The Work Day – Home / Hybrid or Office?

I guess I was one of the lucky ones when Covid hit because I had already been working from home for two days a week due to the distance I lived from where I worked. It wasn’t a stretch to go from two days a week to five days a week.

I was going through some personal stuff when Covid hit and I moved house in 2021, right in the middle of the pandemic. My faithful companion, Roddy (my incredibly cute Staffordshire Bull Terrier) was there every step of the way and we were together continually during this time. He was also getting older and loved the fact that I was home all day so when Covid was over but home working continued, he thought it was great!

When I started working from home two days a week, I ensured I stuck to my routine that I would have had if I were at the office. I made sure I was ready to start work at 9AM every day, I took my hour for lunch and I ensured I finished at 5PM, although if required I would work longer. This gave me a great work/life balance.

This provided some great benefits:

1. I didn’t have to get up too early to leave for the office

2. I saved money on fuel and also reduced my impact on the environment

3. I had more time in the day as I didn’t have to travel to meetings – all meetings were done on Microsoft Teams

4. I was a lot more productive as I had that extra time in my day to work on projects etc.

5. My dog had company all day as he had got used to me being around during Covid

The only real downside to this type of working is a lot less one-to-one human interaction which for some people can be a real issue. It was okay for me as I regularly saw my team mates online so I didn’t feel like I was really missing out.

One thing that is difficult when working at home on your own, is the available distractions such as your favourite TV programmes being there for you all day. The best thing to do here is to take yourself into a separate room such as your kitchen or if you are lucky enough to have one, an office. That way, ,mentally, you are taking yourself into that work space and mindset rather than being susceptible to those distractions.

The other top tip I have is to try and get out in the fresh air for a short walk either at lunchtime or when you finish work just to help you decompress after a day. This helps especially if you don’t have colleagues you can approach to discuss your day.

I think overall, I would prefer to work from home, however I also think it is good for your mental health if you go to a more hybrid way of working as you get the best of both worlds.

If anyone is struggling with working from home and needs any more top tips, contact me as I’d love to connect with you.