So your boss has told you that you should work from home for a few weeks, is that a piece good news? For those who have never worked from home, this idea sounds like heaven. After all, if it’s going to be a comfortable working experience where you can sit on the sofa and work for the rest of the day, what could be better than that?

The answer is pretty much everything else. Working from home is not easy, especially if you are used to working in office environments. When you change your work environment from the office to home, it will take a certain amount of time to get used to your new environment, or else your timetable will become messed up and you will struggle to keep up with the work. Here are the things you can do to quickly adapt to your home office environment.

Prepare a proper home office

Working on the sofa is not a pleasant experience. It might sound great, but it is not in the long run. For you to quickly accustom yourself to your working-from-home experience, you will have to build a proper home workstation with all the essential functions. At the very least, we would definitely recommend you to buy an ergonomic chair and a sit-stand desk so that you would not get uncomfortable after long hours of sitting. You could also spend a bit extra on monitor arms and ergonomic accessories for some extra effectiveness. With your home office ready, your productivity will definitely soar.

Set up a morning routine

To kick-start your working hours, there should be a ritual which marks the beginning of your hours. For example, making coffee or tea is a great way to start your morning and to signal to your body that it is time to start working. Not only will this help you to control your timetable but it will also draw a very clear boundary between your working hours and your non-working ones.

Set up rules for your family or flatmates

There is nothing more frustrating and distracting than your kids barging into your room while you are working demanding you to play with them. The damage is even more noticeable if you are on a conference call with your colleagues or clients. For that reason, it is absolutely critical that you should set up ground rules and off-limit hours for everyone else around so that you could focus on your work.

Schedule breaks every now and then

No one can work continually over a long period of time, even if you are at the office. That is why you should schedule short periods of breaks from time to time to recharge yourself and grab some snacks. You should take note to completely break away from work and focus solely on resting so as to completely recover from the fatigue.

Enjoy a few jokes from your colleagues every now and then

You don’t have to isolate yourself when you are working from home. Whenever you are on a break or when things are not so hectic, have a chat with your colleagues and enjoy a good laugh. This will help you to ease up your mind a little bit as well as break the feeling of isolation, which can severely hamper your working capability. Besides, being isolated for too long will lead to further stress, which is definitely not good for your mental health.

Try to remove distractions

Admittedly, it can be quite distracting working at home when your bed or your gaming console is right next to you. That is why you should put whatever distraction into a locker and hide the key for the duration of your working hours. This way, you will habituate your body to keep itself away from these distractions. It is also a good idea to wear noise-cancelling headphones if you are living in a noisy neighbourhood to ensure that nothing can bother you.

In the case that you cannot remove the distractions, make compromises with them. Combine your break hours with short gaming or reading sessions to make sure that your needs for distractions are satiated. You will definitely feel much less inclined to drop work for these distractions afterwards!

Show up at online meetings

It is understandable that you might think that online meetings are pointless, but the fact of the matter is that they are definitely not so. These online meetings will help you and your colleagues to convey and discuss ideas much more fluidly without clutters, which is not possible in a group chat. Furthermore, online meetings help you to socialize with your colleagues, a good way to break the isolation of working from home.

Rest when you are sick

It is common to fall into the time-is-money trap when you work from home. Do not overexert yourself when you are sick, as it can severely affect your productivity. You are just a few steps away from your bed, so it is important to ask your boss for a few sick days and rest properly. You will feel better in the long run and you will feel much more comfortable with your workload.

Have an end-of-the-day routine

An end-of-the-day routine is just as important as a morning routine, as it can subconsciously put your mind at ease as you end your business hours. It can be something as simple as signing off of your messaging app or doing yoga for 20 minutes, but it will certainly help you put up a clear boundary between work and life.

Working from home will not be as easy an experience as you think it will be, but you will definitely get used to it soon, with the help of our ergonomic furniture, of course! Back2 UK is the proud retailer of many world-famous ergonomic furniture brands which offer not only the best ergonomic furniture pieces but also accessories. If you want to set up your very own ergonomic home workstation, don’t hesitate to contact us now and let us help you!