Working from home - tips ....

[UnCheeky Monkey]

So, who is working from home ?

Want to share some experiences and tips ?

Feel free to add ...

I'll start

1. Get dressed - eat breakfast, shower, dress and "commute" to your new normal desk / table / sofa at normal work time.

[cazyoung]

Yep done all those but our broadband is shocking 0.3MPS, set everything up in the dining room but not getting enough signal there so having to use the sofa which is not ideal but where I get best connection. Had a video conference with my co-workers earlier but it was microphone only from my end and even that was dropping in and out.

2.It has been recommended to get up and move around hourly to break up the day and to if possible check in with co-workers daily. (We spent yesterday setting up Microsoft Teams for that sole reason.)

[UnCheeky Monkey]

set everything up in the dining room but not getting enough signal there so having to use the sofa which is not ideal but where I get best connection

if its WiFi inside the house you're struggling with have you tried powerline adapters to create a wired network connected to your router instead of Wifi ?

1. Get dressed - eat breakfast, shower, dress and "commute" to your new normal desk / table / sofa at normal work time.
2. It has been recommended to get up and move around hourly to break up the day and to if possible check in with co-workers daily. (We spent yesterday setting up Microsoft Teams for that sole reason.)
3. Eat lunch. At lunchtime. Don't just graze instead.

[Stig]

Yep, we've started using Slack as department and individual project message boards to save hundreds of emails.

Top tip: if you've got a video call you only need to dress smartly above the waist, no-one will know if you're still wearing pyjama bottoms.

[Nickpicks]

Top tip: if you've got a video call you only need to dress smartly above the waist, no-one will know if you're still wearing pyjama bottoms.

Many people don't wear pyjamas!

I've been told to work from home as of tomorrow. I'm in the office today, and I think there are more people in my house!

We've set up a daily "coffee break" team conference call for everyone to check in. We mihgt drop that to every other day depending on how it goes.

I'm fortunate enough to get 100Mbps at home - are you using a dial up connection caz?

The rest of my household are in school, either as pupils (year 11 and 13, so both preparign for exams) or as a teacher (primary) so until the schools close, I am on my own at home.

[IainC]

So, who is working from home ?

Want to share some experiences and tips ?

Feel free to add ...

I'll start

1. Get dressed - eat breakfast, shower, dress and "commute" to your new normal desk / table / sofa at normal work time.

2. have a space if possible that is your 'office', dress properly (remember you may still have to facetime/skype/teams/webex/other video call your colleagues and customers so look the part)
3. Keep a regular schedule, start and finish on time and set your alarm to remind yourself to take a proper lunch break and clock out at the end of the day.
4. If you have other family members at home, have rules (and maybe a sign) for not interrupting you, office door closed 'I am on a conference call - do not disturb' door open 'please do offer to make me a cuppa :-) etc.
5. If your company IT and the quality of internet allows, use video calls, it's nice to really see your colleagues instead of just hear them, but make sure your background is presentable ;-)
6. Don't be afraid to take coffee breaks, my boss has an uncanny ability to try and call me whenever I am away for my desk, it's normal.
7. Stop and appreciate how much less of your day you waste commuting and how pleasant it feels to finish work, close your laptop and just be home as if you teleported.
8. If you work in a team and you don't usually have a daily meeting, make a short informal virtual one to replace the 'coffee machine/water cooler chat' so you still feel like you work together.
9. It's normal for kids or other family members to occasionally walk into your online meetings -> smile and say hello, don't be embarrassed.
10. Pretend there is nothing but coffee/tea in the house until lunchtime (I am terrible for snacking when working at home 'cos the fridge and biscuit cupboard is just right there)
11. Message/mail your colleagues good morning and good bye as if you were in the office

Home worker already, situation normal for me!

[IainC]

If your company is not already onto such things - slack & microsoft teams are really good tools for a team of people to work together / call / message / video call etc.

[IainC]

For the sake of your back and to avoid RSI - Get a good chair and desk (maybe your company will let you take one home? ) and setup your screen at a sensible height (I've got a £5 amazon basics laptop stand, on top of an old cardbaord box and a hardback book..) and use a real keyboard and mouse if you can instead of crunching your hands over your little portable keyboard and touch pad.

https://www.unison.org.uk/content/uploads/2013/06/On-line-Catalogue172943.pdf

[UnCheeky Monkey]

1. Get dressed - eat breakfast, shower, dress and "commute" to your new normal desk / table / sofa at normal work time.
2. It has been recommended to get up and move around hourly to break up the day and to if possible check in with co-workers daily. (We spent yesterday setting up Microsoft Teams for that sole reason.)
3. Eat lunch. At lunchtime. Don't just graze instead
2. have a space if possible that is your 'office', dress properly (remember you may still have to facetime/skype/teams/webex/other video call your colleagues and customers so look the part)
3. Keep a regular schedule, start and finish on time and set your alarm to remind yourself to take a proper lunch break and clock out at the end of the day.
4. If you have other family members at home, have rules (and maybe a sign) for not interrupting you, office door closed 'I am on a conference call - do not disturb' door open 'please do offer to make me a cuppa :-) etc.
5. If your company IT and the quality of internet allows, use video calls, it's nice to really see your colleagues instead of just hear them, but make sure your background is presentable ;-)
6. Don't be afraid to take coffee breaks, my boss has an uncanny ability to try and call me whenever I am away for my desk, it's normal.
7. Stop and appreciate how much less of your day you waste commuting and how pleasant it feels to finish work, close your laptop and just be home as if you teleported.
8. If you work in a team and you don't usually have a daily meeting, make a short informal virtual one to replace the 'coffee machine/water cooler chat' so you still feel like you work together.
9. It's normal for kids or other family members to occasionally walk into your online meetings -> smile and say hello, don't be embarrassed.
10. Pretend there is nothing but coffee/tea in the house until lunchtime (I am terrible for snacking when working at home 'cos the fridge and biscuit cupboard is just right there)
11. Message/mail your colleagues good morning and good bye as if you were in the office
12.slack & microsoft teams are really good tools for a team of people to work together / call / message / video call etc
13. For the sake of your back and to avoid RSI - Get a good chair and desk and setup your screen at a sensible height and use a real keyboard and mouse if you can instead of crunching your hands over your little portable keyboard and touch pad.

14. don't start numbered lists you will then feel obliged to maintain and collate as people add to them ...

[Chrisch]

I did a fair bit of work from home for all the time I worked as an analyst. I used the small bedroom as an office and shut myself in there as needed. One thing is annoying; all the pillocks that come to the door and try to sell you double glazing/sky tv/cavity wall insulation/god. Ignore the door bell at all costs. If you were at work you would not have known they were there or had visited. If you have postal or other deliveries you will think every door bell is something you are waiting for and be interrupted.

Nowadays there is Skype and the like so you could check out the girl in accounts virtually. I was always freelance so worked hours that suited me and only ever was available by mobile phone so I could be in my place in France and still "at work". (To be fair used to go there and then on to Barcelona for Roche client visits - dead handy). It's the distractions that are the issue, then you feel guilty and actually do more than you need to make up for the two hours you skived off. So avoid distractions - all of them.

[bottle maker]

If you have the room set up a room as your office. Only use the room for work. Leave your office space to have breaks. If you do not have the luxury of a dedicated room spent a few minutes setting up your work station at the beginning of the day, put it away at the end of the day. That way you won't be tempted to just finish something during your own time.

I wish I could work from home but not easy making bottles at home.

Graham

[Stretch_y2k]

Having worked from home for a firm for about 10 years the above is all pretty accurate and reckon you've hit all the main points. Can't think of anything further tbf.👌

Sent from my COL-L29 using Tapatalk

[Jen - Winged Blob]

I've worked from home for a number of years and the biggest disruption has been HWMBO since he retired. Followed by the dog and the cats in no particular order. Due to our house set-up I can't easily close a door on them, but have invested in some decent noise-cancelling headphones so that I can at least tune out any distractions.

I work on a large laptop and would agree with IainC that a separate keyboard (wireless) is important, along with a wireless mouse. You then have more flexibility with where you put your laptop itself and, when it's summer, you can take it outside to the garden table, placed inside a sideways-on cardboard box to shield the screen from glare, and still type away merrily in the sunshine. (Garden working was recommended by my enlightened boss.)

My work spans much of the day but is fairly fluid within that time as most of it is reactive and I deal with clients and suppliers in many different time zones. As such I don't have a strict start or end to the day, but with my smartphone set up for the company email account, I can leave my desk for varying amounts of time and still be responsive. It is difficult to switch off entirely as I'm technically self-employed, but I accept that comes with the territory and the pros outweigh the cons for me.

Being antisocial I rejoiced in switching from the busy, open-plan office of my previous job to work from home - and nearly all my current colleagues work the same way in different countries. Skype (minus audio/video) is quite sufficient for typing messages to them, thank you. It was a shame that our biennial get-together in Rome this April got cancelled, but otherwise I'm fine with the level of interaction. It seems weird to read (albeit hyped-up) articles on social media about how people will be distraught at not working together with colleagues in a real office, but it takes all sorts.

16b. Stock up with decent coffee.

[Adrian]

Discipline is everything. Start and end the day on time. If you're not organised and systematic at work, you're screwed working at home.

[cazyoung]

if its WiFi inside the house you're struggling with have you tried powerline adapters to create a wired network connected to your router instead of Wifi ?

OH who is much more clued up on this internet and computing malarky told me broadband was 0.3MPS earlier today. We live in a rural situation and broadband has always been iffy. A company has laid optical broadband cables everywhere round here but the cost of connection was way too high, us and next door approached them to try to work out a deal where we dug the trench from the road to each house so all they had to do was but the cables into the trench(es) and connect us but next door decided it was still to expensive and pulled out we were happy to pay. They are the ones with the mini-digger and they own the drive over which we have a right of way so we are effectively unable to up-grade.