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Surprise! You’re Working from Home: 7 Tips to Make the Transition

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Many professionals are learning that their jobs can be done from home right now. This is likely a position you may have dreamed about but never thought possible. This is certainly a position you never thought you’d be in. Here are some tips from a work-from-home veteran of nearly a decade:

  1. Make sure you have everything you need to do your job. Sit down and make a list of everything that you need to do your job and make sure you have all of it squared away before you leave the building on your last day on site. 
  2. Have your own workspace. This can be a TV tray or a particular corner of your dining room table. The important thing is for this space to be used only for work. This helps your mind get into work mode and back out when the day is through. Ideally, this workspace will be closed off from the rest of the house, but that is not always possible. If you can work with music, play some to help drown out the noise from the rest of the house.
  3. Set down ground rules. If you are sharing your house with children or a spouse, set down rules for when they are allowed to interrupt you or make a lot of noise. If you have a door, make a sign to hang on the doorknob for when you are available. Young children may need frequent reminders of the rules.
  4. Keep to a routine. It’ll be hard to keep up the discipline outside of the office, but try to work at around the same time every day with regular breaks. Have a ritual for the start of the workday and the end of the workday. Since you no longer have the commute to help you get in and out of the work mindset, it is important to have something else to help you get in and out of it.
  5. Stay in regular contact with your superiors. This is something that admittedly this veteran still struggles with, but remember your superiors are new to this as well, and they are just as anxious as you are. It’ll help your superior to know that you are on task, and it will help you to know what tasks to prioritize.
  6. Take care of yourself. When you work from home, it is easy to let your work eat up all of your time and energy at home. Make sure that your work still stays at work. Do whatever you need to do to help with anxiety levels.
  7. Be patient with yourself and others. This is a huge adjustment for everyone. It will take time for everyone to get into the new normal.

By Bethanie Ryan