Like the vast majority of companies, our team Zoom calls, pulling together staff from 4 different time zones, have become second nature, a remote working staple that most of us had never used before 3 months ago . And yet here we are, clocking in and out between nine and five, trying to make sense of it all.

Part of this comes from the new norm of home-based working. According to the Office for National Statistics, only 5% of the UK labour force worked remotely in 2019, but well over a quarter had some experience of home working. In recent weeks, that figure has dramatically increased as a result of the lockdown measures implemented to tackle the spread of Covid-19. With all but key workers confined to their homes, the virtual office is now the new reality for businesses everywhere.

With more people than ever now combining their workspace with their living space, we asked some of our team for their tips on how to maintain a work-life balance whilst remote working.

“Establish a dedicated working routine.” Carole Innes, Hub Manager

Although it can be tempting to stay in your pyjamas all day and work from bed, a well-established work routine can help get you into a ‘working’ mindset. Where possible, try and keep your work routine at home, the same as you would in the office. This might mean following your normal workday morning routine or doing something as simple as having a coffee at a similar time each day. Having somewhere separate for your ‘office’ can also help. In an ideal world, this would be a dedicated desk away from where you sleep or relax, but during a pandemic you just have to do your best. Do what you can to make this feel like your workspace with notepads, pens and anything else that you might need.

“Make the time to do some exercise.” Amy Pickles, head of marketing

Busy lives and hectic calendars can often result in skipping the activities and daily routines that make our bodies and minds feel that bit better. Exercise is an effective stress reducer. It pumps feel-good endorphins through your body and lifts your mood. Set time aside each day to follow simple and easy-to-follow exercises. This might be fifteen minutes of cardio – following accounts on Instagram and YouTube. Or it might even be just taking yourself out the house and on a walk at lunchtime. These exercises require minor effort but offer major payoffs. The key is to find something that you can build into your daily routine at work and stick to it.

“There are times when you should just shut your phone off and enjoy the moment.” Nigel Filer, chief operating officer.

We practically carry our desk around with us with our constant connection to emails and updates on phones and tablets. Notifications interrupt your off time and inject an undercurrent of stress in your system. So, don’t text during breakfast with the kids, and don’t reply to work emails while you’re on ‘family time’. Make quality time, true quality time. By not reacting to updates from work immediately, you will develop a stronger habit of resilience. This kind of resilience provides a greater sense of control, while reactive people have less control and are more prone to stress.

“Don’t be too hard on yourself.” Colin Manson, CEO.

It’s not easy to work from home and being forced to do so by a pandemic is not an ideal way to start. During these challenging times, the internet won’t always work, and your kids will yell for your help and attention. It’s a completely different environment than you’ve been used to, and don’t forget that. If you get any work done at all, you are doing really well. To-do lists and setting SMART objectives for the day or week can help you feel more productive. Online project dashboards and task management software programmes can further support this.

Proteus has been developed with the remote worker in mind. A simple-to-use work management / team collaboration solution, it facilitates working remotely within a working environment. Proteus will greatly increase efficiency by removing fixed overheads and needless cost, as well as improve utilisation rates and project management while reducing the carbon emission from commuting and travelling.

About us

Xergy Group’s Proteus work management solution is designed to work with your existing systems, and to scale and evolve as your business evolves. It was created by energy sector professionals, for the diversified energy sector, and delivers an end-to-end project management software platform compliant with ISO audit requirements and common project management frameworks.

How to get Proteus

Proteus’ work management software is a cloud-based system designed for businesses of all sizes to handle projects of unlimited complexity. Each Proteus feature is aimed at making bottom line improvements by improving utilisation, streamlining workflows, providing quick and efficient access to resources and reducing overheads. One of the unique advantages of Proteus is that we offer a free onboarding consultation service to ensure your company account is set up according to your company’s needs. This makes getting you up and running on Proteus quick and easy.

We recommend getting setup on a free trial. Proteus operates under a software-as-a-service (SaaS) model. We offer Enterprise packages and flexible pricing solutions: contact our team to learn more.

We designed Proteus to be simple, and that means you can get up and running on Proteus without an IT team or support from a programmer. You will want to spend a bit of time configuring the admin console so that you have everything set up to suit your company structure, but it’s very intuitive and you don’t need a PhD in IT. However, we want you to get the best out of what is a brilliantly powerful tool, so don’t hesitate to ask for our support. We have a team of product experts who are ready to help you with the configuration process, so get in touch today.

___

Read more to find out more about how using a work management solution such as Proteus can help you manage digital transformation in your business, or get in touch with our team today.

___