I’ve been working from home for about 11 months now and during this period, I have developed and adopted habits that ensure that I produce good work.
The first few weeks of working from home were jarring because I was not used to working in such a laidback environment where it was just me. Although I do not like being micromanaged, working from home was a little daunting because there were deadlines to meet and it required discipline, much like university.
Although our working hours are 08:00 to 17:00, these habits have ensured that I can finish anytime between 12:00 and 15:00, depending on how fast or slow I am on that day. I’m not a morning person and I seldom eat breakfast; when I do, I usually eat it for lunch. Because of this, I centred my work around the time I’d take for a lunch break. The one thing I’m strict about is not working from the bedroom. Every morning, I wake up and get ready, the same way a person working in an office would, the only difference is that my “office” is my sitting room.
Another thing I do is make sure to have half of my work submitted by 12:00. Thereafter, I allow myself an hour to eat and to give my eyes a break from the computer screen as I wear glasses. While I’m on my lunch break, I conceptualise how I will tackle the second half of my workday. Because my work involves a lot of social media, I set a rough timeframe to spend on social media, as it is easy to get lost in the content.
Finally, I often set myself days on which I can work outside from home. On these days, I would choose whether to visit a coffee shop, a library or make it a solo, working lunch date. I find that changing scenery also helps with the workflow.
Abenathi Gqomo
