WORKING FROM HOME – WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM MY FRIENDS (1): GUIDANCE FROM THE NICE PEOPLE ON TWITTER
Once resource we can freely use is help from friends and colleagues on social media. I asked the good people of Twitter to give advice about working from home. Here are some of the replies (I may have missed some replies, send them again if I have). I originally also asked for advice on technology etc., however some of the replies were too high tech to be practical in the context of starting immediately, limited resources and a very limited amount of time. People have started sending in “low tech” guidance 
for immediate practical use. The next next post will be on precisely that subject.
WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM MY FRIENDS
Mena Ruparel
Working from home Routine, get one quick. Never turn the TV on before 6pm. Always eat lunch. Have a walk if permitted, fresh air clears the head. Spotify is excellent when you have boring work. Get a good phone with a headset and a mute feature.
Use mute during conference calls. Don’t forget to unmute when speaking! Anyone not used to typing and suddenly without access to support staff should invest in Dragon Professional. Super easy to use and will really help to get work done when the cat takes naps on your keyboard
Cats Cars Biscuits & Cakes
And most importantly of all try and ensure you take breaks, get up walk around, have plenty of water etc and remember everyone has different working styles hours.People may not always be able to respond. Collaboration and courtesy go a long way – work together
Jenna Kisala
I work from home regularly. I missed the drone of others around me so having the radio on or coffivity going really helped my focus. Otherwise it felt a bit isolating.
Paul Seddon
@paulsedd
Family are noisy. So noise cancelling headphones (I use Bose QuietComfort) & classical music playlist. Headphones not cheap but they’ve kept me sane and enabled me to deal with cognitively intense tasks (without several failed attempts first)
Cats Cars Biscuits & Cakes
@GroupAuxilium
If you do need to make hand written notes, keep a note pad by phone remember to date and time note it and if you can scan and attach to system. Use track and trace in word to make collaboration easier in documents. Use an accurate date document version system
work on a to do list, if your system allows create tasks and time record from inside your email. Set time and date for tasks. Resist urge to always reply to email in a thread Sit back start a new email for your response ( it’s better for time recording
Mena Ruparel
Caffeine – my limit is one tea and one coffee before 11am. Don’t go wild with the coffee. Do take coffee breaks and chat to cat/dog/twitter peeps/zoom coffee. It will keep you sane and also allow you to sleep at night
Jo-Anne Burrow
If you’ve got to do something you really need to concentrate on get the little niggly things out of the way first, then you can give the bigger job your undivided attention
HelenSparkles
Boundaries; even if you have to work on your kitchen table; set it up & put it away for the hours you ‘normally’ work. Enjoy the flexibility of being able to do laundry or planting a bulb, but those things take minutes (unless you’re really procrastinating).