Due to the Corona Crisis, many are probably working from home for the first time. In the beginning, the change is not easy, and it takes some time until you can work just as productively as from the office. At transeuro, many employees have been working remotely for quite some time. Based on our experience, we have compiled some advice for home office newcomers.

Have a fixed workplace

When thinking of working from home, many may think of someone lying on the bed or sofa with a laptop. We would advise against this work style. It is important to have a fixed workplace that is only used for work. If you work in your bed, on the one hand, you might find it harder to concentrate because your body switches into relax mode, and on the other hand, such a work style can mess with your sleep cycle, as the place in your home that was originally intended for rest and recovery now becomes a place of activity.

Ideally, you have a separate room just for work. If that is not possible, you can try to separate your working area with partitions or something similar.

Consider an investment in office furniture 

If you usually don’t do a lot of office work at home, you may not have the appropriate office equipment in your house. Whether an investment in good office furniture is worthwhile depends on how long you work in your home office. If you still can (and want to) work from home after the Corona Crisis, an investment in a good desk and a good chair is money spent wisely. Think about that you spend up to 8 hours a day or more sitting in this chair.

 Stick to a regular daily routine

When working from home, some people fall into a cycle of getting up late and working until late at night if the company does not have fixed working hours. The ideal time for waking up and going to bed is different from person to person, but if possible you should get up at the same time, start work at the same time, have lunch at the same time and finish work at the same time every day. Like this, you can maintain a daily routine, which is important for a healthy mind and a productive work style. If you do not live alone, you should share your work schedule with your roommates so that you can work undisturbed.

Make a schedule

There is much more distraction when working from home than in the office. Therefore, it can be difficult to devote yourself to your daily tasks as usual. A nice way is to organize your tasks in a daily and/or weekly schedule that defines which tasks you want to do at what time. However, do not fill it up to the brim. Sometimes new tasks come up spontaneously or you need more time to finish a task as you expected. Some empty slots in your schedule help you deal with such irregularities without stressing out too much. 

Take breaks regularly

In the office you maybe used to go to the kitchen regularly to get coffee, but at home you may quickly forget to take breaks. But breaks are important to maintain concentration and keep the body moving.

During breaks you should stand up and leave the workplace. If it is still possible where you live, a short walk around the block is a nice way to keep in motion. If you can’t leave the house there are many stretching and loosening exercises that you can do at home to loosen up stiff muscles.

I hope we were able to help some home office newbies with this article. Don’t stress out if at the beginning things don’t go as planned. It takes a while to get used to the new work environment.

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