The concept of working from home isn’t anything new. A quick Google search brings up 7,710,000,000 results. COVID-19 has brought homeworking back into the news, Google has asked it’s 8,000 strong team based at their European headquarters to work from home, Sony has closed offices in the UK, France and Poland, and Twitter is encouraging its workforce to stay at home.
So, why are we talking about it? We figured we’d write a two-part blog on our home working best practice tips and how Maximizer CRM can help you manage your work regardless of where you are.
1. Structure your day
First things first, you need to structure your day. When working from home, you are your own manager. Without set breaks, it can be easy to lose focus and struggle with your workload. To stay on schedule, use a calendar to split your day into sections – work, short breaks, lunch, etc.
It may even help to keep your work schedule similar to how you work when you’re in the office. Do you spend the mornings on the phone? Or do you spend it writing? Keeping to this structure will help you focus and stay productive.
2. Distinguish between work and home
This can be a challenge for many, more often than not, your home is a place of relaxation, not work. We recommend that you choose a room free of distractions to work from, if you like to relax in front of the TV, then don’t do your work in the living room.
It can also help to go through your usual routine for getting ready for work. If you stay in your pyjamas and get out of bed late, your brain won’t have a chance to get ready for the day. So, wake up, shower, get dressed, go for a short walk and it will help your brain get into work mode.
3. Talk to People
Working from home can be isolating, if you’re used to working in an office environment where talking to someone is as easy as looking at the table opposite you, not having anyone to talk to for an entire day can be difficult.
Make sure you schedule regular check-ups, with your line manager or your peers. Have a phone call or virtual meeting to discuss an idea that you may have had or update each other on what you’re working on.
During your lunch break, go to a caf√© or a shop. It’ll get you out of the house and let your brain rest before you get back to working.
4. Take Breaks
We touched on this a little bit earlier on in the article, but it’s an important part of your day. Some people might be worried that people may think they’re slacking off, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t give your brain a few minutes to relax.
By getting up from your computer, making some tea or going for a walk, you can return feeling refreshed which will make you more productive for the rest of the day. This includes taking the time at lunch to have a proper meal and time to think about something other than work.
5. Set a time to finish your day
You can very easily be caught up in what you’re working on and lose track of time. If you work a nine to five job, then make sure you stop working at five. Instead of co-workers, who will prompt you to get ready to leave by their packing up, it might help to have an alarm set to remind you that it’s the end of the day.
In our next blog, we’ll be talking about how Maximizer CRM can help you do this and more while working from home and managing a team that’s also working from home.
If you want to find out more about CRM and Maximizer, feel free to get in touch with our team and we will help you in any way that we can.
