All of our staff are still working very hard from home to provide you with all that we can from a safe distance. We have spoken with our employees and collated a list of the No5a team’s top tips for working from home during this pandemic. If you try all of these at home we guarantee you will feel more motivated and productive!
Set Up a Workstation
Many find it difficult working from home when surrounded by distractions. Set yourself up a little desk in a quiet room in the house facing the wall. Make sure all distractions are out of reach. Make sure the door is closed to prevent little ones or furry ones venturing in. One of our employees likes to leave a sign up on the door to let his family know he is busy working or on a video call to minimise distractions. You can also have a little fun decorating your workspace with mouse mats, flowers, tumblers, etc. Make it a comfortable and pleasant place to spend your day working without distraction. Furthermore, why not bring out, or treat yourself to good stationary, as sometimes nothing motivates us more than to fill up new notebooks and use new/good stationary!
Make a schedule
The only way to gain any form of normality back into your working life is to create a schedule and stick to it. Make sure to factor in breaks. It can be difficult to remember to take breaks at home, but breaks are important. In doing this you need to stay disciplined. Perhaps you can set alarms on your phone to keep you on schedule.
Make Goals
Take 5 minutes at the start of every shift to make a to-do list. What are your goals? What do you want to achieve for the day? This will not only give you something to work towards but will also be what generates satisfaction after a shift (if completed) or further aims for the following shift (if not completed). You can even create a timescale for doing different tasks to structure your working day, and make it go quicker. This way you won’t be doing the same thing for too long. Don’t forget to cross your completed achievements off your list, as nothing is more satisfying than crossing something off those long to-do lists. One of our employees admits to completing tasks, not on the list, and then writing it on the list at the end just to cross it off!
Put your Health First
In any workplace environment it is important to be healthy and happy. Make sure to eat a balanced diet with plenty of water. But also treat yourself to those all important biscuits and sweets too! If you are prone to snacking try and keep your snacks within arms reach to save you having to leave regularly to get snacks as this can be distracting. Also, make sure to get plenty of sleep and make full use of getting your daily exercise. Many of us are taking part in fitness classes at home, which is great, however, it is also important to make sure you get fresh air. Perhaps on your breaks you could go a nice walk. One of our employees likes to wake up at 7am (when there’s not many people about) and walks her dogs, so when she arrives back home, she is feeling replenished, awake and ready to begin the working day. Always make sure to have time alone with your thoughts. Try meditating or go for a ‘Chill and Still’ (which is basically what it says on the tin). Find a quiet spot somewhere, ideally outside, stay still and chill out. You can do this for as long as you want. Only taking 5 minutes out of your day to do this can make you feel loads more motivated with a new lease of focus and awareness.
Surround Yourself with Encouragement/Positivity
Give yourself credit for the things you do even if you do not complete your list. Perhaps you could surround yourself with things that make you happy, such as pretty decorative home pieces, sentimental trinkets or photographs of good memories. One of our employees motivates herself from home by pinning up motivational quotes on her wall around her working area. Even if she is not reading them, they create a positive and encouraging atmosphere as she knows they are there spurring her on! Another of our employees has a picture of a sunny beach in Cyprus as his desktop background to keep him motivated by momentarily allowing him to escape and contemplate being in his happy place. It gives him hope and allows him to think of the time when this will all be over. I think we can all guess what his plans are once lockdown is over!
Concluding Thoughts
The whole No5a team hope you are all safe and well at this difficult time. We hope that for those who are working from home, that we were able to provide you with some food for thought on staying motivated. If you are not working from home, and are looking to stay positive and motivated we hope that something within this blog inspired you. If not, why not read our previous blog where we discuss our top 10 tips for beating isolation boredom?
To Our Customers
If any of you have tried out any of these techniques please share with us and let us know! Did you find them useful? Would you alter them in anyway? One of the sections of this blog discusses setting up your home workstations. So, please show us your set-ups! You can send them to us or tag us in them in social media. As avid interior lovers we are keen to see your home workplaces! If anyone has read this blog and have decided to create a space please share it with us, via direct message or tagging us on social media. We will do a feature with those who do. Let’s motivate one another as we’re all in this together! Don’t forget to use the hashtag: #No5aArmy
Love,
No5a x
