Wellbeing
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Be kind to yourself. Remember that in the current situation so many people are having to adapt to a new way of working and it will take time to get into a routine.
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Your working day can be flexible as the usual working pattern cannot necessarily be kept due to caring responsibilities and other commitments.
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If you have children or caring responsibilities, you may need to focus more on these caring responsibilities ahead of work tasks so give yourself time and space to get used to this. Make sure you have periods of time where you step away from ‘the office’ and have some dedicated family time.
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Get up, get showered and dressed as if you were going into work! Sounds simple, but the routine can help you get mentally prepared for work (or study).
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If you work in a team, it is helpful to have a team catch up to find out how everyone is getting on with working from home. If you work on your own, you could join a forum to keep in touch with others in a similar line of work.
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Make sure you still take your annual leave. Although you are now working from home, you still need a break from work.
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There are loads of great online videos to help you keep fit and active. @sportbrighton are running regular Move Monday video sessions.
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Breathing exercises and techniques can help when you are feeling under pressure or stressed. Going for a walk, run or bike ride can help give you much needed headspace. Gentle stretching, yoga and pilates are also great ways to slow down and relax. You could also get back into reading or find a book you haven’t read in a while. Bring out the board games!
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Get creative! Now is a great time to use your imagination: make, build, design, draw or write about something.
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Stay in touch with family members, friends and neighbours by phone, video chat or email.
Remote Working
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Prioritise tasks where possible.
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Completing one task in a day is a job well done! You may feel like you have to work at the same level as you did in the office but you also have to take into consideration any caring responsibilities and rest breaks, along with adapting to new digital technologies.
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Make sure you have regular breaks from your screen/s. This could be from your laptop, mobile phone or other mobile devices. A helpful technique is the Pomodoro technique: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pomodoro_Technique
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Make sure you switch off from work communications at a set time during your working week. It’s so easy to have just one more last check of work emails – switch it off!
If you have a shelf or can safely stack books to create a standing desk for your laptop this can help with being seated for too long. -
Get through those admin tasks you have been putting off! Tidy up your files, folders, databases and you could even get those reports drafted and written up but remember to pace yourself.
Video meetings
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Email round an agenda before the meeting.
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Make sure someone is assigned as the chairperson in order to stick to timings.
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Video meetings on apps like Microsoft Teams usually can be recorded for anyone who cannot make it. Someone could take minutes to be emailed round afterwards.
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Anyone who is not talking should turn off their mics and turning off videos can help with decreasing the load on the bandwidth and getting better quality.
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If using an app like Microsoft Teams, you can use the Chat function to ask any questions while someone is speaking.