How to Cope From Working at Home

Brand On! With Brandon Uttley

Working from seems idyllic but it presents its own challenges, even for the most introverted type of person. And especially during the global pandemic! Here are 25 tips to make the most of working from home.

1. Rise and shine! Pick a regular time to get up every day.

2. Take a shower and get dressed. Wear appropriate clothing that puts you in the best state to work at your best. Don’t stay in your pajamas all day!

3. Structure Your Day. “Structure equals freedom and structure equals results.” - Craig Ballantyne

4. Be intentional. Make an intention for your overall day, as well as individual tasks. This will help you stay focused.

5. Set expectations - when you work, your availability, etc. Let your colleagues and other people know. If necessary, block off time on your calendar.

6. Separate your workspace from your living space.

7. Limit interruptions — i.e., notifications and noise (use Krisp to eliminate noise on Zoom calls, etc. - https://krisp.ai).

8. Set up and TEST your video conferencing. Use a good camera (such as Logitech) and microphone (I like the ATR 2100)—and also your background. Download Muzzle to avoid embarrassing notifications when you are screen sharing (for Mac): https://muzzleapp.com.

9. Single task.

10. Track your time.

11. Use a Pomodoro timer - work in concentrated time segments (I like Be Focused for Mac).

12. Re-engineer your day into 3 mini-days; this was inspired by Ed Mylett (see this great Medium post by Eduardo Lopez for more details).

13. Take regular breaks.

14. Stand up (vs. sitting all day).

15. Exercise.

16. Meditate - a good free app is Medito.

17. Eat healthy foods.

18. Drink lots of water.

19. Wear blue-light blocking glasses. The American Optometric Association advises that when working on a screen, every 20 minutes look at something 20 feet away for at least 20 seconds.

20. Join online communities - examples including Slack and Comarketing Space.

21. Find an accountability partner.

22. Leave the house regularly — example, schedule coffees and lunches with friends and peers. Harder to do now with COVID-19!

23. Listen to music or ambient background sound (one of my favorites is Coffitivity).

24. Keep a journal.

25. Plan ahead.

What about you? If you have a tip, share it as a voice memo at https://anchor.fm/brandonuttley and I may include it on a future podcast episode.