the home office

The most obvious change is that most of us are presently forced to work from home to prevent the virus from spreading so easily. This means ensuring a quiet place to work from, adequate light and desk space as well as good communications with colleagues and clients.

The home office shouldn’t just consist of a laptop balanced on your knees. Consider setting up a second monitor and buying a quality keyboard and wireless mouse. Back support and good posture are more important than ever so find a good chair to sit on which provides the support your back needs while you’re working. While it might seem like an extended holiday that doesn’t mean waking up at noon and distracting yourself all day with music, games and other stimulus so mute your phone and manage your time wisely.

collaborative working

Some of the effects of WFH include the growth of clouds for the storage of designs. Services such as Graphisoft’s BIMcloud offer storage solutions with substantial file space while remote desktop apps mean that designers can access their workplace programs from the quarantine comfort of their own home.

Collaborative apps such as Zoom and Google Meet have ensured that meetings can continue to take place with as many people as necessary. Voices can be heard and files and images can easily be swapped between attendees. Coupled with project planning software like Trello this means that there are no excuses for delays to planning while WFH.

home working

looking after yourself

Project management must go on and tools like Trello can aid with developing projects and sharing ideas while ensuring that processes and stages are clear to all involved.

Finally, look after yourself: take frequent breaks from your workday, meditate at the start or end of the day and vary your routine as much as possible. If you are allowed to go outside or have access to a garden or a terrace then remember to get some fresh air at times. There are plenty of online learning and cultural opportunities from free course related to sustainable design, upcoming architecture trends and smart living. Make the most of your time at home!