Working from home is a great way to run your own business, enjoy a better work/life balance, save business costs and more. With more and more people adapting to home working as a result of COVID-19, it could soon be the new normal for a lot of people.
But despite the many benefits of working from home, it can be difficult to focus at times. It can also become difficult to separate your work and home life, creating an imbalance that can be hard to break. So what can you do when cabin fever sets in at your home office? Here are some things you can do to shake things up.
Move into a bigger space
Sometimes a home office can be a temporary solution, or you can soon find yourself outgrowing your space. Expanding your office or moving to a different space can help make things feel more permanent, as well as make your office better fit for purpose. If you’re looking for a larger space, why not convert your garage into a home office? You’ll be away from the house itself, putting a bit of distance between your work and home life. From your garage, you can benefit from some peace and quiet, helping you enjoy a more productive workday.
Consider a co-working office
It’s easy to miss the office environment once you start working from home. One way you can solve this is to use a co-working office, even if it’s only a couple of days a week or month. By renting an office, you could meet some like-minded people, benefit from some great facilities and enjoy a break from your home office. Co-working can be an affordable solution for freelancers and small business owners, working as a great alternative to renting a space full time.
Improve how you manage your schedule
If you’re struggling to find a work/life balance when working from home, you might need to look at your schedule to see if you could work more productively. From choosing different working hours to making sure you take a break during the day, you can change your routine to help you find the right balance.
Lighten your workload
If you find yourself working late into the evenings or having to work weekends, your workload could be too much. In these situations, outsourcing some of your work could help make things more manageable, freeing up your time to focus on running your business. You can outsource admin, accounting, and other business functions, helping you to do the best for your business.
Your home office can be an excellent way for you to work, giving you some freedom and flexibility. But when things get too much or you need a change of scenery, it’s good to know that you’ve got options. Reevaluate your home office space to see how you can improve your work environment to help you work more effectively, and get to make the most of your life outside of work too.
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The choices that you make on a day to day basis can affect the environment around you. It’s true that this isn’t new information, but some people may find it hard to adopt a more sustainable option, especially since you are always surrounded by plastic, use cars as a mode of transportation, rely on electricity and so on.
For everyone to learn how to become more sustainable, they need to change some of their daily habits. Whether it’s saving energy, finding different modes of transportation, reducing, reusing and recycling, and adopting sustainable fashion options, there is always something that you can do.
Save Energy at Home
Turning off the lights when they are no longer in use, embracing natural light during the day and finding a more environmentally friendly light bulb are all ways that you can save energy within the home and even save money on your monthly electricity bill at the same time.
Captain Green Solar Brisbane advises that nowadays, there are solar panels that you can purchase that can further help you lower your carbon footprint.
Modes of Transportation
Often the car is the go-to mode of transportation for people depending on where you live, but have you ever thought about some of the alternatives?
Biking is not only good for the environment but it’s healthy and taking the bus or train to where you need to go will also allow you to save money on petrol or diesel. Plus, public transportation gives you an opportunity to read a book while you are on the journey!
If you live close enough to your workplace or are even nearby your local supermarket, you could walk to your destination. If the weather is nice, why not?
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
Reduce, reuse and recycle are the three R’s that everyone should live by. Already, the world’s landfills are overflowing, and plastic is often winding up in the ocean. The three R’s is part of the answer to this problem.
There are companies that you can call to assist with your waste management, no matter where you are located in the UK. Additionally, some companies will ensure they don’t take the rubbish to landfills, but rather minimise the environmental impact of your waste disposal needs.
Sustainable Fashion
Many adopt a ‘fast-fashion’ mentality, but sustainable fashion is so much better for you and the environment alike. The next time you want to purchase a new garment to add to your wardrobe, why not visit a charity shop or a vintage shop to see what you could find? You will not only end up buying something unique, but you know that you are also purchasing something that is high quality and long-lasting.
The big underlying question could be, why should everyone care about adopting the sustainable option? The fact of the matter is, the choices that you make now will not only affect your life but the future generations as well. That is why adopting an eco-friendlier lifestyle will benefit everyone, and the good news is that you can always start small, such as some of the tips mentioned thus far.
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How many of us realize that we are experiencing history? This is the most unprecedented and unforgettable time of our lives. The outbreak of the pandemic has left for us nothing but experiments, challenges and learning opportunities. Mid May Twitter announced its employees can work indefinitely from home, being the first big tech company to come up with such a policy. For over a long time, a lot of employees who thought of #wfh as a luxury are now compelled to stick to it overnight for the time as long as eternal.
Amid this crisis, a lot of CEOs are coming up with various ideas and offers for their employees to not only ensure their productivity but also their mental well being.
1.Stay Organized: It Is Going to Help in the Long Run
Having a fixed schedule and creating boundaries between professional and personal life is the key to maintain productivity and be efficient when working from home. It is comprehensive that one needs to look after their home and work simultaneously in this tough situation. It is important that people identify when to work and where to work without being pulled into domestic chores or personal matters when working from home. If you start your day with a proper schedule and stick to it strictly, you would surely be comfortable with the new normal.
Do Not Just Work! Work! Work!
Plan your breaks too as you would at the office premises. But remember not to leeway and stretch these breaks.
2. Have a Plan Before You Begin
Well moving your workstations overnight to your home was surely a big thing to do. It is important for the organizations to gather a cross-functional team that includes business-line leaders, IT, HR, communications, and facilities, to plan for the worst and the good to come. It is important that the business is least affected by the employees working remotely. A lot of software development firms that had been providing remote services had an experience of handling clients remotely, but handling the teams remotely is a completely different chapter. Also, it is vital to ensure that employees have a good infrastructure back home to support their tasks and meet the business process.
Lack of communication is going to be a major drawback here. It is important that your team bridges the gap between them and doesn’t let its productivity be affected. Trusting the team in such times is very important. Provide your team members guard rails with the flexibility to deliver their defined targets in the defined time.
3. Short Breaks and One at a Time Approach
It is crucial to take care of your mental well being when working from home. Taking short breaks while staying connected to your colleagues always helps in remote working culture. This is not the time to take it all together. Understand this is not a productivity competition. This is pandemic and not regular work from home exercise. With no domestic help and lots of things being messed it is always difficult to find the right schedule, In the initial days experimenting a little is cool. No one knows how long we are going to stay out of the office, so making temporary adjustments won’t help. Employees and even the managers and leads need to have a plan where they can easily connect and enjoy their work. Enjoying your work is the priority here. Push yourselves and enjoy your work, maintain your productivity and keep calm.
4. Millennial Workforce Are the Key Drivers
The on-the-go technology helps the millennials be more productive and available all the time. They have better ideas to stay connected and hold meetings. With various apps put to function, we can easily predict their productivity. Working from home is quite beneficial for employees as it eliminates their daily commutes. It also helps them to lead a better and healthier life with their family around all the while. A lot of employees relish the model for the flexibility it has to offer. It is always a great choice to work when you are comfortable. This adds to productivity and better results.
A lot of millennials are making the best of the opportunity by joining e-learning classes and certification courses. They are making the most of their time and coming up with some great ideas to hone their skills and contribute to the organizations.
5. Discipline and Dedication Drive the Results
When at home, many of the employees go lethargic with their work. It is important to put your laziness in the backseat and work in a disciplined manner. It is always important to have a balance between work and personal life. Remote developers and other employees often struggle with a stringent deadline. It is important to deliver your customers a world-class service you are available as per their ease and strictly stick to the deadline that you have asked them. This not only makes you look professional but reflects your sincerity for your work too. To make sure you stick to this, the magic trick is to have a well-designed work set up and be dressed smartly. If you take things seriously and work dedicatedly the work hours at work from home won’t be as long as at the office because of the cozy set up and support of being at home. Initial work from home is going to be all kinds of a mess, taking more time than ever, but once you adjust to it, you will realize how easily you can be through your day.
6. A Separate Work Station Gets You Halfway Through
This advice actually works wonders. Get a separate work corner for yourself. This makes it easier for you to realize what and where you need to focus. Keep all your work-related documents, notes, and other accessories together so that you don’t waste hours looking for them each time you want to use them. Add some beautiful quirky elements in the place to ensure that you like the place and it helps you stay concentrated. A cool workstation is always an inspiration to work well and work hard. It becomes a little corner that you would always want to be at. Be at your office on time, take short coffee breaks, and don’t let the pandemic affect your productivity.
7. Trust Your Team
A lot of organizations that have experience in providing remote IT consultation service and development services understand how important it is for them to trust their team in the situation. The head of mobile app development team at A3logics quotes,
“We have been providing remote services for over two decades now, and we never had complaints from our clients’ end. We thought working from home would be the same, but it wasn’t. When in office the team was available on the go and discussed ideas and we knew we were all working. Being home made things a little uneasy initially. But gradually we realized it is almost similar to working remotely where our clients trusted us to deliver their projects. When working from home we need to trust each other that they are dedicatedly working on their parts and things would be in line. This small shift in thought process has actually made working from home quite easy.”
The Final Words
With the outbreak of the pandemic, we have experienced the world’s largest Work From Home experiment. Maybe the organizations won’t go 100% work from home forever but they will certainly enjoy much support from the virtual environments. With so much good and bad going around the business leaders are expected to support their employees and show some empathy towards them. Surely, this is the first time most of your employees are working from home and are connected virtually, but if this works then you are surely going to appreciate the way the results turn out to be with a happier workforce.
About the Author
Scarlett Brown is associated with the Content Writing team at A3logics for over a couple of years. She has been working on projects related to mobile app development and closely follows the trends in the field. She loves to read about the technical advancements and incorporate them into her work. She has been publishing a few articles on employee well being and work from home productivity hacks lately. When not at her writing desk she is often found enjoying her coffee in the nearby cafe and enjoying some storytelling shows.
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It is not uncommon for celebrities and high-profile business people to travel with their own personal security details. The rest of us picture buff men clad in crisp black suits and headsets whenever we think of such security detail.
However, the day-to-day for the professionals in this line of work is far from that of the “Men In Black.” According to body guard school PWA it is the opposite of what many people believe these professionals do. Much of the work is in the preparation.
Many of the tactics that bodyguards use are adoptable by different travelers and we’ve taken a look at how they can be utilised below.
1. Always Be Aware Of Your Surroundings
Staying safe is often tied to being aware of your surroundings. Situational awareness is essential, more so when in unfamiliar places. Avoid walking while glued to a map or your phone.
The pros say that the more you clank and clunk, stumbling as you walk, you appear like prey, thus inviting predators to have enough time to come up with a quick plan.
2. Avoid Making Yourself An Easy Target
Dawning a T-shirt and baseball cap shouts that you are a tourist. Moreover, you will make yourself a target when walking around carrying a purse or your wallet in the back pocket. Instead, do your best to blend in; secure your valuables by opting to carry a cross-body bag and putting your wallet in a buttoned-up or zipped breast pocket. Also, consider neutral clothing that does not advertise your nationality.
According to PWA most criminals look at the path with the least resistance.
3. Plan Ahead
It would be best if you planned in advance; that is how you will be more aware of potential threats specific to your destination. Set your transportation early, for it also can help you avoid potentially predatory situations from the moment you arrive.
4. Ask Locals About Their Preferences
Hopping on the local bus might be the preferable and safe way of getting around in one city but not recommended in another. Every place has its risks; The experts say they works closely with different local partners to get suitable recommendations on the safe places to go and the best ways to get there
5. Share Less On Social Media
An Instagram post every other time during your vacation might be hard to say no to, but it is an effective way of advertising that you are away from home. For instance, Hillary Duff posted photos on vacation in Canada, and what followed was a break-in at her home. It only goes to show that snapshots shared on social media pose a significant risk to all travelers.
6. Secure Your Technology
Protect any technology devices in a locked safe. Avoid using public hotspots that can be easily hacked. Porter says that you should always have physical control of your computer, smartphone, and other equipment.
7. Carry A Burner Wallet
Muggings can happen even to the most cautious of travelers. According to PWA consider walking around with a “burner wallet” with an old ID and a few dollars if you are unfortunate enough to be assault during your travels.
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China’s recent security legislation for Hong Kong, aimed at reducing the former British colony’s autonomy and bringing it more under its control, has brought widespread condemnation from the US, Europe and Australia, as well as human rights groups.
The UK prime minister, Boris Johnson called it “a clear and serious breach” of the 1985 Sino-British joint declaration, which was designed to protect certain aspects of Hong Kong’s autonomy and declared his intention for up to 3 million Hong Kongers to apply for UK residency.
Under the government’s plans, all British nationals overseas (BN(O)) and their dependants will be able to live and work in the UK for five years, and apply for citizenship after a further year. Here we look at the legislation and how it will affect you if you wish to apply for UK citizenship.
Why is the new security law seen as a concern?
Protests have been raging on the streets of Hong Kong for over a year now, initially against China’s legal bid to allow criminal suspects to be extradited to China. The bill was withdrawn in September, but violent clashes between police and protestors made the news all over the world.
However, this new security law, which came into effect on 30 June, includes a whole raft of policies that many believe to be the end of freedom of speech and the right to protest. It includes Beijing establishing a security office in Hong Kong, with its own personnel which will not fall under Hong Kongese jurisdiction, and powers to send Hong Kong cases to be tried in mainland China. Some of these trials may be held behind closed doors.
Before it was passed, Boris Johnson stated that the legislation “would be in direct conflict with [China’s] obligations under the joint declaration, a legally binding treaty registered with the United Nations.” Now the legislation has been passed, he is upholding his promise to allow any British national (overseas) passport holders to live and work in the UK for a renewable period of 12 months.
This granted them certain rights, such as holding a British passport and visa-free access to the UK for six months. BN(O)s, however, are still subject to immigration control and don’t currently have the right to live, work, take up long-term study or have access to free non-urgent healthcare.
How do I apply?
There are around 350,000 BN (O) passport holders in Hong Kong and it’s estimated that another 2.5 million BN(O)s without a passport. All with be eligible to apply for citizenship.
The UK is creating a new visa for BN(O)s and their close family members. You will be able to apply from January 2021, whether you currently live in or outside the UK.
There are certain criteria you must meet to be eligible for the visa route, including that you have BN(O) status and are able to accommodate and support yourself financially for at least six months.
Once in the UK, you’ll be able to live, work or study for 30 months, which can be further extended by another 30 months. You will not be eligible for social welfare benefits, however.
Will I be able to relocate my business?
One of the main criteria for applying for the visa is that you will be able to support yourself. If you already have a successful business in Hong Kong, you may be thinking about the possibility of transferring it to the UK.
How many people will choose to apply the Hong Kong BN(O) Visa is yet to be seen, but it’s certainly a new chapter in the Hong Kong-UK relationship.
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Working from home is a great way to run your own business, enjoy a better work/life balance, save business costs and more. With more and more people adapting to home working as a result of COVID-19, it could soon be the new normal for a lot of people.
The choices that you make on a day to day basis can affect the environment around you. It’s true that this isn’t new information, but some people may find it hard to adopt a more sustainable option, especially since you are always surrounded by plastic, use cars as a mode of transportation, rely on electricity and so on.
Scarlett Brown is associated with the Content Writing team at A3logics for over a couple of years. She has been working on projects related to 
It is not uncommon for celebrities and high-profile business people to travel with their own personal security details. The rest of us picture buff men clad in crisp black suits and headsets whenever we think of such security detail.
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