Your Survival Guide to Working from Home

Gonna miss the coffee at work huhu.

The last few days have been stressful for everyone back home. I saw a lot of worried posts, but it looks like things are settling and my childhood friends were sharing what they baked today. Most of them are just at home and just naturally re-connected via our chat group. It's just like the old times. I guess without the pressure of commuting to work and being busy at work people are finding time to connect again.

I was busy all day though with work and only saw their messages in the evening. It gave me the boost I needed since I had been in meetings since 8 in the morning with no breaks! Anyway, I thought I'd share this short list of things you should prepare when you work at home.

(1) Your devices - I use a Chromebook, all day everyday (and night!). I also survive just using my phone for meetings. I also tried using a tablet, but it's easier if you have a keyboard for it.

(2) Connectivity - if your work is dependent on using internet it's really better if you have wired connection at home, but 3G/LTE is also useful. I've used it for hangout meetings, just turn off the video.

(3) Your communication/collaboration platform - my work requires me to be in meetings with people from other countries and I always need to share and collaborate resources (i.e. documents, spreadsheets). Of course I use Google! Google Hangouts/Meets for meetings and Google Drive for collaboration. I've also been asked what to use if you want to use an online whiteboard. My suggestion is for you to try the Google Jamboard app and you can share it with others to collaborate on.

(4) Keeping hydrated - I found that it's better for me to use my water bottle even at home. That way I have it beside me while working and since it has a cover I'm not worried that it would topple over my laptop. I also refill it after lunch which ensures I drink more than 2 liters of water everyday. We also bought a bunch of beverages after Chinese New Year (it's usually super cheap at that time in Singapore). I'm glad we have a stash of colored drinks I can just grab in the afternoons.

(5) Keep nourished - I tend to forget about lunch! My seatmate has been pinging me every lunch time to check if I've eaten. He started to share with me what his lunch was today since he started working from home too. I normally eat leftovers from dinner or whatever Sweetie leaves for me in the fridge. It's better if you plan your dinner the night before so that you can just grab it from the fridge and microwave for lunch. Sweetie also prepared a snack bar for me. The snacks are a collection of odd stuff we pick up from the supermarket and pasalubongs from trips. Most important item I have on it now is... Skyflakes!

Don't forget to take breaks in between! :D