WFH - how to make the best of your tech experience

The WFH reality is now upon us in ways we did not anticipate. So, what is the perfect way to turn remote work into a more productive, better experience? Firstly, most businesses are treating this scenario as a temporary one, however there are those who claim it will initiate a more permanent, steady trend in working from home. This remains to be seen as there are still many reasons why people prefer to work in a shared office space with other dedicated team members.

Here are our top tips for working from home during this period:

Create a dedicated work area for yourself, even if it is just a temporary one during this time. A separate workspace is healthy and so is keeping to your regular work routine, despite not being in the office. Also, it allows you to close the door and forget about work until the next day.

Replicate your office work tech as much as you can. If you usually work with two screens, try to ensure you can have the same set up at home.

Now that your purpose-built desk and office chair is in place, try to take more physical breaks to get up, stretch, and move around. Do your best to maintain the structure of your conventional working day by taking your routine coffee/lunch breaks. Try to avoid distractions such as social media.

Invest in a pair of noise cancelling headphones if you need to listen to a conference call and your children are running around the house. Also try to make sure your internet is the best it can be. There are already, too many distractions – faulty internet will only add to them.

Video calls also add more connectivity to your day. Most accounts are free for the basic plan, if your company does not have a corporate one. Zoom is a good app. Some people still use skype and some prefer FaceTime. However, Zoom is full of features and is faster with much clearer audio and video. You can even record calls for participants who are not able attend.

One of my own preferred methods, is using Google Documents or Sheets which allow multiple people to collaborate on the same document. There is also a chat feature and several add on tools such as voice typing. If you are unable to get your hands on a pair of noise-cancelling headphones, there is an application called Krisp which allows you to mute background noise during calls. It is free for 60 mins per week. If you use the app on iOS, users get 240 minutes free, per week.