What is your #1 tip for working remotely?

[Move Work Forward]

- I work in 90 minutes chunks with breaks, works like a charm. 4 chunks per day is a pretty good achievement ;) Do you best to not schedule meetings in those chunks or have 1 chunk of meetings.

- Install a site blocker and block all news, social media sites, etc.

- Buy Bose headphones or similar to isolate from the noise

- Try my Spotify list - https://open.spotify.com/playlist/53xR2ZYYno3eNfOU6pgL6p?si=tzK0NGoBQNeQ2TBPiZe23g

- Dress like you go to the office or similar

- Hit the gym daily || go for a walk || do some sport || 🚴‍♀️|| 🏒|| 🏃‍♂️ (I also hit the sauna daily)

[John Funk]

The biggest recommendation I can make is to set boundaries! I found myself actually working much more than normal simply because it was so convenient. I would pass by my makeshift work area or study and think, "I can send a quick email." Or "Let me just quickly check my email." Then a couple of hours later I am still sitting there.

Almost all of us have more work than we can do. We simply stop for the day and start again tomorrow. Give yourself a break and don't try to conquer the world just because the world has come into your home.  :-)

[Sumedha V]

Stick to a routine that includes breaks and lets you sleep on time.

I have been a freelancer for quite sometime now. So #covidquarantine lifestyle isn't something new to me. I went through this struggle when I first quit my job.

It was hard for me to find a work-life balance initially as I worked when I felt like it, worked all night long sometimes to meet deadlines and overworked myself to the extent of forgetting to eat!

It took me about 20 days to learn and organise my work-from-home life. I have come to realise that those who work in creative fields cannot do productive work for more than 6 hours in a day. Yes, you may be trying to focus and generate ideas, but your brain cannot work without rejuvenation. So get adequate sleep and when you need it, give yourself a break.

If you work keeps you glued to the screen, consider giving even your eyes a break. Meditate, leave your seat and walk a few steps, stretch your limbs, go out to your balcony or window and get some fresh air. If you need longer breaks, read a few pages of that book you always wanted to read. Or paint for a bit. Twirk or twirl. Sing with no shame. Cook away. Do whatever you need to keep you same!

It's important to stick to a time table. One that includes necessary breaks and sleep cycles.

[Bridget]

SO true! Great tips. Especially sing with no shame ;).

[Jodi LeBlanc]

I think the biggest tip I learned is there is no "one size fits all" approach, you need to try working remotely, and find out what helps you get the most out of your day. Having daily routines established makes a difference, I recently wrote a post on tips and tricks I learned the last five years of working remotely: https://community.atlassian.com/t5/Off-topic-articles/Tips-and-Tricks-for-Teleworking-and-Remote-Virtual-Teams/ba-p/1327674

[Mohamad Alhajj - Infosysta]

Hope you're all safe 🙏

Working remotely from home can be something beneficial, you'll start focusing on what's matter especially if you have a team, here are my tips:

• Wakeup in the morning early, a 2h before work would be great
• Do some Yoga practices, meditation or any type of sport you like
• Have a cup of herbal tea, or if you're like me have a mix between lemon juice and honey to detox your body
• Sit on your desk and start planning your day as a first step, check overdue tasks and list what can be done through the day, you can benefit from Todoist or Trello
• If you're a Team leader, share a motivational morning video to your team through slack
• Make sure to have an area where you can focus
• Take small breaks to recharge 
• Update your Jira or Trello board so often
• Listen to music, if you're like me you might be listening to music usually used in SPA
• Enroll in online courses, as this is the time to learn what you was looking for but you couldn't have time previously 
• Have time with your family if you're with them or call them over WhatsApp 
• Have time to read books left on the shelf for years 🤣

And mostly be kind to yourself and stay safe with your beloved 

[Bridget]

WOW! This post could be an article in and of itself. Great tips :) What book did you pick up from your shelf? 

[Mohamad Alhajj - Infosysta]

Thank you, I'm currently reading Emotions & Relationships by Sadhguru

[alpcarrilho]

This is how we set up to have a completely remote team: https://medium.com/@alpcarrilho/scrum-in-time-of-lockdown-148fb06c412b

[Sonya Vasileva]

As the quarantine caught me really unprepared, I wasn't able to go back home and be with my family, thus I am forced to stay in the city I work in. 
The thought of being home alone for so long is really disturbing and I decided to make sure I don't lose the positive vibe.
That's why I follow some of my own rules:

1. Wake up on time 

2. Follow my daily routine as if I would be going to the office: make my bed; take a shower, choose proper clothes (after all we do video calls with our colleagues and clients :) )

3. Prepare breakfast and get coffee 

4. I've set up a small work corner for myself which kind of gives me the feeling of being really at work 

5. I make sure I never skip lunch, even though now I have to cook more than usual 

6. Don't stay and work till late. We all have to "leave" the office 

7.  Workout at home: same days & hour according to my usual schedule 

In a nutshell, I try to do all the things I used to do, but without going out. 

Sometimes I put my dancing shoes and I practice my tango technique with the chair or the fridge.  

All this helps me cope with the situation, but my most sincere wish is for all of us to get back to our daily routines. 

[Simon_Boddy]

day 4 of working from home so I don't have a huge amount of tips as an experienced pro in this space.

I will say I am really please with my desk location. next to an eastern window so plenty of good light, fresh air and no issue of the hotter afternoon sun. I have a chorus of birds singing as well as the rustle of bamboo close by. This connection to nature and my immediate green environment is doing wonders for my mental health.

So my tip is keep connected with nature, have a view of your trees from your home office, where ever that is in your house.

[All About Home-making]

The best "tip" or, let's just say..."life-learning" I can share about work from home, is to START EARLY. And let me be clear, when I say this. This is something that's come up as a bit of a challenge to me more than I would imagine, since the day I started my wfh. I began in January 2016 as a wfh-mom, then mother of a very active and playful young boy of 4 years. Little did I know that 7 years later, he would be accompanied by my second baby boy, now 9 months old. Trust me when I say, rearing 2 boys and working from home is no joke. And the only thing that works to keep the peace in this house is..."starting early at whatever I plan doing". The day I'm unable to do that (and that happensvery often ;-p), I just keep the morale going high, trying to positive talk myself good enough to boost up my own morale and keep saying all the good things to myself every second...non-stop  that I want to hear...just in return of me being active enough to complete my targets or meet my work expectations. This really works folks ! So please try it. And let me know how it felt.

[Naimish Shah]

I think, Sometimes WFH is better for us and our family also. In normal life, we are able to give less time to our family,  So first by WFH we can give out some time to our family(By eating together, Chat/Discussion with family about some new-old, etc). Second we can eat home made food, which we generally don't eat at office. Third you can take a short break whenever you want to be fresh from work.  Fourth if you have your private room you can give more focus on your work. Fifth you don't need to travel for work when you do WFH. Also, you can do work freely at home rather than office.

[Robert_Dibley]

The biggest thing I've found that helps me work from home is to treat it like you are still "going to work" 

You need to think like you are in the office, and not in the spare bedroom. 

So, you don't just walk off to watch some TV program, or start drinking beer at your desk, and you do ask your manager if it's ok to take time out if you need it.  After all you are "at work" so you should ask.

(15 years of working at home, so this all seems completely normal to me)

[rafaelsorto]

My #1 tip is to use an always online tool like sneek to keep connected with your coworkers and feel that you are all in this together!

Communication is key and to me it is the most important thing when working remotely!

Stay safe everyone! 

[derek.tse]

Typically in a work remote situation, we will be on video call or conference call a lot... so it helps to have a quiet environment, and a white background

If you are not usually a remote worker, but occasionally work from home for whatever reason, then it is good to manage the optics. As a manager, when my team ask to work from home for personal reason, I generally agree to it, however, if I send them an email or a chat, and I don't hear back for hours, I can't help but wonder if they are working. To be fair, I would not feel the same way if the person is sitting at the office and I can see them, so it is just human nature

So the tip is if you are an occasional work at home person, be on top of your communications

[J Sundra]

During WFH my MI Band says I walked less steps. Adopt self-help, move around. Stretching exercises MUST. Avoid multitasking... do that onething at hand with focus.. Tc

[vcpablo]

I have written an article with 5 tips for those who are starting to work remotely. Take a look:

https://link.medium.com/YeF3V7XXj5

[Valerie Palmer]

My #1 tip is to make sure the Turn off my video when joining meeting box is checked!  With being on call at times I've seen people in ways that I'll never forget.  

[Bridget]

LOL

[Tsegaw Biyazin]

Hi guys!!! I am newcomer to this group members. first I would like to express  ma deep interest. 

As we know all of us stay home our number one priority to control the recent curde pandemic disease. After say this my working remotely experience is help me to see my self, to heard my internal feeling, to understand to give more value of time, to repent  for the past mistake and to stretch mine hand to Lord.

Even though it is very difficult to pass our time through stay at home  but we can perform work equivalent to field work.

With best regards

Tsegaw

[alihassan mian soomro]

Hi 

Everyone!

l am suggesting you to shedulize your work and be punchual don't keep volatile your time.

Sincerely

Ali Hassan Soomro

[Antonia V.]

My biggest tip, which may be obvious to many of you but wasn't for me, is to work upright sitting in a chair, as opposed to leaning back in an armchair or laying on a couch. My productivity seems to increase tenfold when I'm upright, and my back/neck doesn't hurt so much!

[Naeem Sheikh]

At 68, my feelings are also getting digitalized so my aging has reversed! 

[Faith Nduta]

My number one tip for working at home is to  stick to a schedule consistently.

for instance in my new work from home schedule, I work everyday from 8 am to 12 noon and after that I give myself a 2/3hour break and then start my work out at around 3pm for about an hour, and then I prepare my dinner and may be work a bit more in the evening.

And if you look at my schedule I have made a realistic plan that works for me dependent on my when my concertration span is at the highest, and factored in interruptions plus I have left time for meals and exercise which is equally important in making sure that you can work from home.

And it all starts with a plan, so sit down and make one. You won't always stick to it, but it gives you a sense of stability in such uncertain times! 

[Shirish S Garud]

Be honest to yourself and be committed to work. Start day with office day schedule and plan as much as possible. 

[Dinesh Purohit]

My #1 tip of work from home is login in time and logoff in time. Spend quality time with family and take out some time for yourself also. 

This will help you to refesh you and also your family members.

I don't believe in keeping pets at home or spending time with them.

One more thing I want to share is doing yoga , this will help you to be fit.

[Abdul_Waheed_Khan]

I think if we work from home during lockdown due to pendamic corona Virus,we can achieve much benifit and can earn also.

[Chand_Farabi]

Guide me

[Vas V]

I LOVE wfh. I just don't want the virus to stick around but I could easily continue wfh. Why I love it?

1.  More time to exercise. First thing I do my yoga and meditation. Eat my healthy breakfast without a rush. Love my new coffee machine. Don't have to spend money on take away coffee. 

2. I dress up decent and comfortable (no work clothes). Save on makeup. Actually put on a hydrating face mask. So nice skin :)

3. Work is actually more productive and I connect with the team through MS Teams or Skype in fact, more than I used to face to face. Love the Microsoft O365 (Sorry Atlassian, but I do), what a wonderful way to stay connected and to work with. I love technology and adapt well, so this works well for me. (Secret, I actually do my weights when listening to everyone speak at the team meetings (no video)) 

4. When I finish work, straight to my garden to start planting, growing or to my sewing machine to make dresses or to the canvas to paint. No time wasted in traffic travel. So much me time.

5. Last and best, I get to enjoy the biggest expense or investment to which most of my pay goes, my home, bright and sunny. For most people mortgage is one of the biggest expenses and yet they stay at home the least. For me, my home, family, and health are the most important things and that is where I can easily focus now without wasting time. In any case, I was connecting with my friends via social media or messages so that hasn't changed. 

Also, I am doing 2 courses online at the same time. Sorry, this is too long, if someone is not enjoying at the moment, my suggestion is to take some time to meditate that will put a new perspective to your feelings.

[Mohamad Alhajj - Infosysta]

I went through the whole comment, I totally agree with you especially for the point related to Yoga and meditation in addition to planting in the garden, its more like an opportunity to explore ourselves and enjoy our simple life than a quarantine 🙏

[Vas V]

Thank you, Mohamad for replying. 😊

[Monique vdB]

@Vas V I also love working from home, typically! But working from home during this time, when my partner and child are also home, is somewhat trickier.  But I love skipping the commute and the dressing up, being able to really focus, and having time to work out in the morning. 

[Vas V]

@Monique vdB  Definitely agree would be hard with kids in the house as well especially if they are too small.