Finding Balance While Working Remotely

Tips for Working From Home

Published March 25, 2020

As people around the world are being asked to stay home, many professionals are packing up their offices and working remotely. They’re creating a home office, a place where they can stay active and productive, as this becomes the new normal for a while.

For some, this is the first time they’ve had to work remotely, and have been figuring it out as they go. Here’s a few tips from New Leaf on how to make this time manageable and productive.

01

Maintaining a Routine

One of the most common suggestions from folks who have already been working remotely is to maintain a routine from your Pre-Covid life. Trying to mimic your day-to-day events can provide some sense of normalcy. Start the day right by waking up at the same time as usual, getting dressed, maybe even something as simple as wearing shoes in the home office can keep you active and in work-mode.

02

Video Conferencing

Maintainting a face-to-face presence with coworkers becomes more important than ever when the people you work with aren’t in the same building anymore. A morning meeting can keep a team active and involved in each other’s lives from across the keyboard.

There are a lot of great free video conferencing tools out there, from Zoom, Google Hangouts, WebEx, MS Teams and more. 

03

Knowing When to Stop

Creating boundaries in your workday may be hard for some who may not have the boss around to tell them enough is enough. When your day is done, close the door and separate yourself from work. Time for a bit of fresh air.

Looking for ways to keep engaged in the community? We’ve written a post about Lowcountry businesses that are streaming online content to keep people involved in local arts and entertainment here. Read it here.

04

Stay Healthy

Find time in the beginning and end of the day for some blue skies. We’ve been asked to stay at home, but encouraged to go for a jog, do some gardening, or find a workout routine. Keep the cabin fever at bay.

Eating healthy may be more of a challenge right now, but doesn’t necessarily have to be. Plan out your week (or even the following week) to make sure you’ve got what you need at home for your family. 

At New Leaf, many of us use a local Johns Island  meal delivery service (yes, they deliver to your door!) called STEW – Save Time, Eat Well. A couple of family meals from STEW and you’ll be covered for the week.

05

Upshot of Down Time

During a normal work week, we often get handed many mini-projects that we end up never accomplishing because we ran out of time. These days, our work routines are so different from life at the office, that it may be easier to finish projects that have been getting “pushed off” while not in the office. This might be a great opportunity to finish things that have been put off previously. 

Any other good tips?

Any of you working-from-home veterans out there have any pro-tips? Please share!

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