Reem Gaafar

For many people, working from home can be a completely new and unfamiliar experience. For some, it may not have even seemed possible. But thanks to modern technology, here we are: operating our office computers remotely and holding virtual meetings with relative ease. It even makes you wonder why employers always insisted we come to the office every day!

But judging from the wide range of memes, complaints, and jokes on my timeline, some people need help to get through this experience. So here are my 10 tips to make this transition a little easier and more productive.

Tip #1: Find a comfortable place to work

And by comfortable, I mean not your bed or couch. In fact, stay as far away from those as possible. Unless you already have a home office, your best bet is the dining room table. You need to be sitting upright in a comfortable chair, in a well-lit and aired place, near an electric outlet and in close proximity to your Wi-Fi. Slouching in bed or on the couch is bad for posture, and from experience, you will be fast asleep in the first 5 minutes of your ‘workday’.

Tip #2: Get up early and get moving

Set your alarm, get out of bed, shower, get dressed and eat your breakfast. Then, ‘go to work’ at your dining table/home office, starting with those tasks that are more complicated or need the most concentration. Not only does starting early boost productivity, but it also gives you ample time to accomplish as much as you can while the day is still young. And unlike when you’re stuck at the office with fixed working hours, the earlier you start at home the earlier you can ‘punch-out’. Unless your boss is being annoying and schedules a meeting an hour before your day is supposed to end.

Tip #3: Write everything down

Plan your tasks for the day and write them all down in front of you. This may sound obvious, but its actually quite difficult to track your tasks when in the unfamiliar and distracting environment of your home. There are so many other things to do that just completing one simple task could take hours. Instead of spending an hour drafting an outline for your quarterly report, you’ll keep on straying from browser tab to browser tab, until you’re watching cats-singing-happy-birthday video compilations for 3 hours.

Tip #4: Turn off your notifications

Sign out of all social media accounts and turn your WhatsApp notifications off (especially those annoying family groups with 800 members all posting about COVID-19 being treated with red tea or mango juice). Remember that you are at work, not chillaxing at home. You are not freely accessible, you are not (I hope) lounging around in your pajamas staring at your phone. Do not go down that social media rabbit-hole. See tip #3 above.

Tip #5: Keep the kitchen door closed!

Honestly, this should be tip #1. There’s always something to do in there that is suddenly urgent and promises not to take more than a minute of your time. You need to take the chicken out for lunch, you need to put the kettle on for another cup of tea, another snack from the fridge, unload or load the dishwasher, check the water in the plant vase, just another quick load of laundry… and it goes on and on. If your home has an open kitchen then either work in another room, work with your back to the kitchen, or give up and get ready to shop for clothes 2 sizes bigger when the quarantine is over.

Tip #6: Divide your time wisely

Go through the list of tasks you made and divide the large tasks into smaller, more achievable ones, ticking them off when completed. When possible, work around your kids’ sleep schedule. Alternatively, swap working-times with your partner so that one is watching the kids and the other is working. If there are no kids in the household then lucky you! Endless, uninterrupted silence! And I say that with just the tiniest bit of envy.

Tip #7: Use the Pomodoro Method

Of all the methods I have used to boost writing or concentration, this has proven to be the best. It is a deceivingly simple time-division method where you set your timer for 25 minutes, work like crazy, then take a 5-10 minute break, then do it again. Every 3 or 4 cycles you stop and take a longer 20-30 minute break, preferably going out for a walk, then come back and start over again.

Tip #8: Connect with other people

Even when we’re not in the middle of an apocalyptic-killer-virus-era, working from home and being isolated from everyone and everything can be pretty depressing. It’s important to stay connected to other people and maintain a sense of normalcy. Take virtual coffee breaks with your office-mates. Keep the office grape-vine alive (apocalypse does not mean an end to gossip!), check up on each other, and when possible hold your meetings using video or audio communication apps to hear each other’s voices rather than long and boring email chains.

Tip #9: Exercise

Try and work even the smallest exercise routine into your day. Run up and down the stairs if you have them, around the garden or up and down the street if you’re allowed to, or on the spot in front of the TV whenever it’s your turn to hold the remote. Keep your heart beating and blood flowing – being isolated at home is no excuse to let your blood turn into sludge.

Tip #10: Stay positive

During these bleak times, when people are losing their jobs, their homes, their loved ones and their lives, it is easy to fall into despair. So staying positive may seem unrealistic or even impossible, but it’s important that we do our best to keep our hopes up. It takes effort and insistence. Just remember that, for better or worse, this too shall pass.

Take a moment to be thankful for the blessings that we do have at this time: a roof over our heads, food in the fridge, and of course: a paying job that we can do from home.

Keep your chin up. We’ll get through this.