The coronavirus lock lock down means more of will be forced into working from home with partners friends or other family members, and all that time spent between the same four walls can put a strain on even the strongest of relationships – living in each other’s pockets day-after-day could be enough to drive you crazy.
Here’s how to make working from home work for you in a house full of people.
Working from home can be great for improving your work/life balance and even your productivity, but it takes a certain type of person to really make it work – if you’re easily distracted or have trouble working alone, it might be the best working environment for you.
There’s also the added problem that you never really get to leave the house, and can easily spend days on end between the same four walls. Sometimes, the only respite from this lonely existence is when your other half gets in from work themselves.
If you’re a work-from-home couple or family, here are some top tips to make sure that those who work together, stick together.
The work-from-home couple’s survival guide
If you’re a work-from-home couple, here’s how to survive the daily grind.
Pretend you’re other half isn’t at home
It’ll probably come as no surprise to learn that this isn’t quite as easy as it sounds – unless you live in a huge mansion with a number of wings you can disappear into. But even if you live in a one-bedroom flat, try not to both work in the living room together, as those traditional work from home distractions will just be magnified – you’ll be amazed how many cups of tea you can make for each other in one day.
If possible, take a different room each – even if one of you has to use the bedroom – or take it in turns to leave the house and work remotely from the local library or coffee shop.
Use your headphones
Wherever you work, there’s an unwritten rule that anyone wearing headphones is not to be disturbed (hands up, how many of you have sat with your headphones in with absolutely no sound coming out at all? ?). You should employ the same tactic at home and don’t disturb your other half if they have headphones in, even if there’s cups of tea being made.
Don’t share equipment
It’s amazing how much time you can waste if you’re sharing equipment – if someone loses the charger cable or urgently needs the shared laptop, you can spend ages waiting around or looking for kit. So always try to make sure you each have your own equipment – having all the right tools to be able to work from anywhere is the absolute minimum for anyone working remotely.
A reliable conference call service is an integral part of any work-from-home set up, go to https://www.conferencecall.co.uk/ to find out how we can help you work from home.
Keep work and home separate
As you might imagine, keeping your work and living spaces is one of the most difficult things to do when working from home, especially if you live in smaller accommodation, but it’s vital to try your best, even if your idea of working from home is sat in bed with your laptop.
Not separating work and living spaces can make it hard to both switch on and off, meaning you might have trouble finding the motivation to start work, and then find it difficult to switch off once you do finally get going.
If possible, try to use a separate room each for work and then maybe meet in the living room or kitchen to wind down at break times. If you haven’t the space to work in separate rooms, even setting up a small desk in one room while your partner works in another should be enough to keep things separated.
Whatever you do though, don’t work from bed and don’t both try to share the same space. For more tips, check how How to separate business and pleasure when you work from home.
How are you finding working from home during the conronavirus lock down? Let us know how you make things work.
