How to Work from Home, the RIGHT Way

Woman biting pencil

If you’re like most people in the world right now, you have had to make the transition from an office setting to your home office/kitchen/bedroom/closet -- like it or not (if you are not, please do so IMMEDIATELY. Let’s flatten that curve!)

As an Insurance Recruiter based in Dallas with my company headquartered in the Northeast, I have been 100% working from home for the last several years-and as a result have become quite efficient at working in a home office setting. But, it wasn’t always that way… When I first started working remotely, I thought “this going to be great!” Well guess what? It WASN'T completely great. In fact, working remotely can be quite isolating, as and you are either working non-stop, or are constantly fighting the urge to binge-watch the entire series of “The Office”.

Either way, I’d like to share some words of wisdom on how to make the transition easier:

DO:

Take breaks and get out of the house. (for now, that means the neighborhood walks, remaining 6 feet away from other people)
Create a space that is devoted to work – even if it’s a little space on the bed.
Try to make that space near a window (not being closed off makes you or feeling less isolated) and you have a sense of the day passing which gives a clue when to stop.
Turn on soothing music or TV (quietly) in the background to have a sense of others. If you have others – then ask for them to honor your space.
Create a goal sheet of what you want to accomplish for the day, broken up in hourly chunks. Don’t get up (besides going to the bathroom or to get some water) until you've accomplished what is on your goal sheet for that hour/time frame.
Make use of head set to walk around the house– keep moving!

DON’T:

Eat at your desk/workspace. Create a separation between work and personal.
Don’t get lost in the black hole of internet browsing (news/shopping/social media) You will think you have been doing it for 20 minutes, when it’s actually been over 2 hours!
Same goes for turning on TV watching (refer to comment above about “The Office” binge-watching). If you want to have the TV on as background noise– I suggest watching something neutral like a home-makeover/cooking shows.

I hope that we will all be able to return to our normal lives soon. And that includes returning to our regular work settings/routines.

Stay safe and well!