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Working from home. What was once scoffed at by HR teams has now become the norm for loads of companies and employees (myself included). Don’t get me wrong it’s a dream but like everything it is easy for this to fall off the face of the earth. As such every employee needs their own rules to follow when working from home.
One of the things I know I struggle with is just a lack of direction when working from home. As such, I created 15 rules to follow which really helped navigate my working from home experience.
So let’s explore the rules and see how they can help:
(Just a heads up a lot of people reading my blog are in the process of designing their own home office. If you want to save some of the painstaking time I did in designing my office, you can find my recommended products here)
Get dressed in the morning
Easily the best thing you can do when working from home is simply to get out of your pyjamas and whack on your office clothes.
Most work from home policies in the legal and financial sectors will need you to dress up in business casual for your meetings but by going one step further and getting ready for the day you set up your mindset to focus on the tasks at hand for the day.
I mean have you ever had those days where you dreaded getting out of bed when your alarm went off but a few hours later realised that it was no big deal? The same goes with getting dressed as it should speed up the process.
So what are the benefits of dressing up smart for work:
|
Benefit |
Why |
| The science says so | According to a study by Lefkowitz, Blake, and Mouton (1955) people who dressed in a suit were less likely to get pulled over by the police. Cognitive bias is a real thing. |
| It promotes self respect | It sounds silly but by dressing nicely it shows you have self respect for your appearance. As discussed above appearances matter so on a subconscious level it will show your colleagues you are serious about what it is that you do |
| It helps build habits | If you get dressed every morning you’re setting up the habits you need to succeed. Anyone who has read 12 rules for life, knows how important habits are when it comes to success so it’s a great way to start the day off right. |
| It’s fun | I think anyone no matter their age still gets a sense of pride in getting changed for work. It’s almost like your adulting and gives me a sense of purpose |
Set up a home office
Having a dedicated workspace is super important and I think is one of the biggest reasons I’m more productive at home than I am when in the office.
Now I appreciate that not everyone has the ability to set up an entire room for their own office so consider looking at things like cloak rooms or cupboards and consider converting them into standing desks. The aim of the game is to just have a space that is free from distraction where you can hammer out what you need to be super vital.
The good news? You’re reading a blog dedicated to home office and remote working so you can have a look at my recommended gear page here
Get up at the same time every day
Another extremely important rule that helped me was getting up at the same time every single day. Apparently Apple CEO Tim Cook gets up at 5am every single day, this goes for a number of other CEOs who all view getting up early as one of the reasons for their success.
The thinking behind this is that most people get up after 6 so having an hour free to yourself without distraction is super important.
Whilst none of us need to get into fortune 500 mode of waking up early to achieve what we want. Getting up at set time every day has helped me get out of any ruts I’ve had when working from home.
The way this works is by getting up at the same time as I would during an office day and using the time on my commute to focus on my own goals and being present.
Definitely give it a go and you’ll be surprised at the results.
Take time for yourself
One of the problems we mentioned earlier that people tend to have is that they don’t know when to stop working and typically go above and beyond to prove to their bosses that they are getting the job done.
This will only lead you to needing to take time off or suffering significant burnout.
Instead be sure to take time for yourself and take regular breaks. The pomodoro technique is a great way to fit in a regular break but for my money at the end of every two hours it takes 30 minutes for yourself.
I know what you’re thinking 30 minutes? That’s too much but bare with me. Most people who work remotely work overage 16.9 days more than their office based counterparts. At the end of the day make sure you work to live not the other way round and be sure to enjoy some of the finer things in life.
Go out for a run
I’m shocking no one when I say that exercising is good for your health!
Trust me when working from home it’s so easy to just stay cooked, staring at your screen and going to bed looking like a racoon. By getting out and exercising ( run, walk cross fit I won’t judge you) you’re almost restarting your brain. I mean have you ever gone for a walk to clear your mind and come back with a host of new ideas? I know I have and working out is part of the reasons why.
Aim to do about 1 hour of moderate exercise every day. Don’t get me wrong the first few weeks will be tough but after a bit of time you will reap the benefits.
Now if you’re interested in finding out more about how many breaks you should take when working remotely, I’ve written a post about it here.
Improve your diet
Okay this rule is something I’m very much breaking but I’m trying.
Diet is such an important component as eating the right food will allow you to focus more. Anyone who’s ever had junk food for lunch knows the 3pm crash is a real thing.
On top of this, by working from home you’re surrounded by nothing but food so it’s very easy to get up and make your way to your pantry.
One of things that I’ve recently implemented is using MyFitnessPal to help control the amount of calories going in and whaddayaknow turns out I’m eating a lot more than I need!
Speak to your colleagues every day
Another golden rule.
Amy one who has worked from home for any significant period of time knows that there will come a point when you actually starting missing your colleagues ( even the annoying ones)
Human beings are social creatures and FOMO is a real thing, especially if you are the only one working remotely whilst the rest of your colleagues are back in the office.
Make a rule to call up or have a video call with at least one member of your team every day.
Even if it’s just for 5 minutes you will notice a world of change and definitely feel like a part of a wider team.
Stay away from TV
Anyone who knows me knows how much I love tv and movies. My idea of a great Friday night is cozying up on the couch watching anything marvel related ( don’t worry no spoilers here)
That being said there is most definitely a time and a place when it comes to watching stuff. Remember those breaks I talked about earlier? Make sure you don’t spend them watching TV, you might end up finding that they run on a little bit longer then you might have anticipated. The same goes for looking at your phone, Answering work calls and messages is fine but Facebook and Instagram are a big no-no.
Instead use your breaks for more productive things and keep the binging to after your work day is done.
Do your most important tasks first
Eat that frog.
Not only is it a great book by Brian Tracy, I think it’s almost essential to anyone who works from home.
The general idea is to do the most important task on your to do list first. As human beings our brains love to go for the path of least resistance doing only what comes easiest for us.
I’m a firm believer that we have more willpower in the morning so by doing what you know you have to in the first few hours, sets yourself up for success to crack on with the rest of the day,
Set Regular hours
So we’ve mentioned this a few times but when working from home you have such a tendency to just work till the end of the day.
I ran a little experiment of my own last week and found that the days I worked from home my lunch breaks were almost always shorter and my days were longer by about 30 minutes, so even though I was saving time on my commute this was almost being neutralised by the extra work.
The main reason I think we do this is just over compensating, we don’t want to let our managers down or the privilege of working from home to be taken away hence why we almost go the opposite direction and not give ourselves any wiggle room.
My rule is that I set specific work hours and finish at the exact same time as I would when I’m at work, regardless of whether the task is completed or not.
Just remember there will always be work that needs to be done,, so doing it all in one day vs a few the difference is exactly the same.
Separate work from home
Another rule I learned pretty early on was to separate my work life from my home life.
For example although it might be tempting to do the washing up or vacuum the whole house, build these rules into your work day. In my opinion without having any structure these things will just fly by the wayside if you try to wing them.
So if you need to pop to the store, clean the house or just hang out with the kids, plan these into the day, you’re no use to anyone if your minds focus on a few different things at the same time.
Stop visitors from coming to your home
This is more an expansion on the rule above. Although socializing when you work from home is important you don’t want it to be free for all and have your friends and family around at any opportunity, try as you might you will get distracted if they are around everyday so once again schedule a time that works and stick to a certain time limit.
For example,30 minutes at your moms house per day only during your lunch break might be a good place to start
Track your work hours
In my opinion this step is vital if you work from home… especially if you are a shift worker.
You see salaried employees and hourly employees have different tax rules and if you work for a set number of hours per week, but go over them when working remotely make sure you inform your manager or fill them into whatever clocking in platform you use.
You could potentially be working for free if not and deserve to be rewarded for the hard work you put in.
Now if you are not an hourly worker but instead work off a salary, it’s important to keep track of your hours nonetheless.
One of the great ways you can track your productivity is by working out your hours worked vs tasks accomplished and for the analytical amongst you, you will have a goldmine of information in here.
Multi-task when you need to
So this might seem contradictory compared with the separate work from home rule we talked about but some degree of multi tasking is inevitable.
So how do we manage this? Well the rule I like to use is the 2:1 rule.
This is basically for every 2 work tasks I’m working on I can only allow myself to do one more. So let’s say I’m drafting an email whilst in a meeting with a colleague. I can only allow myself to do one more task before I refuse to do any more projects.
This will ensure that at any one given time I am doing only 3 activities and no more, freeing up my brainspace.
Now ideally you don’t want to do any more then one task but in case you ever get yourself in this situation, I have found it to be useful
Journal every day
I cannot say this enough but journaling every day is easily one of the most important things you can do every day. Not only will you be able to reflect on the day gone by and if you have met your goals, you will be able to see where the weak spots are.
To start off simply by a calendar or notepad and write down three things you want to achieve on your work from home days and at the end of the day reflect if these have been completed.
Accountability is important and having things written down in black or white will definitely give you the poush you might need when working from home.
Why you need rules when working from home
Working from home, remote working or just getting a day away from the office.
Sounds like a dream right? I mean you get all of the perks without any of the drawbacks, no commutes, the ability to get a full 8 hours of sleep all in the comfort of your own home.
The reality of the matter from someone who has been doing this for about 2 years is although you will be productive it’s very easy to fall into a rut when working from home and you can end up enduring the following problems:
- Time management begins to become an issue
- The days seem to blend together
- You get FOMO
- Your unable to stop working
- You end up with a breakdown in communication
To help explain more I’ve put these in an infographic:
By setting yourself rules and sticking to them you’re going to ensure that you get the most out of your time at home without having any of the nasty drawbacks.
Which work from home rules are the best?
Great question, whilst all these rules are super important an can really help you avoiding some of the problems associated with working from home, in my opinion of the list these are the top rules you should follow:
- Journal everyday – not enough people reflect on what they do and this is a vital step for anyone who wants to improve what they are doing
- Set up a home office – having a designated workspace is half the battle when it comes to getting your projects completed
- Speak to a colleague every day – we are in the midst of a mental health crises so be proactive and make sure you get some for of social interaction
- Set regular hours – again, it’s easy to fall into a rut so setting regular hours will ensure you are productive irregardless of the work you have on.
I would also add for any shift workers to keep track of their hours as this could be real money that you end up losing
How to stick to work from home rules
Again another great point, these rules are all well and good but how can you make sure you stick to them?
In my opinion the following can work:
- Create SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and timely goals) for your work from home days and reflect on them
- Ensure you are journaling every day to pick put you weak spots and which of these rules you are struggling with
- Get your friends involved to hold you responsible – a video call and a quick chat can keep you going a long way to making sure you are staying on top of this.
Are there any work from home rules to avoid?
In my opinion the only work from home rules you should avoid are the rules that directly get in the way of you being productive.
I mean let’s face it, rules that might be productive to me might not work for you. The best way to figure out what rules to avoid would just be to test, test and test again.
You want to try and figure out what works for you and adjust accordingly.
So hopefully that’s helped with setting up some rules when working from home. What about you, what rules do you tend to work for?
Finally a lot of people reading my blog want to know what products I recommend for a home office/remote working. You can find out my recommendations here and learn how I make money whilst working remotely on the side here.
Leave a comment in the usual place and let me know!
Fehed.
The content on this on this site has been written by Fehed Nicass who has over a decades worth of experience in sales and has worked remotely for the past 2 years.
