A change is upon us in our working habits. The Coronavirus pandemic has altered the way we work, perhaps forever. The regular 9-5 office job is now a blend of home working and office working. For most, this is a good thing and a better way to live, with a far better work-life balance, lets travel costs, and increased productivity. But it’s not always plane sailing! Juggling work with kids in the house. Interruptions from delivery drivers whilst on a video call. Increased heating costs as you are home more and loss of team communication are just a few of the problems. So we are here to help. Whether you are working from home full time or part-time, change is here and it’s time to embrace the new way of getting things done.

And here at POSH, we got rid of the office and have been working from our home office for years, so we’re in a confident position to be able to highlight some of the best ways to ensure you get a productive day at work – from home.

Working from home can be lonely

If you live or work on your own during the day at home, it’s no surprise that it can be lonely. Without regular human interaction at the cafeteria, photocopier or water fountain, the days can drag out and sometimes you might find yourself having spoken to nobody all day. So it’s a good idea to take a break and go outside for lunch. To the park, local corner shop or anywhere you might get to unwind just for a moment and get some genuine face-to-face human interaction. Daily human interaction is important not just for our mental wellbeing, but perhaps for our physical health too. 

Further, it is hugely beneficial to keep in contact with your colleagues and clients. Having a structured weekly call with a bit of a catch-up at the start has really helped all of our team. Find out more about just how to do this further on.

Another way to avoid loneliness is getting a pet. Now, we certainly don’t advocate just going out and buying a pet without putting a lot of research into it. For example, if you are looking for a dog that will cuddle up and be pretty chilled all day whilst you work, you probably don’t want to get a high-energy dog that will insist on three long walks a day! It’s also a good idea to research where your puppy is coming from. Avoid puppy farms at all costs. You might get a cheap dog, but chances are it will be unhealthy. It will potentially cost you a lot of money in vet bills. But if you get it right, there are few things better than writing a report with a puppy or kitten cuddled up in your arms!

Working at home with kids can be impossible

Let’s not pretend that working at home with children in the house is ever easy. Unless they are super efficient and well-behaved (lucky you!) you’ve probably found them in front of the TV a lot more than they should be allowed. Perhaps a lot more iPad time, and a lot less reading and imaginative time that you would like too. 

As we all get used to this new way of working, don’t kick yourself about this. Things will settle out and once you get yourself into a routine, you can start working out one for the children. In the meantime, don’t worry if you just can’t get anything done. There’s no planning for the days when the kids are just climbing the walls and stopping you from finishing a thought. This is the time when you speak to your manager and figure out a solution. It’s a stressful time, but nothing is impossible, especially if you ask for help. 

Working at home with kids

Here are some top tips for working from home with a family that might help you organise your time when there are kids in the house:

If they are old enough, set clear limits on when you are available, and time when you are only available for emergencies (and be clear what constitutes an emergency!)

For younger kids, try to see if you can shift your work to fit around them. For example, can you get up before they do? Work when they sleep or have downtime? Can you work in the evening instead? Some people who parent in couples split their time so as to ensure a length of uninterrupted work time. 

One of our young kid parents has put a dvd corner in their office and as a reward, when her 3-year-old lets her work for a set time alone, she is allowed to then come in for quiet time and watch a dvd with mum in the room with her.

Call on friends

But really do try and keep the two separate. Yes, we were victims of lockdown parenting too! And this meant trying to work every second of every day, continuously being interrupted and pulled away by kids. So, we got our work done, but it was stressful. And our family time was so enmeshed with work, that it became stressful too! So try and reward your kids and yourself with set “us time” and set “work time”.

And, as a result of reduced child care and increased working from home hours, we have also found as a team that we are partnering up with other parents. As such, we have agreed with friends parents where each is struggling and we try to share the load. So, your kids might have a play date on an afternoon with them, whilst you cover sick days or lifts from daycare. Whatever you are struggling with, you are not alone. So start talking to others and asking for help in return for your time when you have it.

When you work, it can be a good time for children to work too. Have you got space at your desk or kitchen table for them to join you? And remember, work doesn’t just mean schoolwork – it can be painting, playing with dough or colouring in! 

Working from home doesn’t actually have to mean ‘from home’. Perhaps there is somewhere like a soft play or park that you can go where you can still keep an eye on things. But here, you’ll have the chance to get your thoughts in order and get some work done. 

Keeping costs down

Working from home can add a few additional costs such as increased heating bills, worries over electricity costs. So, we have taken to heating just the one room we are working in. The cost of running a quality eco heater is nominal – but do make sure you buy “a quality eco heater” as whilst a cheap heater may have a low upfront cost, they do tend to rack up your electricity bills and cost more to run monthly. Check the energy rating and kw before buying. And here is a handy tool for calculating your costs, once you know which heater you want. Buy one with a thermostat and keep its run time down by layering up on clothing… or even keep a blanket to hand for those chilly winter days.

Keeping up communication

And finally, how to keep up communication with your team and work colleagues. Well, we improved our communication and productivity by implementing a “no email rule”. Yes, we asked our team only to send an email in an emergency or for extremely time-sensitive items. And all other questions get put into a shared online sheet we call our “coms sheet”. So, the team add their name, the client it relates to, and details of their item. And then every Tuesday, we then have an operations conference call whereby we go through each item sequentially. As such, this means the team not only knows everything that is going on with each client, but they also learn from each other through each of the questions asked.

You’ll get there!

We’re all getting used to this, and will be for some time too. So don’t feel the need to rush things, and try not to get too stressed out. Once you and anyone else in your life get into the swing of things, you’ll start to wonder how you ever managed to commute to a 9-5 every day! Working from home with children or on your own will soon become second nature and, hopefully, open up so many new possibilities and opportunities that it will change your life for the better. And remember, if you need help with your website or marketing strategy, we are happy to help too.

The post Juggling home life, kids and work – tips from POSH appeared first on POSH Agency.

Most people have the basics – computer, phone and internet connection. But there are ways to up your game and impress clients, many of whom will never know you are sitting in your kitchen.

So here are 6 ways to make your remote working more streamlined for 2021.

1. Google Workspace & Google Hangouts

Ensuring that you can always gain access to your documents and files is vital for any business to run smoothly. Here at the POSH Agency have found that Google Workspace (formerly G-suite) is the best solution. All our employees can easily log in remotely to get what they need. Instead of using Word or Excel, we use Google Docs for our work, which is automatically backed up on the server as we type. This means nothing is lost in the case of a computer failure or power cut. 

With Google Workspace, we get calendars that all our team can access, helping us to co-ordinate diaries without seemingly endless back-and-forth emails. And speaking of emails, these are on this platform too, working on a par with platforms like Outlook and Mailbird. 

We also make use of Google Hangouts and use Google Meet instead of Zoom. We can invite up to 250 people to a meeting and people can join using most devices – laptops, phones and even tech like Google Home Hub Max. 

We’ve found that having all of this under one umbrella keeps everything running smoothly and avoids needing different passwords for different utilities. 

2. Loom

Sometimes you need to take clients through a website, perhaps one you have developed or one you are looking to improve. It can be hard to do this over the phone, so creating a short video is sometimes the best idea. This is especially true if your team is spread over different timezones and so can’t have everyone on call at the same time. 

Loom is great for this, as you can record yourself and your screen at the same time, going through what you need to discuss. You can then save it as a file, and everyone can watch it in their own time. It means everyone gets the same information, and you can ensure that you are giving everyone what they need. 

Here’s a video demonstrating how it works.

3. Mmhmm

Although this sounds like an old Crash Test Dummies hit from the nineties, Mmhmm is actually a great way to make video calls a lot more interesting. You can use it, for example, to put your screen above your shoulder. This means people don’t have to decide wether to watch you or your graph. 

You can use Mmhmm to really emphasize presentations by reducing the size of your head on screen, or simply making your background more interesting when remote working.

It’s a great way to liven up video calls and keep people engaged in what you have to say. Here’s a video that explains it in more depth:

4. Teamwork

They say team work makes the dream work, but in this case, it makes sure everyone knows what work they have to do.

We use Teamwork here at POSH Agency to note all the time we are putting into our clients each month, and who is doing it. This means we can easily report to them on what we’ve accomplished, without having to rely on spreadsheets, timesheets or emails. With everyone on the team remote working, it’s easy to quickly log in and see where everyone is at and if anyone needs help.

All our team can access it and it’s project management software that is simple to use. Whether you need to manage workloads or re-prioritise a project, this software makes it simple. That means you have more time to actually do project work!

5. Milanote

We recently came across a great tool for creativity, for concepting and creative project planning called Milanote. Milanote is a visual and collaborative system for capturing ideas and managing a marketing project. It’s a bit like working on a wall in a creative studio. So, how do we use Milanote? Well, we are pretty new to this system, but so far we are absolutely loving the mood board function. As such, instead of creating time-consuming PowerPoint presentations to take clients through our web project research and ideas, we are now creating online mood boards.

 But this isn’t all it can do. You can allocate the project aspects to team members, set milestones… everything really in terms of project management from end to end on a creative or marketing journey. If you’re interested in giving it a try, you can create a free lifetime account here (with 500 cards bonus storage).

6.TikTok

TikTok isn’t really the new kid on the social media block any more. It was released in 2016 and has over 800 million users in 2021. 

People use it to make fun, short videos and brands use it to get in front of a young demographic. Over a quarter of UK smartphone users aged between 18 and 24 were using TikTok by the end of 2019.

However another use is to build team relationships and encourage a fun team environment. It’s a way to keep employees having fun whilst being creative. 

Here’s a great video for using TikTok for business:

Find your way

Finding your own way through remote working is hard, so hopefully these ideas will help with your productivity. If you have any great ideas yourself, then let us know below or on our Facebook page!

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