As a strong believer of working from home (WFH) during my career, I observed few habits that would make your life easier during these days.
I hope these will be helpful for you. They are based on my experience and nothing is scientifically proven unless data/source provided.
Get used to calendar & tasks being your best friends
I benefit from a GTD (Getting Things Done) approach a lot.
Creating tasks and blocking respective times in your calendar is essential. This will force you to work as you see your work calendar is full with time blocks and with a deliverable linked to them.
I would also recommend that you definitely block time and try to prioritize if you think that task is not creating any pleasure for you – if you’re less motivated to do it. This will also avoid procrastination.
If you don’t get overwhelmed with a busy calendar, I also try to squeeze my meetings in certain time blocks to avoid that “free time syndrome” — staying home and having free times in between doesn’t distract me when I’m home.
Book your time for errands
Again, calendar will be your best friend. In addition to the first point, blocking your time for errands is also important.
In an office set-up, you’d already have resources/teams for cleaning, food etc. which you don’t need to worry about. That doesn’t work at home.
I do book my time if I need to exercise during morning, or need to cook for lunch and even need to feed my cat.
For effectiveness (and obviously for your health), having those covered is essential so they are in your work calendar when WFH.
Be transparent for potential interruptions in meetings
We can share at the start of a VC meeting if we’re waiting for a grocery delivery, plumber or that you need to feed your dog in 15 minutes etc.
As I said earlier, always try to book time for such tasks in advance. Somehow, if you cannot, working from home is a bit more complicated as your home and work life are becoming integrated. We should be flexible with the daily tasks and tell our stakeholders in advance for courtesy and also efficiency.
Create your own separate workplace if possible
This is important – Even if you’d like to work from your couch – try to separate that part of your apartment as workplace and try to avoid working from places where you spend your off-time at home.
Don’t feel obliged to stay online longer/in front of your screen if you’re done for the day
One advantage of WFH is the non-existent commuting time so use it but not always for work. If you’re done for the day and you don’t need anything else to do; give that time back to your personal life.
You can use that time for work but don’t feel obliged – especially, like I said, if you’re done for the day. You need to keep yourself motivated for WFH. Staying online will not help you for that; it can add more stress. and can become a very unsustainable habit of “being always online”.
Get your meals ready in advance (even if they’re sad)
If you have the chance to cook everything in advance, this will boost your efficiency.
Personally, I realized that if I don’t do that, I started skipping meals. This is not healthy so take good care of yourself.
Have fun, be creative
At the end, companies are looking for ways to keep their employees motivated in an office space. One of the major action is that they’re trying very hard to create a place where you can feel comfortable. And guess what? — The most comfortable place for a human-being is their home. 😉
That’s why, if you try to have fun while doing your best at work, why shouldn’t you avoid that at home? It’s important that you still do VCs with your colleagues, just chatting, virtual gatherings are very fun.
If you’re a multitasker, you can even talk to your parents/friends etc. while working on some easy tasks. For example, if you’re into cycling like me, it’s extremely fun to read your e-mails while spinning on an indoor trainer.