Working from home — tips and tricks to improve efficiency
Real life examples and experiences from developers, consultants and management when home office is your only choice.
In these abnormal COVID-19 times we all are faced with a necessity to adapt. Very much as the physical stores and eCommerce in the recent decade, but this time things happen at ultrasonic speed.
In Visma Digital Commerce we are used to working and collaborating with people all over the world and have efficient workdays where we get a lot done. So as we are all working from home these days hiding from the Corona virus we wanted to to share some of our thoughts on how to stay productive, enjoy and collaborate in the these changing times.
Trygve, UX designer.
My best tips on optimizing your workday from home:
- Don’t start working before you’ve woken up. Spend the time you’d use commuting on getting ready instead — there’s no bus to catch. I spend some extra time pressing some coffee, not rushing through breakfast and reading an article.
- Move some of the green plants you have to your workplace. The living room’s monstera now lives in my bedroom, next to my desk, providing a nice contrast to my white walls and fresh air. In addition, I’ve finally hung up that big print I’ve had framed long ago and I actually make my bed each morning, just to make sure the space around me is comfortable and tidy.
- Get focused by clearing the silence if needed. Many artists now provide concerts and acts from home, either live or recorded. Shake up your Spotify playlist routine with this. I’m listening to OsloClubCast’s Dugnad, which are sets from various DJs, where you can optionally chip in to a relief fund for artists. One of my guilty pleasures, 70s-80s disco hits from Norway, is represented, so I’m happy.
- Plan eating lunch together with others, either with those you live with (keep one meter of distance) or on video call. It keeps you sane and helps break up the monotony of the day.
- Grab a coffee with your colleagues on Google Hangouts. It’s better to invite them one time too often than one too few.
- Turn on your webcam when you’re on a video call. Seriously.
- When you’re done working and ready to pwn noobs in whatever video game you play, remove yourself from the desk. Go to another room and do a squat or watch another episode of that obscure dialect game show in NRK’s catalog. Even if it’s five minutes, you break apart work and leisure.
Bjørn, Backend Developer.
What´s Your Best Tips For An Efficient Home Office?
Make plans for tomorrow. You need to know what you’re doing for lunch for example, otherwise you’ll end up going to the store to pick up stuff. Have an idea of what you’ll be doing for the full day, and make sure you have everything you need before you start.
What do you appreciate and value the most in your home office?
My new coffee pot is pretty rad, but the professional microphone in the studio is probably the greatest improvement over the real office.
Which technical equipment do you most appreciate for high efficiency?
My keyboard, which I brought from the office. Can’t work without it. Clickity clackity.
Milda, Project Manager.
What´s Your Best Tips For An Efficient Home Office?
Have the same working hours as working from the office, meaning if you usually start by 8AM make sure that at that time you are sitting by your continue and start working.
If you have a dedicated room or corner at home for work that is perfect if not at least sit by the dining table and don’t move to the sofa or bed.
If you need a break for the work, create an alarm in your phone so you would know when 5 or 10 min break is ending :)
What do you appreciate and value the most in your home office?
Most appreciate that I don’t need to travel and spend time in the public transport during rush hours. That saves me 1–2 hours a day :)
Which technical equipment do you most appreciate for high efficiency?
An additional monitor for the laptop.
Stig, CCO & Ecommerce Advicer.
What´s Your Best Tips For An Efficient Home Office?
Get a decent setup going asap, at least an external monitor, keyboard and mouse if possible and a microphone. Embrace the possibilities and enjoy the opportunity to work undisturbed.
What do you appreciate and value the most in your home office?
Reduced travel time and very easy to keep focus (when kids are occupied or under control). My respect for a teacher’s patience has grown these days :)
Which technical equipment do you most appreciate for high efficiency?
External monitor, keyboard and mouse.
Adrian, content producer.
What´s Your Best Tips For An Efficient Home Office?
I´ve had an ever-changing home office setup for the last 10 years, not that i only work from home other than evenings and weekends, but i just think it is really nice to sit down, quietly and get into my own zone, which can be tricky in an open office environment.
So i would say the main thing to be efficient is to set up your version of a really nice home setup. Some are minimalists and some like to decorate but make it yours.
Personally I i find that having a pair of great sounding headphones does a lot to get into a flow and having equipment that does not require attention to work. Here is a video about how to get into flow state worth watching. Having a keyboard that disconnects every five minutes of a HDMI-cable that is loose can be a big blemish on the road to focus. What else tends you take your focus away? Phone, YouTube? Remove it. Prioritize.
Get yourself excited by the preparing mentally for an efficient day. Get some office-type clothes on, make some coffee and get to grinding. Also i tend to into a zone more easily if i skip breakfast for the first hour or two.
What do you appreciate and value the most in your home office?
A good set of headhones and a blazing fast computer. Also sometimes listening to Brain.fm, which is “functional music to improve”. The sounds and music can sometimes really get you focused quickly.
Which technical equipment do you most appreciate for high efficiency?
If the todo-list stack up i write everything down in a list, make a big pot of coffee and just work until it`s done.
Annukka, COO.
What`s Your Best Tips For An Efficient Home Office?
In the mornings: try to keep the same morning routines as before: get up the same time as before, have a shower, put some clothes on, have breakfast before start working etc. I normally use 45 min driving to work, so now I use that time to go for a longer walk with my dog which wakes me up and gives me energy first thing in the morning.
In our home we are two people who have a home office and a 6 years old daughter who needs homeschooling. We take shifts in home schooling and we also divide the days so that it’s clear who has responsibility for all kinds of “Can I watch Netflix, can I drink cocoa, can you watch me doing cartwheels, can you help me find this and that” requests. I have to admit that my husband has been doing 80% of this stuff in the last days but he hasn’t noticed it yet, so let’s keep this between us :D
We have turned our tv room temporarily into an office so one of us is sitting there and the other is working downstairs. We try to focus on the work as much as possible so we don’t go around the house all the time but we actually send each other WhatsApp messages and propose coffee and lunch breaks. Then the whole family meets in the kitchen and it reminds me a bit of lunch breaks at work.
To work effectively in the work environment I use different productivity and prioritizing techniques. Many have already mentioned the Pomodoro technique which is really effective. In addition I’m a big fan of To do lists and I also use Eisenhower’s decision matrix quite often (Google it!). I recommend you also google “Eat the frog”. And lastly: if it takes 2 minutes, do it now!
What do you appreciate and value the most in your home office?
I save at least 1,5 hours every day because my trip to work is nowadays 10 seconds from downstairs to upstairs. I also feel like I can concentrate more when there aren’t so many interruptions (except the 6 year old). And of course I can spend much more time with my beloved ones than I have done in years!
Which technical equipment do you most appreciate for high efficiency?
I couldn’t live without my extra screen! When the decibels get high in the house I put my Bose headset on and pretend I don’t hear them screaming my name ;)
Zilvinas, full stack developer.
What`s Your Best Tips For An Efficient Home Office?
The best way for me to work efficiently at home is to work under the pomodoro system — to work for 25 minutes without interruption (mute phone sounds, computer sounds), not check mail, and so on. In other words, just don’t get distracted. Then take a break of 5 minutes. Then 25 minutes again. After several such cycles, half an hour of leisure.
All info about the pomodoro system here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pomodoro_Technique
Many thanks to Joachim for showing me this system.
What do you appreciate and value the most in your home office?
I really appreciate the opportunity to work with family members. We have more discussions, talking during breaks. Also, stay with pets for more than an hour a day. Falling asleep dog on the legs and cute and at the same time makes working longer (I can not move, otherwise the dog will wake up).
I also appreciate the opportunity to work in total silence — someone at work is still talking and breaking. There is complete silence at home. I am even more productive than at work.
Which technical equipment do you most appreciate for high efficiency?
TV off, radio off, phone sound off.
There is no lifting table like at home, but I bought a special chair to not hurt my back.
I also use bicycle trainer if I need to spend 10 minutes for reading emails, messages in channels and etc :P
The verdict?
All living creatures have an extraordinary ability to adapt and evolve, especially when circumstances require change. So let’s use this change to achieve more, learn more and do more by looking for the new emerging possibilities. If working from home is where we spend the majority of time now then lets explore that, share advice, learn and grow.
It’s also time to pay extra attention to each other, help, support and make sure we are all safe and well.
