Last night the government announced its measures to restart the economy and – of course – the gradual and long awaited reduction in lockdown restrictions.

A number of the proposals have been met with criticism, with some suggesting that the new rules lack clarity.  One thing that is clear, however, is that people who are able to work from home should continue to do so. Many are embracing working from home as “the new normal”, and it seems the new normal is here to stay for the foreseeable future.  

As a trainee solicitor, I am incredibly fortunate to be working in an industry which is well-suited to homeworking, though of course it still comes with the usual challenges.  Internet connectivity can be disruptive, as can the family pet – in my case Baloo the cat, who at any given opportunity will sit on either my laptop or my work chair – neither of which is really helpful.

However, by establishing your own “best practices”, working from home can be (and is) a real privilege.  My best practices are:

  • Exercise: 30 minutes of sport, whether it be a run or a Joe Wicks HIIT, helps kick-start my day, and is a useful substitute to the usual morning coffee.  Also, with my morning commute being reduced to a walk from my bedroom to a makeshift desk in the hallway, I really don’t have any excuses.  
  • Stay in touch with colleagues:  as a trainee solicitor working in an open plan office, I have become accustomed to being able to bounce ideas off colleagues and supervisors.  Obviously, the new normal means I no longer have the luxury of turning to a colleague to ask a quick question, so I try to get in touch with people in my team or office at least once a day.
  • “Home time”: I think it is really important that when homeworking we self-regulate, and establish appropriate boundaries between home and work life.  With our offices now in the confines of our own homes, it can be tempting to “check in” after ours or during a lunch break.  Where possible I stick to usual working hours and make sure that free time is reserved for friends and family (and the occasional zoom quiz).

Of course, there isn’t a playbook for the new normal - we’re all learning as we go along – and other people’s best practices will be different to my own.  The point is to find things you can do every day which make adjusting to homeworking, or the new normal, much easier.