WFH – An Unusual Working Environment For Most:
During this pandemic, companies all across the world have rolled out mandatory working from home measures.
Global companies such as Amazon, Spotify and Microsoft have all opted to WFH to help slow down the spread of COVID-19. Following the recent UK government guidelines, the majority of business across the UK have also opted to follow suit.
However, WFH is foreign to most office workers and adapting to a new environment can be difficult.
At Spectrum, we value the importance of maintaining a healthy working environment, even when it’s remote. We want to provide the best guidance and advice for those WFH to ensure mental and physical wellbeing during this difficult time.
WFH Ergonomics:
Although this will be a temporary measure, the duration period for most of us WFH is still unknown.
In a one-off phenomenon which has involved many of us working in a new environment, learning and adapting your WFH space to be ergonomic can prove extremely difficult.
We suggest if you are sitting for a long period of time during your working hours, that investing in or borrowing an ergonomic chair & desk to support your posture during the day will be the best option for your physical well-being.
For more guidance towards getting the most out of your new office environment, take a look at this check-list.
Avoiding Distractions at Home:
Productively working from home can become a challenging time for most professionals. House-hold chores, children, visitors and daytime TV can become increasingly distracting.
Here’s some advice on how to separate your home life, from your work:
- If possible, set your home office up in a separate room – Try to avoid working in your bedroom or living room if possible.
- Break up your work, don’t burn yourself out – Too much work can lead to long-term distractions if you burn yourself out too quickly
- Introduce time-tracking to keep on schedule – This helps with time management
- Use a calendar to-do list – This helps prioritise your workload
Put Your Mental & Physical Health First:
Avoid feeling isolated. Prolonged isolation has a major impact on productivity and overall morale.
Make sure yourself and the people you associate with at work have measures in place to contact one another. Using tools such as Microsoft teams or Skype is a great way to communicate remotely. Using video chat tools over standard phone calls can help alleviate feelings of isolation and increase overall productivity.
Have a team meeting in the morning to brief your day with your colleagues. At the end of the day have another team call to discuss any issues, concerns or just check-in to try and keep morale up.
Timing your breaks: The Health and Safety Regulation act, 1992, suggests that breaks should be periodically taken. As a general guideline, at least 5 minutes every hour should be spent away from your screen, taking 5-10-minute breaks after every hour is better than taking 30-minute break every 3 hours.
Lunchbreaks, going from your home office to the living room isn’t a complete break away from your overall ‘working environment.’ Try going for a 5-minute walk down outside, please remember that if you opt to go for a walk to follow the government’s latest guidelines on social distancing.
Try and enjoy your lunch in the garden if it’s sunny or perhaps read a book rather than watching the TV (avoid going from one screen to another if possible).
At Spectrum we create spaces that enable you and your team to do their best work.
During this uncertain time, we strongly advise those WFH to try and make the best out of this temporary remote working situation.
For any more information or guidance please, contact us today.