find what works best for you.
What are the advantages of working from home?
No commute
You’ve got to admit how lovely it is - going from bed to sofa or dining room table. Depending on how long it takes you to get ready for the day, you can wake up and be working within 10 minutes. We’re not judging because we’re doing the same thing!
No office distractions
The copier, the phones and the coffee machine may seem like distant memories, but it’s likely that they caused distractions for you. Distractions are hard to miss but working isn’t the same without the daily debates with colleagues or the banter shared with your desk buddy.
You are in much more control of what can distract you each day; although granted children and pets can make things tough.
Flexible scheduling
Remote working allows you to be more adaptable, some companies have brought in flexi-time and others allow you to be more flexible with your day to day.
You can take breaks whenever you fancy it, eat your lunch at whatever weird time you’d like, and make personal calls when you need to without feeling conscious that your colleagues are listening in. It’s your day, as long as the work gets done you can take advantage of your time.
Comfy clothes
It feels like a lifetime ago when you had to wear those corporate outfits, can you truly remember what non-elasticated trousers feel like? Working has never been comfier: pyjamas, sweat pants and slippers have replaced blazers, button-up shirts and brogues.
Our entire understanding of workwear has changed in the space of a month.
Your office, your rules
Your home has become your office. You control the temperature, the volume and the background music, you no longer need to listen to the same 10 songs playing on shuffle from your least favourite radio station.
You can even become uber-efficient by fitting in a few jobs around the house to break up your day. You might even find your weekend to-do list can be shorter.
What are the disadvantages of working from home?
Willpower
It’s easy to get distracted whilst working from home, you may fixate on tasks outside of your work. It can start with just washing the last few pots in the sink, then the next thing you know, you have changed your bedding and hoovered the entire house.
It’s the same with the TV, you might think the next episode of the show you are watching is a fantastic choice for background noise. Then in next to no time at all, you haven’t done any work and have watched six episodes of The Office.
You need to carefully choose what you have on in the background. Listen to music, podcasts or have day time tv on with the volume on low.
Boredom
FOMO has never been more prominent and missing your co-workers has become a big part of your day. It’s tough but you know it’s another day closer to getting back to the office.
Waiting
During the current climate, we need to practice patience. It’s frustrating that we can’t just swing our chair around and ask our workmate a question. So we need to be prepared to sometimes wait for a response from colleagues and understand their challenges too.
Starting a new routine
It took months for you to get used to your routine at work, you knew exactly what time you got coffee and what you needed to focus on. Now your whole day is different, you should take time and set yourself a schedule. Decide what time you start working each day, what time your lunch should be and each day make a plan of what work needs to be done.
You’ll get into the swing of things, you just need to keep trying!
You can do this
The whole world has been facing big changes and you are doing great.
It’ll take a while to adjust and get used to your new way of working. Remote may not be all it’s cracked up to be but it isn’t so bad.