Our series of tips will help you get the most out of homeworking
- Set up a suitable workstation. Home workspaces should have safe and comfortable furniture that supports musculoskeletal health. Wherever possible avoid working on sofas, beds or kitchen tables. Light and fresh air will also help wellbeing and productivity.
- Know when to step away from your desk.
Be clear about when your working day begins and ends and take breaks to refresh. This can help to establish long term work life balance. Cultivate healthy habits such as taking exercise and fresh air every day. - Take regular eye breaks.
Working remotely often involves a lot of screen time which can strain the eyes. The 20, 20, 20 rule suggests taking a screen break of at least 20 seconds, every 20 minutes and to look at least 20 feet away. - Build healthy digital habits.
Working remotely typically means working through technology – and sometimes using multiple different systems and tools. To prevent technostress or digital overwhelm, build healthy digital habits such as meaningfully disconnecting, managing notifications and establishing personal boundaries to prevent work-life conflict. - Foster relationships with colleagues.
Make time for non-work chats as you would in the workplace and use video calling to maintain face-to-face contact; when attending the office prioritise building working relationships. - Avoid ‘work extensification’.
This occurs when remote work leads to working longer days, a common issue associated with working at home, sometimes because people work what would typically be their commuting time. Establish a regular finish time and stick to it. - Move regularly.
Remote work can be very sedentary which in turn can result a range of negative health outcomes. If you have room, consider a standing desk to vary your posture. Alternatively make sure to build in physical movement before and after periods of sitting. - Don’t engage in presenteeism.
If you’re unwell, take leave and do your best to give an update or handover on urgent work. If you are a manager or team leader, encourage people to take time off if unwell and model the behaviour yourself. - Engage with wellbeing support and activities.
Many organisations offer employees health and wellbeing benefits (such as employee assistance programmes or occupational health) – take the opportunity to use these benefits to help support your remote work wellbeing. - Ask for help is you need it.
Some people find working remotely good for their health – others find it more problematic, especially in terms of isolation and work life balance. If you find experience any wellbeing difficulties when working remotely approach your manager or HR Department.
Article by CIPD. For more information on remote working, click here.
