Top WFH hacks to get you through lockdown

By now, many of us have been working from home for several weeks – and are probably settled in a spot in our home where we like to work. Mine is the dining table – great lighting, spacious “desk” and not too far from the kitchen (I get hungry a lot!).

But without the comfy chair we usually have in the office, the double screens some of us are lucky to use, or our colleagues in plain sight, things are a bit... “different”, to say the least.

To help us get through this weird time, our social team has organised some fun, non-work-related activities. We’ve also created a company “#wfhhacks” channel on Slack, where we share tips to help us be as productive as possible through lockdown.

Here are some of my favourites:

Organised fun

We all miss the buzz in the office, and sometimes feel a little disconnected while at home. And, let’s face it, we used to love the random kitchen chats while making a cuppa and the spontaneous convos around the office. So, our lovely social team bought that back for us – virtually, of course.

We have two scheduled “tea/coffee” breaks a week in the diary, a beer o’clock session every Friday, and a midweek quiz! It’s a great way to break up the week and catch up with our colleagues. And best of all, we go back to work feeling refreshed.

Fitness first: relieving back pain

We have quite a few fitness freaks and undercover yogis at Wildfire, and they have been sharing some awesome tips on how to help with back pain from slouching. While gin might sound like a perfectly sensible suggestion to help numb the pain, it’s (unfortunately) not a long-term fix.

Stretching every few hours or investing in a new office chair might do the trick. But there are also a number of YouTube videos and advice pages that can help:

• Yoga with Adriene
• NHS advice on back pain treatment
• Desk yoga exercises to relieve beck and upper back pressure

Quarantine party classics

The Guardian tells us that music has been shown to improve both productivity and cognitive performance, especially in adults. So, what better way to get through lockdown than with our very own quarantine playlist?

We have a shared playlist on Spotify, and we each get to add our favourite bangers. From Britney Spears’ “Toxic” to “All the Way Down” from our resident musician Charlie, we have it all covered. There’s one rule though, no Disney. Controversial, I know.

It’s called “Wildfire Tunes Collection” – feel free to subscribe!

Learn how to manage your screen time while you WFH here.