- Create a dedicated workspace. Physical boundaries help both you and family members separate work and home. If you have the luxury of a separate space, you can step into, and close the door. Otherwise, cordon off a section of the room and use headphones to indicate when you are at work and when you have a break to be available to others in the house.
- Maintain your workday routine. Go through the same process as if you were going into the office. Sticking to the routine puts you in “business mode” and reinforces that you may be at home, but today is work.
- Get dressed for work. You may have read this elsewhere and side-eyed it, but changing out of PJ’s does put us into a different, more proactive frame of mind. There is no need to dress in formal work wear. Casual comfort is fine, as long as it is appropriate for the video conference.
- Build the day around the schedule that best fits your productivity. One of the major advantages of telecommuting is that you get to set the schedule. So make sure you set the schedule that supports how you work best. Do not allow the flexibility of working from home to become a license to give your most productive times to something other than your business activities.
- Set and keep office hours. Stay on task by creating a work schedule and sticking to it the best you can. That means carving out time for breaks, for lunch, or even a walk. The more realistic the schedule, the easier it will be to abide. Do not follow your mood or allow yourself diversions. Distractions are a constant when working from home. The idea is to replicate a workday – in a setting you can better control.
- Stay closely connected to your team. More connected workers are more productive. Most work involves collaboration, and when you are not in the same physical place, you must be intentional about staying in touch. Connectivity is easier than ever with cloud computing. Stay in touch, remain responsive, remain engaged.
- Maintain a professional atmosphere. Daytime television, barking dogs, and playing children will rob you of productivity. Maintain a professional demeanor and practice. Have a filing system, observe confidentiality rules, and shred sensitive documents. If you “do the little things”, it will establish a pattern of productivity. As it has often been said – where you lack discipline, add structure.
- Log off when you are done. Working remotely does not mean that you are always at work. The line between work and personal life blurs more than ever when you work from home. At the end of the workday — log-off and “go home” even if home is just a few steps away.
- Stay active. It is all too easy to start falling out of good habits right now. If you do not have to be at the office by 9 a.m., why wake up for the 7 a.m. run? If the gym is closed, why bother working out? Because bad habits can quickly spiral out of control. Maintain your discipline by adjusting your exercise routine to the new reality. Take advantage of the access to the outdoors that you may not have while at the office.
- Make good food choices. With the abundance of shelf-stable snacks you may have stocked up on, mindless snacking is all too easy. Preparing a meal also provides a bit of a mental break and, if you are working in a full house, a fun family activity that you would rarely get to enjoy otherwise.