Our work at B Direct Marketing Communications has always been done remotely and from our respective homes. Nowadays, that’s nothing out of the ordinary, especially given the pandemic’s forced stay-at-home orders and more and more companies moving to remote work or hybrid environments.

But in 2003? When B Direct first began operations? Not so typical.

B Direct has always been a virtual agency which was confusing for clients in the early years. They’d ask “But where are your offices?” Now they get it. AND we didn’t have any hiccups when the world went remote — because we were already there. Business continued as normal.

Of course there are pros and cons to working from home. A recent survey conducted by the Pew Research Center reports that 60% of those who work from home feel less connected to their coworkers. But, 60% also find it easier to balance their work and personal lives due to teleworking.

Working from home truly is a balancing act. And, what started as a safety precaution is fast becoming permanent for many workers.

We hope the following tips will be helpful to use in your “at home office.”

1. Maintain regular working hours
   Creating a schedule and then sticking to that schedule is helpful for staying focused and compartmentalizing your day. While flexibility during remote work can be helpful as well, many people find they are more productive when their work hours are at least somewhat consistent.
   
   
2. Dress for success!
   Maybe you won’t be seen by your coworkers in the office, or maybe they’ll only see you from the waist up in your Zoom meetings, however, getting dressed for work in the morning should still be part of your routine. A majority of those who work in pajamas feel less focused on their task at hand.
   
   
3. Have a designated “office” space
   Not all of us have offices in our homes. But, it’s still important to differentiate a location for work versus for your personal life. This could be as simple as one end of the kitchen table being for work and the other be for eating, or as extravagant as a separate room in its entirety.
   
   
4. Stay positive!
   Reading tone over emails can be difficult. Embrace using exclamation points and even *gasp* emojis! Wouldn’t you rather be perceived as overly enthusiastic than cross and short-tempered?
   
   And finally…
   
   
5. Pick a definitive end time
   This one can be tricky. Given how connected we are these days, it can be far too easy to respond to emails at 9:00 pm when your phone notifies you of them. Setting a clear end of workday time for yourself is important for your well-being while working at home.

Just because you are able to answer work emails into the night, does not mean you should answer work emails that late. Allow yourself to take time to rest and recuperate  — and prepare for the next day of home-work.