Working from home is the new normal for a lot of us – we at NSC have been working from home since mid-March, and we haven’t looked back since.

Of course, it took a bit of getting used to.

At first, it’s fair to say we struggled.

Initially, it was far too easy to put on Netflix ‘in the background’ and get distracted with household chores.

But after a few weeks of less-than-productive work, we started to find our routines.

At the time of writing, we’re over six months into working from home, and it looks like it’s going to stay like this for the near future, at least.

We’ve had to pretty much completely overhaul the way we think about work so we can slip back into being our usual productive selves – in some ways, we’re getting even more work done, even more efficiently than before!

If you’re new to working from home, or you want to get more done from your home office, then check out our tried-and-tested tips:

Minimise your distractions

As I mentioned earlier, in the beginning, it was hard not to get distracted by Netflix (I blame you, Tiger King!), or stop myself from scrolling mindlessly through TikTok.

I’ll admit it: I had turned off my brain, slumped into a non-routine, and my to-do list grew longer and longer – self-sabotaging.

After a couple of weeks of barely checking in to my work, I knew something had to change.

I had to identify what my distractions were – Netflix, Disney+, social media and books – and limit them.

I wasn’t quitting cold turkey, I was managing those distractions. 

• No TV before or during work hours, apart from lunch break – putting the TV remote somewhere out of sight helped (in a cupboard, on top of the fridge, in another room)

• Check phone for messages once every two hours during work hours – I recommend using the app Forest to help with this.

• Clear your workspace – clear desk, clear mind.

• Create a playlist of music to help you focus for the majority of the day. I threw in a few motivational bangers to keep my energy levels up at random points – Britney’s Work Bitch is a particular favourite!

• Let other people in your house know what times you’ll be working, so they won’t cause any disturbances.

Identify your distractions, and set up ways you can keep them in check.

Get moving

Just like being in any office, it’s easy to stay sat down for long periods of time, particularly if you’re engrossed in a time-consuming task, like those reports that take hours to put together or lengthy pieces of copy.

In order to be your most productive self, you need to get up and get moving regularly, even if it’s just a stroll around the house.

Staying active means you get your blood pumping, which helps improve circulation to your brain, and keeps you thinking more clearly.

One of my most useful purchases at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic was a FitBit Charge 3, which sets me a goal of moving 250 steps every hour.

It really varies how often I hit that goal without trying, but occasionally it’ll pop up a quick message with 10 minutes of the hour to go, reminding me how many steps I still need to take.

If you don’t want to fork out £80 for a fancy bit of tech, setting reminders on your phone or computer can do the trick.

Plan breaks and lunches

Just as it’s important to stay hydrated, you also need to eat.

Food is the fuel for your body to work at its productive best.

When I first started working from home, I found myself working through my usual breaks, not realising how hungry I was until much later in the day.

This is where building a routine can help.

Now, unless I have a meeting booked, I’ll take my lunch at 1:30pm every day, and I’ll have planned my weekly lunches during my last shopping visit (usually jacket sweet potato and tune mayo – yum!).

That way, I’m not snacking on junk food at the end of the day, frantically trying to satisfy my hunger pangs as quickly as possible.

Then I wake up the next day feeling groggy and unproductive.

It’s a vicious cycle.

You need to make sure that you take your lunch break every day – you don’t have to prove yourself to anyone, and you certainly aren’t going to prove yourself by starving yourself, damaging your productivity.

So reserve time out for your breaks and lunches, and plan what you’re eating so you can get the fuel your body needs.

Make time for meetings

Socialising is important, and working from home, particularly if you’re living alone, can be lonely.

That’s why it’s important to book meetings with colleagues or friends, even if they’re virtual.

It doesn’t detract from your work – on the contrary, socialising can help you maintain your healthy mental and physical wellbeing, according to Psychology Today.

Naturally, when you’re at your mental and physical best (or at least the higher ends of the scale), you’ll be working more productively.

I try to make sure I have at least one meeting booked in each day, even if it’s just a five-minute catch-up as if we were at the water cooler.
Grab a coffee (not going to lie, our coffee machine was the best purchase during lockdown), turn on your camera, and have a chinwag with your colleagues.

Don’t stare at your inbox

You don’t have to prove you’re working by replying to messages and emails as soon as they’re sent.

If you’re paranoid that your company doesn’t trust you, then it’s not the right place to work.

Set aside time each day to look at and action your emails – I tend to check mine three times a day: first things in the morning, just before lunch, and last thing before I sign off.

Pouncing on emails as soon as they come in isn’t the most efficient way to work, because it means you can’t fully immerse yourself in more time-consuming tasks.

So don’t feel like you have to prove yourself, and set up your own routine.

Go outside

This one’s a bit of a no-brainer – going outside is great for your mental and physical wellbeing.

I do feel particularly lucky in that we have a garden at NSC HQ, so we can sit outside when we’ve been staring at our screens for too long, and focus on something further away than a couple of feet.

Not everyone has this luxury, and at the moment, a lot of people are afraid to go outside – I feel you.

But if you can, and even if you have to wear a mask, I’d recommend going for even a five-minute walk around the block.

Getting outside has so many benefits: it helps build a healthy immune system, can reduce stress, improves your sleep, and can work wonders for your focus.

Obviously, if you’re quarantining, it’s better to stay indoors, but if you can, get outside.

Personalise your workspace

Your workspace should be somewhere you like to be, so make it yours.

We’ve adorned our new home office with motivational prints, little ornaments that make us smile, and we’re working on making it look like something we’d usually love on Pinterest (it’s a work in progress!).

If you’re working to a budget (aren’t we all?), even something small like a cute coaster for your coffee, or beautiful pencil holder (I had to invest in this gorgeous planet one the other day) can make your desk your own, and a place you want to be.

We’ve also got all of our books in our home office, so we’re surrounded by inspiration all the time.

Make it yours, with whatever inspires you to work at your best.

Get the right set-up

Your desk shouldn’t cause you physical pain.

If your back aches after a day at the office, or your eyes are straining, you need to switch up your desk.

Get a comfortable chair, a desk at the right height, and position your screen so your eyes are level with the top of the screen.

Sorting out the bare basics of your home office can be the most expensive part of working from home, but some employers will help cover the costs so you can work at your ost productive.

Break down bigger tasks

Who else hates those massive, domineering, intimidating tasks that sit on your to-do list for weeks, glaring at you from your notebook?

To make them less intimidating, break them down into smaller chunks.

I’ll be honest with you, I got the idea of this from an episode of Friends, when Chandler is getting married to Monica (spoiler alert?), and Ross breaks down the terrifying task of ‘getting married’ into easy-to-manage steps like ‘have a shower’ and ‘put on a tuxedo’.

So when I have to put together an entire campaign plan, instead, I’ll look at it in much smaller chunks on my to-do list, like ‘Write the next email’, ‘Draft copy for the landing page’ and ‘Write social media posts for the next week’.

Then I can get that hit of serotonin each time I tick something off my list, and I feel like I’ve achieved more.

Then that big task doesn’t look as daunting, and it’s completed far more efficiently.

Set boundaries

Define your working hours (even if they’re done day-to-day), and stick to them. 

Don’t work beyond your allotted hours unless you have to, and your manager has agreed to it.

Start work on time, finish work on time.

Working beyond your allotted hours means that you’re not working efficiently – you’ve been hired to do your job in those hours, and if you can’t, then something needs to change.

Your time outside of work is your own, so don’t throw it away – it’s precious!

You won’t get that time back, and, more often than not, it won’t be appreciated.

If any workplace requires you to work beyond your hours in your contract, and doesn’t pay you for those hours or give you time back in lieu, you should start looking for somewhere else that will treat you with the respect you deserve.

As I said earlier, you shouldn’t have to prove anything to your workplace, and if you feel you do, then it’s not the right fit for you.

Don’t wear your pyjamas!

I know, it’s so tempting to roll out of bed and crawl to your laptop, or even to keep your laptop next to your bed, so you can work without even stepping a foot on the floor.

It’s not healthy.

You’ll damage your posture, strain your eyes, could get repetitive strain injury in your hands from a bad typing position, and you’ll lose respect for your job… and yourself.

I don’t put on a full face of makeup every day when I’m working from home, but I do change out of my pyjamas, even if it’s into comfy clothes like joggers and a tee.

Just that simple act of changing clothes gets me in the right mind frame for the rest of the day, like making my bed.

Take sick days

If you’re feeling like you wouldn’t go into the office, take a sick day – even if it’s a mental health day.

It’s just that same as if you were working in the office, so if you don’t feel like you are fit for work, don’t work.

Your health always takes priority over your work.

Take time for yourself, and get healthy, so you can work more productively when you’re feeling better.

One of the best things about working from home is the time saved not having to commute to the office.

No more commuting means extra time for you, your projects... whatever you want!

Take advantage of that free time, so you have things to look forward to at the start and end of the day.

Personally, I’ve taken to using my usual ‘commuting’ time after work to do some exercise, which I find helps me decompress and switch off my ‘work brain’ at the end of the day – I jump on my cross-trainer, throw on a Disney film and power through.

But you can use that time for anything you want – start a new art project, write a book, craft something DIY-ey, start playing Metal Gear Solid from the beginning (where my millennial gamers at?), read War & Peace… whatever takes your fancy!

You’ll be surprised what you can achieve just in that commuting time – since June, I’ve lost 24lbs (at the time of writing), which I’m pretty proud of!

Set that time aside, and spend it wisely, on something that makes you happy.

Those are my top 14 tips on how to work more productively from home, tried and tested by both Dean and I.

I hope you find these tips useful if you’re working from home – if there are any tips that you’ve tried out that I haven’t mentioned, let me know in the comments.

Stay safe, and stay healthy <3