If you’re someone who doesn’t normally work from home but will be doing so for the next little while, there are a few things you might want to do to make sure that you’re able to be just as effective and productive while working from home as you are when you’re in the office.

To help you in doing this, here are three tips for working out of your home for a short period of time when it’s something you’re not used to. 

Learn What Space Works For You

When working in your home, there are going to be all kinds of spaces for you to choose to set up shop. While you might initially think that working out of a home office might be best for you, this isn’t always the case.

To best determine where you should work at home, think about what you need from the space that you’re working in. For some, getting away from all other people and distractions is necessary. For others, they can be in the thick of the flow of the home without having it affect their working ability. And still for others, sometimes getting a lot of natural light and noises from outside can be helpful. Depending on what most resonates with you, you may want to work in a separate space like a home office, in your open kitchen, or out on your back deck. As long as you’re able to set the necessary boundaries for people entering your space, things should work out for you.  

Put Away Distractions

In your normal office, you likely have set up your space so that you can focus solely on work. But if you’re not used to working from home, you might find that you have a lot more distractions in this space than you normally do.

Knowing this, you should try to put away anything that distracts you when you’re working from home. Try to keep things like your TV or other videos turned off, while also potentially keeping your phone away from you so that you don’t just pick it up and get distracted by social media every few minutes. 

Have A Plan For Communication

When you’re used to being in the office, it can be easy to keep up with what’s going on in the office and how everyone’s projects are progressing. But when you’re working from home, you’ll need to put a bit more effort into your communication with others if you want to stay on the same page with them. 

To do this, you can schedule video calls when needed, keep up via email, or chat throughout the day so that you’re able to maintain your relationships and communication with others. 

If you have to work from home after working in an office for so long, consider using the tips mentioned above to help you through this transition until you’re able to get back in the office.