Advice for Those Transitioning to Work From Home

MoneyThumb has customers from every walk of life and across the globe who use our PDF financial file converters. Many of you are employed by companies who are requiring you to work from home since the world is basically shutting down and social distancing has been implemented due to the Coronavirus. Accountants and others from many different business niches are making the transition. A lot of small business owners have been forced to close their offline stores and are now strictly selling their products and services online.

To help you with the transition of working in an offline world to working from home the Rules of Thumb blog from MoneyThumb would like to offer some solid suggestions to make the transition less painful and more successful. Our main suggestion is that you treat your morning the same as you would if you were heading into an office. Set aside a designated workspace (even if it’s just your kitchen table), make yourself some breakfast and yes, wear regular clothes, not pajamas. This is all a part of keeping your mind in work mode.

For further steps to make the transition easier and yourself more productive and less stressed, we are referring to an article from The New York Times, How to Work From Home If You've Never Done it Before. Below is advice from that article:

• Keep the Same Schedule--“Try to get up at the same time, and do all the things you would typically do to get ready for work,” said William Castellano, a professor in the Rutgers School of Management and Labor Relations. “Make sure you’re thinking about how you’re going to structure your day similarly” to how you did before. So if you made a to-do list every morning, make the to-do list. If you checked in with the same person every morning, check-in with that person.
• Set Boundaries--Pick a spot for your office. It doesn’t have to have a door, but it should be away from distraction. You don’t need an expensive setup. The boundaries you set up also pertain to other people who may be sharing the same space. This will be especially important if a partner or roommate is also working from home or children’s schools are closed. Sara Perry, Assistant Professor of Management at Baylor University says, “There’s a lot demanding of your time and energy and resources right now. This may mean having conversations with managers about adjusting their expectations, given the extraordinary circumstances."
• Take Breaks--Be sure to take exercise, meals and stretch breaks. If your commute used to include walking, and now you have no reason to leave the house, you might forget to move. When you suddenly lose the pace of your day, everything can start to bleed together. You may be used to relying on cues from your workplace (i.e., other people) to remind you to get up and stretch or get lunch.
• Prepare For Isolation--Even introverts who work in an office can suffer from isolation at suddenly being moved home. Dr. Perry suggested proactively staying in touch with others rather than waiting for someone to reach out. That could mean emailing colleagues more often, having conference calls, video conferences, using chat tools or just picking up the phone. Some at-home workers play music or movies in the background to keep them company or take social media breaks to feel less isolated.
• When You are Done Working, Leave it Alone--For those who are used to working in an office, the evening commute is often a way to end the workday and begin home life. Dr. Perry said it’s important to continue to make the same transition, even if you’re just moving from one spot on the couch to the other. So put your work materials and your laptop away (or just shut work applications if you want to use your computer for something else). She added that this is crucial right now because “you’re already being challenged in terms of your personal resources,” she said. “You still have to take that recovery time from work.”

We are going through some very challenging and strange times, that is for sure, but we are a very adaptive species and we will be ok. If you need further help transitioning to work from home, or you are struggling to find work from home opportunities, leave us a comment below and the team at MoneyThumb will do our best to help. Please share this blog post on your social media pages so your peers can benefit from the information provided.