If you are one of the millions of employees forced to work from home at this time, fear not! Millions of people have been doing this for years and have published fantastic resources that will help maintain productivity and develop effective work-at-home habits. We’ve gathered a some of our favorite for your quick reference.

Starter Guides

Working from home seems straight forward – use a computer at your house that connects to your employer’s network and perform your job as usual. For some this might be true, but for most working from home for any period, it can be more complicated. If you are new to working at home or need a refresher course, use these guides to help:

• 8 Tips to Make Working from Home Work for You (NPR)
• Work from Home Worker Checklist (Remoters.net)

Security

While you are social distancing due to a virus, you don’t want to be responsible for planting a virus on your organization’s network. In fact, you will find that the resource below can and should be used on your personal network and devices anyway. Your network needs to be secure and you need to observe good personal security practices in order to keep your employer’s data safe. Follow these pro-tips for data security:

• 5 Tips for Working Securely from Home (TechRepublic)
• You Need to Lock Down Your Router’s Remote Management Options (LifeHacker)
• Online Security 101 (ZDNet)

Best Practices and Etiquette

If you thought it was hard to navigate in-person interactions and maintain good communication while in the office together, I’m sure you can imagine how working remotely adds some complications. These resources will help you recognize the differences and provide tips for bridging communication gaps or preventing mishaps.

• The Remote Worker’s Guide to Office Etiquette (LifeHacker)
• Remote Work: Exploring the Unwritten Rules (Dice)
• Working Remote? These Are the Biggest Dos and Don’ts of Video Conferencing (Entrepreneur)
• 24 video conferencing tips to go from telecommuting zero to hero (ZDNet)

Productivity and Psyche

This is no picnic. Working from home is a huge adjustment for most and may affect your productivity in ways you don’t anticipate. These resources give you tips from scheduling and communication to organization and psyche.

• 23 Essential Tips for Working Remotely (Inc.)
• Working Remotely During COVID-19: Your Mental Health and Well-Being (American Psychiatric Association Foundation – Center for Workplace Mental Health)
• 6 Productivity Tips for Staying on Schedule when Working from Home (Tech Republic)
• 20 Tips for Working from Home (PCMag)
• How to Work from Home (Brafton)

As you find your groove in your home work environment, please remember your colleagues on the other side of the screen are doing the same. We each have different capabilities, preferences, and home circumstances — assume positive intent and offer to help whenever possible. We are all in this together.