10 Tips to Work Effectively During Coronavirus

At Rombourne, we’re all about face to face contact with our clients and offering a great place for them to work and to network. Our offices in Bristol, Cardiff, Newport and Swindon are usually hives of activity, with business owners and employees coming and going.

But just at the moment, as the UK deals with Coronavirus and we are on lockdown, many of our clients’ people are working from home. This may represent a challenge to those who are used to being in an office, surrounded by their colleagues. They may find it harder to follow a routine and work effectively, and some may be feeling isolated.

So here at Rombourne we’ve come up with our top ten tips on working from home, which we believe will help employees, managers and business owners alike to maximise their time during lockdown.

1. Stick to a routine. It may be tempting to regard working from home as something you can dip in and out of, but it is far better to try to recreate a routine similar to the one you followed when in the office. So work from 9am-5pm (or whatever your normal hours were). This consistency will also help working from home feel more familiar.

2. Keep your work time and home time separate and this will help avoid you feeling like work has impinged on your home life. If possible have a dedicated room to work in – maybe you have a spare bedroom, or a snug – that you can shut the door on when you ‘leave’ the office. This helps you to remain productive during working hours, and to relax during ‘home’ time.

3. Follow a plan or a ‘to do’ list, so you organise your work schedule. Again, this helps you to be more productive.

4. Keep in regular contact with your colleagues. Video conferencing – such as via Skype, Zoom, or Microsoft Teams – is a great way to do this. It ensures you are still working collaboratively and also helps make up for the social contact you will be missing by not going into the office.

5. Have breaks during the day, just as a you would at work. So make sure you take a lunch break away from your desk – you could combine this with the daily exercise allowance and go out for a walk or a bike ride. Also, take coffee and tea breaks.

6. Prioritise your work and do the hardest jobs first. It can be tempting to pick off the easy wins, but then you will have the trickier tasks hanging over you throughout the day. Towards the end of the afternoon, when you may be flagging, is not the best time to tackle them.

7. Dress as you would for work, as this helps get you in the right mindset. It also means that, at the end of the day, you can change down into your comfy clothes, which also helps create a distinction between work and home.

8. Make sure you have a comfortable and ergonomic work station. Standing desks are ideal and you might be able to recreate one using a worktop or a windowsill. It may be tempting to work from the comfort of your bed or sofa but in practice this isn’t good for your work mindset or your posture!

9. If you have family at home, discourage them from disturbing you during working hours, after all, if you were in the office they wouldn’t be able to do so. This might be difficult if you have smaller children around, but teenagers should be able to manage their own lunch and to locate their clean clothes without seeking help!

10. Keep your office tidy. Empty your bin, clean your desk and tidy your paperwork. It’s much easier to work if you aren’t surrounded by muddle.

We hope you find the advice useful and that it helps make working from home a little easier. In the meantime, our teams on site at our bases in Bristol, Cardiff, Newport and Swindon are working hard to ensure we support our clients during this difficult time and also to make sure everything is in order for when our clients are able to return to their offices.

We are still taking enquiries from businesses who are looking to relocate to the superior serviced offices that Rombourne offers. For more information about our office suites, which can accommodate any size of business, please get in touch.