Having been full time working from home for the last 4 years, I’ve tweaked, tested and concluded there are 5 things that make working from home an absolute joy.

1 – Stand up
2 – Have more meetings
3 – Go for a walk
4 – Take a nap
5 – Start earlier

1 – Stand up

There’s something about the “flow” of an office environment that requires a lot more movement than you’ll have working from home.

For some reason, when working from home you simply don’t need to move as much.

Apart from the obvious back problems, you will also start to feel lethargic and slower.

Try working in different positions. If you have to make calls or video meetings, try doing them standing up.

Try working from the kitchen counter for a short while.

If you’re going to move your furniture around to create a space that’s better aligned for working, try placing a large board on top of a bookshelf to create a standing desk. That’s what I use as my work station, combined with a £30 bar stool, which I sit on for about 25% of the working day.

2 – Have more meetings

One of the reasons you can be more productive working from home is the huge reduction of interruptions.

However, you will still need human interaction.

I get all of my working day human interaction by spending 1/4 of my time in meetings.

This is really important – we are social creatures and human interaction is a key component to our happiness.

Don’t have any need for meetings? Then schedule one with a colleague that you usually chat with while in the office.

What will the meeting be about? It doesn’t matter. Schedule a 5 minute chat to ask what they watched on TV last night.

Don’t just do this over Messenger or Slack – that won’t do – you need to hear their voice.

3 – Go for a walk

It’s not good for our mental health to be indoors all day.

That time you hate spending commuting actually does you some good and will need to be replaced.

The good news is now you can walk somewhere more pleasant – or just to the corner and back. Don’t allow yourself to forget what a fresh breeze feels like.
(though I appreciate this might not be possible soon)

4 – Take a nap

If you’re an entrepreneurial, super-motivated type, you might find this hard to accept – but taking a 10 minute nap early afternoon can help you get more done.

This is another outcome of not being in an office environment, full of people working alongside you. Without that atmosphere, when working from home, it’s a lot more likely that 30 minutes after lunch, you’ll find yourself staring at the screen, re-reading the same sentence you’ve just read.

Don’t feel bad about this – it doesn’t mean you’ve suddenly become lazy – it’s an effect of working from home that I’ve become very familiar with.

What I’ve come to learn is this – don’t fight it!

Set your alarm for 10 minutes, lie down, close your eyes and go with it.

Do I nap every day? No.

Is 10 minutes enough? Absolutely – and it’s way more effective than coffee.

Amendment – after 1 day of homeschooling my kids, I think this might not be so applicable to parents!

5 – Start work early

The single biggest benefit to working from home is the time you’ll save not having to commute.

But don’t give that time away.

Still get up at the same time & get started on your work earlier.

If you can finish work earlier, then do it. Otherwise take a longer lunch break (for that walk or nap!).

Then when you’ve finished work and you don’t have to commute to get home, go find your loved ones, give them a hug and enjoy spending the whole evening together.

After 4 years I’m still loving the lifestyle improvements I’ve gained from working from home. I see way more of my wife and kids than I did when I had a 2 hour daily commute & I’m a happier person because of it. I don’t get stressed by traffic and I don’t get lonely when working from home.

I hope at least one of these tips helps you get some joy from working from home.

Rob Watson is Google Marketing Platform Expert at Supplyant