12 TIPS for Working from Home!

A lot of people are working from home now. Although this might seem like a good idea at first, a lot of people struggle after a couple of months and the psychological impact can be quite serious. Whether you run your own business, work for an employer or have your own staff, here are my top 12 tips for working from home.

Here's some affiliate links to services I use or would consider using. If you think they would be a good match for your business please use these links - many include offers exclusive to this channel. Read more about affiliate links at the bottom of this description:

⚠️ Disclaimer ⚠️

#HomeOffice #SelfEmployed #HomeWorking

0:00 - Introduction
3:25 - Be comfortable
4:49 - Separate your work life
7:31 - Save treats for after work
9:06 - Make it a pleasant space
12:15 - Use headphones
13:14 - Did your family sign up for this?
15:31 - Exercise!
22:54 - Feeling down?

[dan]

On your walking around point Andy, I definitely find it beneficial, if not almost necessary, to get physically out of the house for a change in scenery. Usually I find if I can (be bothered to) do this as early as possible, it really sets my day up for the better. Otherwise the cabin fever sets in!

[MelbourneAlan]

lots of very good points. especially the social isolation and deprssion side of it.
i think your right that in a few years there will be a push back against workign from home. the benifit from all this will be moving away from all employees working in the same building. i can see small office spaces being built in towns and vilages that companies rent a desk or small office in . you could have mary from the bank working beside tom from tesco and julie from the council. this way you get the benifit of not comuting crazy distances to sit in an office along with the benifits of working close to home along with the social side of it

[snappyfish]

Damn I still check my phone for eBay sales when the "ka-ching" sound comes in on this channel 😄

[outoftheburrough]

Really interesting, I worked in an office till 3 years ago, my role meant I needed to concentrate but was continually interrupted so when I could work from home (employer wasn't receptive more than the very occasional day every 6-12 months) I was far more productive, when in the office I didn't start to make progress till after everyone started to leave for the day (couldn't come in later to compensate despite having flex time as the disapproving looks were there) so slipped into hideously long hours which took their toll.
I've spent the last couple of years retraining which has been wonderfully sociable & when not on the course working from home at the back of the house. Now I'm fully 'in the wild' I'm set up in the garage so the neighbours say hello when they walk past on the school run or dog walk which is lovely, I just don't want to be out there in the current windy, cold, rainy, snowy weather we are currently having (in May 2021) so need to fine tune a plan for the winter.
I'd say your warning signs are also relevant for people working in an office who need to review their job, work/life balance etc, as I could have ticked many of those when I recognised I needed to get out of my previous office job.

[DocteGaby]

Hi Andy. I've been working from home for a year now, full time. I could WFH before but never really liked it. I did get used to it after a few months and it's been quite good for a while. But now I'm really bored with it. I'm also going through a house renovation (not as involved as yours, but challenging for my level of skills) and when I'm not working for work I'm often working on the house. Couple that with the impossibility to visit friends or have (or even plan!) holidays, and I'm not really in a good place anymore. I'm going to try to do more exercise and maybe start wearing my nice work clothes during office hours to see if that helps!

[-Will-]

Done about fifteen years working from home too and lots of good advice here. Never thought of the work mug plan and great idea!

[lilsheba]

OH working from home is a total perk, I've been doing it for over 6 months and I wouldn't have it any other way. No downfalls at all. I don't have to deal with people who drink all the coffee right after I make it, fight for room in the fridge, deal with people stealing my food, deal with multi use bathrooms, I don't have to be in an environment that's too hot, too bright, too ugly or too plain.

[Jules_Pew]

I was burnt out a year before the pandemic hit, so all those problem signs were happening well before working from home. I take out and put my work away as soon as the working day is over so I don't have to look at it. Currently, my hallway is cluttered with boxes of client's records. Yes, I make sure I get up and walk around at least every hour. I do miss bouncing ideas off my colleagues, but a quick phone call works fine. Seeing as I'm taking early retirement at the end of March, I've got a lot more vocal about what I consider incorrect working practice; I was always pretty vocal before, but now I don't care if I upset the barrel. One of my bosses has been micromanaging more than usual, and pretty well all the old school people who can sort out problems are thinking of joining me in retirement. They've even offered me self employed work if I want it, but I don't think they understand what burnout is. Fun days.

[johnfithian-franks]

Hi Andy, I had a smile when you started on about working from home. I was in the Royal Navy for some time and when at sea it had a lot of commonality with working from home, as you had all the things you had at except family and free time, I worked eight hours on, eight hours off and that really cocked up your time and rhythm as even when you are off you are still on a working ship and you can’t pop out for a drink (unless you wanted sea water) but I would not recommend that. The worse thing was losing contact with your family, sometimes going six to eight weeks without a letter as your location changed so your letters ended up in one location but you and your ship were diverted to another one, as for wearing a suit and tie, substitute a officers uniform that you had to wear any time you were not sleeping and you lose all idea of time and dates even to the point of being told it is Christmas and I thought it was about November at the time. This lock down is a doodle compared with that

[richardfox]

Excellent channel love that it is done im layman's terms so that thickies such as me can understand the important stuff. I have a request for a future video how do you claim for your car when using it for business journeys does your business pay for a vehicle running costs?
Cheers

[darrenpaulgreen]

All interesting stuff Andy and good to see someone such as yourself talking about mental health implications of wfh.
One aspect that you don’t cover is confidentiality. My partner works for a government organisation and is expected to have (and work from) a separate room in the house to ensure confidentiality of legal issues being discussed. All well and good, except that we don’t have such a room!
Her employer has been lenient on this during the pandemic, when she has been forced to wfh. However, once “normal” life resumes, she will be expected to work from home at least 2 days a week and will be expected to have this separate office in the house. This has lead to us putting our house on the market to be able to move to a suitable property. I’m sure some may question (and even test) the legality of this, but I’m sure she won’t be the only one in this position.

[surreycountyfiddle]

A lot of useful advice here, thanks for taking the time to make this. Also recently enjoyed your piece on bookkeeping.

[JackStrood]

I really like this video, very interesting. Also, nice that you didn't mention the pandemic

[CartooonTHAT]

i dream to work at home. even before the whole pandemic situation. i always wanted to work at home.

[gunnermm]

Some good sound advice, you could do a virtual live stream coffee break with guest small business experts?

[fredthomas]

are you no longer taking on projects for people/in peoples homes as Gosforth Handyman?

[aaron-oug]

Hi I have just went on my
Own looking at ways of advertising is a web site a good start