A Newbie’s Guide To Work From Home

With the recent spread of corona virus, companies are being forced to adopt a work from home policy. In Nigeria for instance, the number of confirmed cases have risen to 40 with 2 cases discharged and 1 death recorded. The reality of covid19 is fast hitting home and it is time to set policies such as Work from Home in place.

As a creative, I worked freelance for a long time. This makes it easy for me to adapt to moments such as this and ensure that I am still as productive. As a matter of fact, I do a lot more work from home than when I must commute to work. A lot of time is lost getting dressed and ready to hit the road and Lagos traffic almost never gives up. However, there is a huge number of employees who are so worried about enforcing the work form home policy. They fear that their work will go unattended to and rightly so too. For some employees, they may struggle with the new policy and find themselves thinking this is a vacation. Like I always tell my friends, work from home does not equal today off.

Work from home means that you are getting the work done within the stipulated time while the day off means that you do not have to get your hands, eyes and your brains busy. You can indulge in some self-care for as long as you want and catch up on Netflix.

Now that we have established that distinction, how do we get the work from home newbies up to speed? First and foremost, let me take a moment to say, working from home means that you work remotely. So for the OGs in the house, we call it remote work. However, we understand that a huge part of the world is just waking up to this and may be stuck on calling it work from home.

Incredibly Useful Work From Home Tips

Start early:

For the OGs, they can ease into work from the moment that they open their eyes. They probably say a prayer, reach for their phones and that’s the start of work. However, for the newbies, you need to establish some ground rules. That includes, making a move out of bed.

Create a space:

As a newbie, you probably can’t start cleaning out an entire room for your office. What you can do is set up a make shift space. Even within your room, you need to have a space that looks like an office. If you can, get that carpenter to erect something for you. If you can’t, we will need to improvise. Whatever the case, create space for that work and make it devoid of all distractions.

Get comfortable:

I know that a lot of people have asked that you dress the part but, the truth is, you don’t have to play dress up when you work from home. For some, you will be shocked at how much not having to dress up gives them joy. So, do whatever it is that makes you comfortable.

Stick to your working hours:

Make yourself available from 9 to 5 if that is your working hours.

Take a break:

Just like you do at work, make sure to take a break. That way, you do not get bored or experience fatigue.

Here is your chance to prove to your employers that you can ultimately work from home even after this pandemic. Ensure that you do not be the reason why your entire team gets called back to work. Remember, you could ultimately lose your job if you do not prove to be efficient.

In the comment section, please let us know if your organisation has started the Work From Home Policy. We will like to know what you are up to.