Do You Have to Work From Home?
Working From Home - here are the best apps out there to help you.
Is this the first time you’ve worked from home?
How do you work from home?
What is the best way to work from home?
Are you finding it hard to know where to start?
We know you feel.
But working from home has so many benefits. You can forget the commute. Wear comfortable clothes. Save money when you make your own lunch. Have undivided attention on your work. All these are just a few of the benefits of working from home.
But there are still challenges. Sometimes you go to the snack cupboard just too often. You’re tempted to lay in bed an extra 3 hour. That dusting needs doing and you could fix that shelf that’s already been broken for 18 months - NO.
NO NO NO.
Working from home should be efficient and fun. Today I am going to share with you just a few apps and computer programmes that will make working from home a dream rather than a messy reality.
This is a great tool for conference calling. It’s simple to use on a phone or computer. So you can have the picture in picture conference call on your phone and be on your laptop at the same time. Or vice versa if necessary. You can share screens, if you need to watch or discuss a presentation, it’s easy to do.
Use this to break up your day into actionable lists. It’s easy to lose focus or a schedule when working from home but it’s really important you don’t. A routine and set tasks will focus your time and make sure you start work without distractions and take regular breaks, without skipping meals, or a two hour lunch break. Think about your regular day at the office and try to follow the same pattern.
It’s important to keep healthy even if you’re stuck indoors all day. Ensure you go for a walk or a run and if you want to exercise with a teacher like in a class (I myself find this much easier to do) then join Class Pass and get involved in some of the many classes they have available on the app.
Google Trends showing the spike in search term 'Working From Home', worldwide, in the last 3 months
If you need to send large files to someone for them to review the file may be too big to send via email Go online to Wetransfer - the service is free if you’re sending up to 2GB at a time. Best of all you get email confirmation when the file is sent and when it is downloaded as well.
Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides
I cannot express how useful Google Drive is to businesses near and far. Google has its own version of the Microsoft Office Suite and the Google version is waaay better for one good reason. It’s online. The document/spreadsheet/presentation you are working on has ONE online version and you can edit it at the same time or view it while someone else (from their home office). You will never be looking at an old version. Need the old version? Simple. Look for it in the History section - every old version is there for you to find. It comes free (with limited space) to everyone with a Gmail account.
Eventually you will get bored at home. There’s only so many Netflix shows you can watch or puzzles you can do. Chatterpack is a great site filled with educational things that will entertain you but also keep you learning. The variety of topics means that there’s something for everyone and if you get bored of reading about one subject you can easily switch to the other.
I hope you find these tips useful. Most importantly, remember to look after your physical and mental health when you’re working from home. Drink plenty of water, don’t scoff on biscuits, get regular breaks, and take some light exercise.
Good luck! Don’t forget to share your experiences of working from home in the comments section below.
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