For many of us, the past few weeks have been a crash course in remote working and dealing with the challenges of managing or working with dispersed team members.
It's not just businesses that have been forced to adapt: the Prime Minister (who is now self-isolating), is now conducting cabinet meetings over video conference.
Everything outside work from Mother's Day to weddings to the weekly pub quiz have gone “virtual” using Skype, Zoom or Google Hangouts to try and maintain some form of contact with friends, family & work colleagues.
Still, when the room where you work maybe next door to the room where you sleep, and you cannot tell Sunday from Wednesday, it can still be a struggle.
Over the past weeks, we have had to embrace flexible working arrangements, and we have put our heads together to come up with a few tips based on our experience.
Establish a routine
For most driven amongst you, the idea of a defined working day is a bit of a joke – you do what needs to be done, when it needs doing, especially if there's a potential sale on the line.
In the current situation, though, it is especially important to block out all the obvious temptations and stay focused on the job in hand.
One thing that can help is establishing – and writing down – a clear routine.
- Aim to be at your desk at a set time
- Take lunch on a regular schedule
- Leave the 'office' no later than a certain hour each evening.
When you are working with other people, downtime happens naturally when you pause to make a cup of tea or help a colleague with a problem. When working at home, try putting a couple of tea breaks in your calendar. If you let your team know, they might even join you for a virtual chat!
If you manage a team, making sure there are scheduled catch-ups is also best practice. They act like anchors, reminding everyone, that life goes on and dampening anxiety before it can take hold.
Set aside space
Set aside a specific space for working and try to stick to it. It might be the kitchen table or a desk in the bedroom – that doesn't matter too much as long as it is light and comfortable.
Resist the temptation to drift to the sofa or the bed with your laptop. When you only have one space to live and work in all day, you need to keep certain parts of your home sacred so that you don't end up feeling as if you are permanently at work.
Maintain your routine. If possible, pack your work setup away each night. This is a great way to put a full stop on the day and prevent the urge to go back to your inbox after hours.
Lay down rules
One thing that's a bit different about the current work-from-home moment is that you might find yourself sharing a workspace with your partner or spouse for the first time, and with schools closed, children too!
Defined spaces and clear routines are a good start but you might also want to establish some clear rules. For example, if the door is closed, do not come in without knocking, unless you want to end up on TV.
For the sake of your own productivity and wellbeing, you might also want to impose a few rules on yourself. Avoiding TV during the working day might be sensible, for example, or using apps to block social media except at certain times.
Perhaps even dressing for the office is a great way to tell your brain to get into work mode.
Life in the cloud
A final thought: if your business is already using cloud software for accounting or any other purpose, you have an immediate advantage. Wherever you and your team members are, you have access to the same data and the same overview of what is going on, making the process of looking after your clients so much easier.
Talk to us about setting up cloud accounting for your business.