HOW TO ROCK WORKING FROM HOME

We are going to share some tips from industry professionals and work-from-home veterans on how to stay healthy while successfully managing event planning, work, life and family while staying at home.

• Start early and mentally prepare :

Without the stress of having to commute to the office, it may be tempting to sleep in or even to work in your pajamas. This is a huge mistake. The two most important things to do when working from home to be productive is to start early and to be mentally prepared for your day. This means setting an early alarm, showering, getting dressed in real clothes, having a healthy breakfast and starting earlier than you would at the office.

• Reasons why you should do this:

You will get a lot done before the rest of the house wakes up and there are no distractions

If you start earlier, you can finish earlier and give children and family members the attention that they need.

If you have school-age kids then try pre-making a healthy breakfast so that they can help themselves while you work.

• Set strict work hours and take breaks :

The real danger of working from home is that you can sit for too long, work more lengthy hours than you would if you were at the office. This may be true as you don’t have to pick kids up from school or take them to various activities. To avoid this, set strict work hours and stick to them. Try to get up for a brief stretch or walk for 10 minutes every hour. This will help with circulation and sharpen your brain. You may also want to try and stand while working as well.

• Stay organised amid chaos :

Working from home can be a big adjustment for some, without the stress of COVID-19.

Here are some things that you will need to do differently in order to stay productive and organised while working from home :

• Find a quiet work space :

Instead of sharing a workspace with your children or your spouse, try and find a place that is just for you that would help avoid constant distractions.

• Check and if necessary, upgrade your internet :

There is nothing more frustrating than slow internet when you are on a conference call.

• Store ALL your files in the cloud :

Remember that when you are working from home, your files are not being backed up to the server. You don’t want to risk losing important information by saving it locally. Save every file to the cloud using Google drive or drop box.  

• Keep lists of important contacts handy :

Create a list of important clients and venders and keep it in reach.

• Take digital notes :

Take digital notes instead of having papers lying all over your home.

• Leverage project management tools :

Teamwork or Asana are good examples of project management software.

• Strategies for effective team communication :

Staying in touch with your colleagues while working from home isn’t as hard as it seems.

Here are some strategies to consider :

• Start with the right collaboration tools :

For more formal or meetings or client-facing meetings, you will need an on-line meeting tool such as GoTo meeting or join.me. For informal meetings or conversations you can use Slack, Hangouts and Chanty. These work well because they sync on all devices. One piece of advice would be to use headphones when on a conference call so your colleagues can hear you properly over any background noise.

• Rock the video :

Make use of your video when speaking to colleagues, it helps you reconnect with them.

• Reach out to just say hi :

Reach out to your colleagues, even if it is just to say hi and host a virtual happy hour with your team.

• Keep regular scheduled meetings :

Keep things as normal as possible. Hold regular scheduled meetings with clients and vendors to stay on track. Before meetings, give your household a heads up so they don’t disturb you.

• Have patience, courage and empathy :

Stay positive and give everyone patience, empathy and grace.

We hope that these tips helped with working from home as it definitely is something new to get used to.

Content per meetingplay.com