We’re sort of confined to our homes. Some of you lucky people (we’re not jealous at all) are getting two weeks off of work. The rest of us are still working, we’re just doing it on our dining room table instead of in our colorful cubicles. The bazaar office is currently scattered all over Kuwait with little pockets of productivity and we think we have some tips to help you on your way if this is your first work from home rodeo.
Brush your teeth
It might seem like a no-brainer, but it can be easy to forget about personal hygiene when you are sure you won’t meet anyone you know. We don’t want to sound like your mom but just because no one can smell your bad breath, that doesn’t mean you can skip it. Cleanse your face, moisturize and sing Happy Birthday while you wash your hands. Twice. You could even sing Mambo No 5. Fix your hair. Get ready as you normally would.
Set up your space
No your bed doesn’t count. You probably won’t get any work done, but it will also probably mess up with your sleep habits. The couch doesn’t work. It is going to be really hard to not reach for the remote and watch Netflix. Next to the fridge is a bad idea. If you have a home office then you are already halfway there. If you don’t then sit at the dining table. Make sure you are comfortable. Now might be a good time to even try a standing desk. Experiment until you find something that works for you.
Mise En Place
If you are working remotely, then you probably can get everything done from your laptop. But also make sure your charger is accessible, your phone is close by if you need it and there are pens and paper where you can grab them. The less you need to get up and look for stuff, the more likely you are to get work done.
Grab Your Tools
You already use email and some form of Instant Messaging service, but if this is the first time your office is attempting to work from home then you might need some extra help. We love using Trello for organizing our projects. The software allows us to collaborate on different things, track our progress, upload files and so much more. Slack is our go-to for communication. Not only can we talk privately to team members we can also create specific channels for different topics with only the relevant members. It might take a while to get everything running smoothly but it is absolutely worth it. Need to share files? Google Drive and WeTransfer are great tools. There’s a tool or app for almost everything you need to do.
Be on time
Just because your boss can’t see you, isn’t an excuse for slacking off. Sorry to burst that bubble. You can get away with working in your pajamas but you really should get to it. If everyone’s working at the same time it makes things easier. You can all communicate during the day then you can all log off at the end of the workday and enjoy the rest of your evening. Don’t let work time bleed into your life either.
Be patient
With yourself and others. Somethings will work right away and others might need some tweaking. Your process and workflow might need some refinement before everything is fully up and running. If you do hit a snag, breathe and figure out how to deal with it or work around it.
Take breaks
Get up and walk around or do some jumping jacks. In an office environment, we have to get up and go to meetings or grab something from the office two doors down. But at home you might forget to do that, so set a timer to get up and move every hour at least.
Photo by Christin Hume on Unsplash.
