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We have all been asked to practice social distancing and to minimise movement wherever possible to assist with the management of the COVID-19 outbreak. We are all now working from home unless we need to be at work to do our jobs.

We understand that this can feel frustrating and that we all want to do our bit to ensure that our services continue to deliver high quality care. This guide is aims to support you personally if you are working from home and to help you to support colleagues who will be continuing to deliver their role from Trust sites.

Before you start

Set your workspace up. This could be a small desk set up in a corner of your room, or a laptop at the end of the kitchen table, but it should be comfortable.

Clear your work area and surface of clutter and set up your equipment to avoid physical strain – do a self-check using the guidance at NHS Live Well. If you don’t have a chair with back support, you could add a firm pillow. Avoid sitting on the sofa or the bed each day with the laptop on your lap. See our other guidance on risk assessing homeworking for more detail.

At the end of a working day, it’s best to switch off your computer and tidy away papers and other items. If the documents contain sensitive information, ensure they are left somewhere secure.

Keeping to a work routine

Starting each working day

Aim to wake up around the same time every day. This helps stabilise your internal clock and improve your sleep overall. You’ll feel less tired, more refreshed, and find it easier to concentrate throughout the day.

Getting ready

Keep to your established morning routine if you can – get ready, washed, and dressed as if you are going to the office. This will help you get into the mind-set that you are at work. Try and distinguish your day between work and home mode.

Have a plan

Make a conscious routine for your day, plan your work in short blocks followed by a short-break away from your screen to have a stretch or grab a snack. Make sure you take a lunch break, and try and eat your meals away from your workstation. It’s important that you work flexibly around family life, but also set boundaries around work time and non-work time.

Agree your schedule of work with your manager and ensure you are accessible at agreed points in the day. 

Plan telephone meetings in and try not to run back-to-back calls. We are all going to be communicating more by phone and SKYPE. It can be exhausting.

Communicating well

Make sure your signature has any information about availability clearly marked. Use your calendar to show when you are out of the office and when you are available.

If you have issues with connectivity make sure colleagues know and know how to contact you.

Be realistic and patient

Set yourself some goals for what you want to achieve each day. It’s better to feel a sense of accomplishment over what you have achieved, rather than feeling disappointed you didn’t do everything. We recognise that for some it’s going to be challenging balancing home-life with working from home, focus on outputs rather than time spent working – we don’t expect you to work late into the evening just to reach your hours if you’ve achieved what you need to that day.

Remember people are not all set up with offices at home. People will be working from home with families or pets in the background. Be understanding of this and be patient!

Working remotely can be a huge challenge for communicating well. We will all need to apply a little bit of flex for miscommunication and remember that working remotely is far more challenging than being at work so be kind.

Keep moving

Including some movement into your work from home routine will help maintain your physical and mental health. You’ll feel more awake and alert, and your concentration and sleep will improve.

If you’re not self-isolating, do something outside if possible before you start work for the day – this can help you to feel like you have mentally ‘arrived’ at work. Getting some fresh air when you finish your working day can help you to leave your work mind-set behind and switch off.

Indoors

If you’re indoors, look online for an activity that suits you, such as a home yoga video or a fitness class. There are lots of live streamed exercise classes, so you could even join a fitness community in your local area. No matter what exercise you choose, try to take regular screen breaks and stretch throughout the day.

Adapt your working style

Make sure you keep communication open with your team, as often and frequently as appropriate. Use Skype or the phone instead of emailing where you can.

Can you have short check-in and checkout calls between managers and teams?

Check out the support from IT on best use of SKYPE and make it work for you.

Virtual social sessions

If you usually schedule time in the workday for an activity or exercising with your colleagues, continue to make time for this over webcam, Face time or on the phone.

Here are some ideas that colleagues may enjoy:
•Turning your morning or afternoon coffee break into a virtual coffee break
•Sharing photo updates of your daily exercise (to motivate colleagues!)
•Daily online quiz session
•Friday night Virtual social

How to cope with children in the house

Many of us will need to balance looking after children with working from home. This is a unique challenge. Here are some ideas to help you.

Wear them out in the morning

Can you create some interruption-free work time by wearing out your kids in the morning? Try online PE lessons or your own circuit in the garden. Maybe 1000 jumps on the trampoline before 9!

Break the day into chunks

Consider creating a rota that splits the day across two parents or helpers if possible. You could have two uninterrupted blocks e.g. early start to lunch and then post-lunch to evening.

Let the children know what to expect

Plan the day so your children know what to expect. Schools will likely have provided you with a timetable. Look to turn that into a poster they can stick up. Where you can, keep play times too, morning and afternoon ideally outside.

For younger children, could they stay connected with friends by doing some artwork and sharing with classmates via parents on email or social media?

Create a ‘do not disturb’ zone

Where possible create a work area at home end ensure your children understand that it’s a do not disturb zone.

Practise family mindfulness

This may be a great opportunity for the whole family to take up mindfulness or meditation to help all remain calm.