Working from home tips

There are a lot of working from home posts doing the rounds at the moment. I’ve been working from home for nearly seven years, so I thought I’d write down my tips for working from home.

Summary

• Go outside
• Over-communicate
• Stay hydrated
• Hide the snacks
• Meditate

Go outside

My top tip for working from home is make sure you don’t stay at home all day. That way lies madness. You need to get some daylight, it will help you feel fresher and more focussed. Studies¹ show that exposure to daylight can help you sleep better at night as well.

Leave the house and go for a walk. Once mid-morning, and again mid-afternoon, bonus if you go lunchtime as well.

Get up and walk around the house regularly. If you have a garden or outdoor space and the weather is nice then sit out there with a notebook and do a brain dump.

Do some form of physical exercise that makes you sweat most days. Sitting at a desk doesn’t get the heart rate going anywhere near enough.

Over-communicate

People don’t know what you’re doing, so make sure you’re extra visible.

Don’t be afraid to ask people questions if you’re stuck. Ideally your communication channels should be asynchronous, so you don’t have to worry about interrupting people, they’ll get back to you when they reach a convenient stopping point.

Stay hydrated

When there’s no-one offering you regular tea and coffee it’s easy to forget to drink anything. Always have a glass or bottle of water near your working area.

Hide the snacks

Ideally don’t have snacks in the house in the first place. They’re far too tempting.

Meditate

I try to meditate every morning, it helps me to feel less stressed and anxious.

If you’re not into meditation then other mindful activities like journaling, yoga or whatever gets you into a relaxed state of mind.

Conclusion

Working from home is not the same as working from the office.

It can require more effort on your part to look after yourself and integrate with your team. But the reward is more autonomy, flexible work schedules, and an increased reliance on results produced over hours worked.

The extra effort required is well worth the freedom working from home provides.