10 Tips for Working at Home Like a Pro BY HELEN GALL
top 10 tips to help keep you productive and sane.
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Set a schedule and stick to it. This will help you maintain work-life balance; otherwise, you might find that you’re suddenly working longer hours than usual.
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Create a daily routine. Get ready for work the same way you do when you're going to the office, put on regular clothes. Believe me, you’ll appreciate the sweatpants later! Stop by the kitchen for coffee on your way to your laptop and schedule breaks.
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Find somewhere comfortable to work. This is especially important if you haven’t got a desk. Don’t be an Ergo Zombie — choose a spot where you're able to work productively, and keep that space distinct from other parts of your home. That way, you can unplug from work when you're done.
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Turn your video on. Many of us work at home alone, so it's nice to see someone other than your pet. By the way, it’s totally fine to talk to your pet. Talking to your dog means you’re smart. (Not crazy!)
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Socialize with colleagues. There are plenty of other ways to still be social, ideas from other teams include Cisco Webex social Fridays, lunchtime brainstorms, and coffee chat Teams rooms.
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Break the day up! Take some training, watch a TED Talk, listen to a podcast, or browse around our News Archive or Daily Features.
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Get up and move. Every 45 minutes or so, stand up for a few minutes, stretch, or just walk around. Set alarms. I do; otherwise, hours can go by sometimes. Sitting disease is real!
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Keep hydrated. This plays a big part in staying healthy and maintaining the function of every system in your body, including your heart, brain, and muscles.
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Don’t battle for bandwidth. If you don’t have Cisco Virtual Office, one way to improve speed and reliability is to plug directly into the router. Wi-Fi may give you freedom, but Ethernet gives you stability. Check your router settings. You may be able to give your work computer bandwidth priority over your kids’ iPads or your nontechnical roommate who doesn’t even know you can do that.
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My final tip: Remember the mute button is your friend! 🙂 Maybe you're in a meeting and want to eat lunch or your kids are at home having way too much fun. If you're not talking, mute … just don’t forget to unmute, or the only one you’ll be talking to is yourself!