We hope that everyone out there is keeping safe and well. We here at Gaslight transitioned to working remotely a while back, so we’re lucky in that regard, but it must be difficult for some places to get used to working from home. We have a few tips that helped us make the transition, which we hope others may find useful:

• Try and maintain regular hours, while it’s great to be able to be a bit more flexible, it’s really easy to blur the lines between work and home life. Having regular hours helps you to maintain that work-life balance.
• Set some ground rules for the people you live with. It’s handy to have a chat with those you live with and let them know that when you’re working, you’re working, even though you’re at home!
• Take breaks and don’t fall into the overtime trap. When you haven’t got people leaving the office in the evening, it can be really easy to lose track of time!
• Over-communicate! Talk to people about when you’re about or not about. Let them know how work or tasks are going. Ask them questions about their work. It’s all too easy to get lost in your own little world at home and suddenly all that great teamwork has disappeared and no one knows who is doing what!
• Try and get out and about. As much as it is safe to do so it can be really good to take a break and head outside for a while. Whether that be a trip around the block, out into your garden or onto a balcony. Fresh air and natural light does us the world of good.
• Try and socialise with colleagues. We’ll all be missing the round the coffee machine banter so try and finds ways to just have some time to check in with colleagues, have a chat and maybe try some online interactive experiences a try. Online gaming anyone?
• Take sick days. Just because you’re at home doesn’t mean you should be working if you’re poorly. Take the time to get better and come back when you’re ready.
• Be patient and kind. Remember everyone could be struggling at various levels, it’s not only a new way of working to get used to but also a scary time to be going through. Try and cut people some slack, you never know what it is they’re going through.