Top 5 Tips for Anyone Working From Home

It’s no secret that more and more people are ditching the office to work from the comfort of their homes. It just makes sense – you can skip the hour long commute, cook your own lunch and wear pyjama pants all day. Sounds perfect, right?

The thing is, anyone who works from home knows it’s not quite as easy as it sounds. From dealing with constant distractions to having to completely manage your own time, remote working can be tricky. That’s why the team here at Callbrix have put together our top 10 tips to help you create the perfect work-from-home lifestyle.

1. Try a 3 Step Morning Routine

Ever find yourself feeling deflated at the end of a work day because you just didn’t get anything productive done? Without a manager looking over your shoulder or a desk buddy to keep you on track, it can be easy to procrastinate, get distracted and lose motivation. To escape this work-from-home funk, try a simple three step routine before you start work everyday. Even something as simple as pouring yourself a coffee, tidying your workspace and writing up a to-do list every morning will help get you into a more focused mindset. Which brings us to to the next point…

 2. Stick to a To-Do List

The key to a good to-do list is to keep each task specific, short and achievable. For example writing down “send emails” won’t really get you anywhere. It doesn’t tell you which emails to send, and it doesn’t have a definitive deadline. Instead, write down a concise list of each email you have to send by the end of the day and check them off as you go. Frequently crossing off tasks is a great way to keep track of your progress and stay motivated. Here at Callbrix we love using chrome extension momentum for staying on top of our to-do lists, although there’s nothing wrong with an old fashioned pen and paper.

3. Manage Personal and Business Calls from 1 Phone

If you don’t have an office phone lying around your home, then you know that managing personal and business call from your mobile can be a headache. That’s why we use CallBrix’s cloud phone system to handle all our calls remotely. Get a virtual business number that diverts to your personal phone, set up call whispers that notify you when a business call comes in or try our virtual receptionist. Not only does it make your business seem more professional, but it also saves you the stress of constantly missing calls or mixing up personal and business callers.

4. Get Yourself an Ergonomic Setup

If you work from home, then chances are you are no stranger to back pain. No matter what industry you are in nowadays, almost everyone has to spend a couple of hours sitting at a desk every day. If you are going to be working remotely in the long term, then we strongly advise setting up your home work space to be a little more ergonomic. You can try propping your laptop up on top of a couple of books to give it some extra height, or you can invest in a proper laptop stand, ergonomic keyboard and mouse. Either way, your back will thank you!

5. Switch Off at the End of the Day

When you work from home, it can be hard to separate your personal and professional life. After all, it’s not like you can leave your stuff at the office or unwind on your drive home. At the most, you might change room and even then, you are probably still getting work notifications on your phone. One of the ways we recommend switching off at the end of the day is by setting your work calls to go straight to voicemail outside of office hours. We also suggest turning off your email notifications for the evening, switching off your work laptop and maybe even going for around the neighbourhood.

 Tired of getting work calls after 5? Try a FREE Callbrix trial to design your customer phone system based on your office hours.