Work from Home Equipment Checklist
The COVID-19 pandemic has necessitated most companies to adopt a work from home program. While you may have originally though it a good idea, mostly because it can help stop the spread of the virus, most people find out that the transition may not be as simple as they thought. You find out too late that there are some things you forgot to buy, update or even install.
With most people experience significant challenges transitioning to a work from home routine, we thought the best way to help you get ready is to share with you a work from home equipment checklist. At the very least, it is our hope that this checklist will help you stay organized.
Have a Fast, Reliable and Secure Internet Connection
The first thing you should check when transitioning to work from home is your internet connection. It may have been strong enough to access check your work emails from times to time, but is it strong enough to sustain an hour-long video conferencing call?
Choose a Wi-Fi connection that can provide good coverage to all areas of the house. But since you will also be using for sensitive work information that may be proprietary, you should also invest in a good VPN to secure the connection. VPNs are essential for internet security and many of them are relatively inexpensive.
Setup a Home Office
Having your own space to work is both important to avoid distractions and help you get your daily work-load done, but it may also be great for your motivation. When you work from your sofa or bed, eventually you are most likely to lose interest in work, particularly other distraction like television are in the vicinity.
We recommend setting up a space in your house that is only dedicated to work. This way when you walk into this room, you step into a work mindset. And other members of the household will also learn not to disturb you when you’re “at work”.
Ideally, this work space should be in a room with a door that can be locked. But if this is not possible due to inadequacies in space, you can still carve out an ideal space for work perhaps in the living room or kitchen.
Invest in Equipment and Software for Easier Communication
If you don’t already have them, you may want to invest in good quality headphones and camera to facilitate easier remote communication. Although remote working can be lonely sometimes, you will not be working in a bubble and occasionally, depending on your company’s schedule you will have to communicate with your colleagues.
Good quality headphones and camera can aid you in communication. But noise cancelling headphones can also come in handy when you want to focus on work, keeping distractions out of ear shot.
Don’t be Tempted to Stay in your PJs all day
It is very easy to get caught up in the mentality that since you don’t have to leave the house, there is no need to dress up. It is a good idea to shower and dress comfortably even working from home since this may serve to put you in a work mentality. You also want to look fresh and presentable on your video calls.
Follow a Specified Routine
It is also very easy to get caught up in some of the other activities going on at home, such that you find yourself working at 2a.m in the morning. You can easily avoid this turn of events by setting up a strict daily schedule that you stick to. There are some things that you will need to do at home such as household chores, but having a schedule even for these types of activities will help you stay sane.
When planning you days, weeks and eventually months, it is also very important to schedule in some play or rest time. Most people who work from home tend to overwork themselves since they often forget to set some time aside for recreational activities. Once-a-day, leave your desk and go for a walk and make sure that you are getting adequate sleep.
Use Screencasts and Screenshots to Explain Complex Subjects
Since it may not be possible to be in the same room with your team in the current environment, it may not be easy to explain complex topics to them. Since no one would read thousands of pages of documents, it may be a good idea to use a series of screenshots to explain the idea.
Better yet, you can use a screencast program to create a short video to explain the concept. Videos are particularly helpful when the concept you want to explain is highly demonstrative and has a lot of moving parts. Fortunately, a tool like Wondershare DemoCreator makes the whole process easy with a self-explanatory interface that guarantees you will be able to create the video even if you have never done it before.
The All-in-One Screen Recorder & Video Editor
- Record desktop screen,audio and webcam simultaneously
- Edit videos quickly with a wide range of professional tools
- Built-in plentiful video effects
- Export to MP4, MOV, MKV, GIF and multiple formats
Secure DownloadAvoid procrastination and Distractions
Once in a while procrastination will creep in and we would be lying if we said that sometimes it will take all your willpower not to give in. But the best way to beat procrastination when working from home to eliminate as many distractions as you can. Start by doing the following;
- Disable social media notifications on your devices. But since we know you must check it, add social media to your schedule.
- Establish strict boundaries especially during work hours and let members of the household know that you are not to be interrupted when working.
- Set up a time management method that works for you. For example, you can choose to take a 5-minute break for every 25 minutes of continuous work.
The checklist above covers the basics of how to transition to a work-from-home schedule. But perhaps the most important piece of advice that we have for you is that you may find that you need to adapt to various situations as they arise. Unlike an office environment, it may be very difficult to control working from home, especially when there are other people in the house, particularly children. Therefore, the best you can do is plan for your work-day, but realize that sometimes you may need to adapt to situation at home to keep your sanity and not get behind on your work.
