With the coronavirus pandemic, many companies including Made In Scotland, have made the decision to begin working from home effectively. Many companies have been working from home for a long time, but for the large majority of us, this has become a “switch over” and we are now adapting to new working rules. So, how do you effectively work from home?

Prepare a work place.

As great as it sounds to open your eyes, switch on your laptop and not have to move from the bed, it is highly beneficial to create a working environment. Sit at the table, if you can move near the window to access daylight. Clear the space around you, take away all distractions – phone, tablet, book – this is for after work.

Set working hours and stick to them.

You start the computer, check your e-mails and then proceed go wash the dishes or clean the bathroom. Sound familiar? Remember that work from home is indeed work. Despite not being around colleagues who can check if you are sitting at your desk, the duties you have to fulfil must be completed as normal.

Set your working hours with your team or manager, and if you need to change this on a specific day then treat this no differently than taking time out of work. Hours can be made up on other days and holidays can be requested.

Create a list of the most urgent tasks and those which require the most attention and time from you. You will feel a surge of power as you complete this one by one, without having a sense of lost time. However, remember about to take breaks. Just because you work remotely doesn’t mean you don’t have the right to rest!

Don’t waste time.

If you find it difficult to organise yourself and you are easily distracted, you can implement several time management techniques. One popular method is working for 25 minutes, focusing completely on the task at hand and then taking a five-minute break.

Of course, if the task you are carrying out takes more than 25 minutes – divide the task into smaller units. After completing each part – remove it from your list.

Reduce distractions.

Social media are huge time wasters. You can find yourself refreshing Facebook and Twitter every five minutes to see what has changed since your last visit. They distract you from your concentration.

Before attempting to combat this, count how much time you spend each day on each page. You can use the Google Chrome Web Tracker app for this. You are likely to be surprised by the results.

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