The sun may be shining, but you’ve still got work to do. Here are a few ways to help you resist the temptation to head outdoors…
Working from home requires a certain type of discipline – you have to be willing to work the hours needed and to avoid distractions from the TV, friends or family. During the summer, you can add to this the draw of heading outside on a sunny day.To keep you on track and working to schedule, here are a few tips…
Plan your working day
One of the benefits of remote working is that you can sometimes be a bit more flexible with your working hours. As long as you’re getting the work done to deadline, it shouldn’t matter too much when it’s done.
If there’s a heatwave coming that you want to take advantage, ask your boss if you can start earlier in the day. Starting at 7am, instead of say 9am, could mean you’re done and dusted by 3pm – giving you plenty of time to soak up some afternoon rays.
To take things further, see if you can get all your work done over a wet weekend so you can take time to embrace the midweek sun.
Take holidays
While it’s hard to plan your time off around the weather, if you’ve got a few spare days of holiday remaining, why not take them when the weather improves? As long as you’re not leaving colleagues in the lurch, and don’t have any deadlines to hit, taking a last minute day off shouldn’t be too much of an issue.
Otherwise, you might end up getting to the end of the year and being forced to take your remaining days off on a wet Wednesday in December.
Embrace the weekend
Balancing working life with home chores can be tough and weekends can often be taken up with cleaning the house, washing the car or doing grocery shopping.
But if it’s a scorcher outside at the weekend, try and postpone any chores and head outside. The British summer is unpredictable so you might not get the sun on the following weekend.
Set up a garden office
If you’ve got the space outdoors and a strong Wifi signal in your garden, why not go for it and set up a garden office.
All you need is a bit of protection from the elements, an extension lead for power, a shade so you can see your screen and a comfortable and ergonomically suitable desk and chair (ie, don’t work from your deckchair).
Just keep an eye on the weather reports – you don’t want your laptop being caught in a summer shower and all your hard work deleted.
Posted by The Secret Businessman