Tips for Working From Home

This is long overdue, but with how things are going with COVID it looks like we might as well get comfy doing remote work for a while. This will have a bias towards engineering as burnout is real in this industry and I think a lot of us have felt the effects of it. Here’s some tips I’ll go over that helped me personally out working from home.

Reference: https://www.aarp.org/work/job-search/info-2021/work-from-home-jobs-no-degree.html

Act Like You’re Headed Into the Office the Next Day

This is a bit long winded, but the gist of this is to find a way to pack up all work materials at the end of the work day. I personally put all my stuff into a backpack that I used to carry into the office to keep the cycle continuing as if I was heading in. This helps a lot because leaving the office usually signals the end of the day for many of us. However, without the “act” of leaving the office anymore I simulate it by doing this. This is just as simple as putting everything in a bag/away like you would and go on with your day without the commute.

The reason for doing this is to prevent working too many hours. I think a lot of us slowly became workaholics early on in the pandemic due to lack of disconnect we could get from work when it’s just right in our room. Which brings me into my next point.

Separate Some Area For Work

Now a lot of us don’t have some sick private office that we can close off in a home to separate from work. However, I would say if you can find a spot to place everything down on or an area that can be easily cleaned up that is the best you can do. This essentially will mimic some sort of work environment that you can disassociate from the rest of the place. This could even be as simple as a spot at the kitchen table or a corner of a desk or even a area on the floor if you’re about that.

The reason this helps is to lockdown where you’re working so you can separate yourself from these areas throughout the day. The need for a coffee break/other breaks is necessary. Also locking down to an area will allow you to not bring work everywhere else in the place which simplifies life by tenfold.

I only got two tips I’d like to share, most are covered elsewhere. Thanks for the read!