Many of us now are entering our 6th week of working from home. Hubbell followed all medical and governmental, taking the necessary precautions to ensure the safety of their employees, customers and community during this period. Whilst manufacturing continues with the addition of new safe working practices, those of us who can be based at home remain so.

Whilst I quickly adapted to new ways of working, living and socialising, there remain challenges to overcome. There are few good habits you can adopt to make the work day run smoother. Here are my tips for working remotely :

• Schedule your day - switch on at normal time and off at normal time. Don’t let your work take over your homelife, you need to find a balance for your mental health particularly with the additional stresses we face currently.
• Be organised as if you were at work. Treat your work as normal not as an interruption in the house.
• If possible, have an area dedicated for your workspace, so that in that area you are focussed on work and less easily distracted. I know this isn’t so easy if you have small people in the house! Having a dedicated area to work will help you distance from it and shut off at the end of the working day.
• Teams meetings are great for video calls when a relatively small number of people to participate and some good online meetings/presentations can be carried out. Not so good for large numbers unless they are only viewing rather than participating as it can’t be a bit harder to manage. I’ve found Zoom calls easier when lots of people are on chatting!
• Personally video calling your key customers and contacts for a one to one chat out with the setting of a group meeting will ensure you can communicate with them effectively

I’ve also found plenty of benefits of working from home :

• You don’t need to dress up, but don’t work in your pyjamas! You still need a professional mindset still for work.
• Instead of a break at the coffee machine – you get to load the washing machine.
• The dog becomes your new workmate and is delighted to get your company all day.

After work is an excellent opportunity to create new positive habits, learn a new skill, catch up on odd jobs you’ve been putting off or just take some downtime and recharge.

• Read that book you were bought as a gift at Christmas but never got around to reading. Dust of the tin of paint you bought last summer and freshen up a room.
• Pick that crochet hook back up, re-learn an old skill or hobby!
• Beat your partner at Cluedo (other old school board games are available!)
• Teach yourself to cook or expand your repertoire! Be creative and make use of what you have lurking in your cupboards! There’s also the added bonus of then having tidier cupboards!

The way in which we interact with one another, our colleagues and customers has changed and credit is due to all my colleagues who constantly keep each other uplifted and focused as we continue serving our customers safely from our homes.