6 tips to stay engaged while working from home
Feb 8, 2023
Many companies, including ours, have embraced a flexible working model that enables employees to work from home anywhere between one and five days a week. While many perks come with working from home, like spending less time in traffic or being able to join a company outside of your home base, navigating this change in working style can be difficult. You may find yourself having trouble staying engaged or struggling to separate your work and home life. Here are some tips to help set yourself up for success while working from home:
1. Create a morning routine
Due to the convenience of working from your living space, it can be easy to get into the habit of rolling out of bed and logging in. Try establishing and sticking to a morning routine, and even getting some fresh air before you start your day.
2. Squeeze in some exercise
As remote workers, we spend a lot of time sitting at our desks and staring at screens. Remind yourself to get up and take walks or stretch. Take advantage of benefits your company may offer to help you stay active. For example, we offer our team a wellness stipend and virtually host weekly HIIT, meditation, and yoga classes.
3. Upgrade your equipment
It’s time to ditch the old kitchen chair and switch to a more efficient workstation. Consider purchasing some ergonomic equipment. While we offer benefits to help set our team up with the tools they need, support may vary across organizations, so be sure to check with your company and see if they’re able to contribute to your WFH station.
4. Stay connected through virtual socials
It can be easy to feel isolated from your team when you aren’t socializing in the office every day. One way our teams combat this is by organizing virtual socials, like happy hours, cooking classes, craft hours, etc. Ask your company if there are any virtual socials you can join, or maybe suggest setting one up!
5. Take breaks regularly
Avoid burnout by implementing mini breaks throughout the day. A change of pace or scenery can help re-energize you. We’ve created wellness and step challenges to encourage our team to get up and move throughout the day. Find out if your company has similar initiatives you can participate in.
6. Set your snooze times
In distributed organizations like ours, you will likely find yourself working with colleagues in a different time zone, which can mean receiving messages before or after you start your work day. Consider setting quiet times for Slack, Teams, or any other instant messaging application your company uses while you are outside of working hours.
Remote work offers a number of benefits that can help improve your sense of well-being and work-life balance. By creating the right environment and establishing good habits, you can minimize distractions and prevent burnout, thus increasing your productivity while working from home. If your company is anything like ours, they may even provide perks that can be used to support you along the way.
