Setting the mood for your online Halloween party is essential, so having the right spooky webcam background can make all the difference! However, spending time trying to find the perfect image through search engines can be a bit of a chore! So, we’ve got a whole bunch here that should do the trick! Since our own program, XSplit VCam, can use videos and gifs as backgrounds, we have some extra spooky moving ones as well!
Here are some images from various horror movies that would make great scary backgrounds for your next call! From iconic images to more modern classics, we’ve got you covered!
The Exorcist (1973)The Blair Witch Project (1999)The Thing (1982)The Evil Dead (1981)Shaun of the Dead (2004)The Silence of the Lambs (1991)Stranger Things (2016) Sure it’s a TV show but this is an iconic image, right?
Spooky Horror Gifs
Pop these in the background of your next call, and you’re ready to go with a spooky background guaranteed to add atmosphere to your next call! Not every call platform can support gifs and videos as a virtual background, but if the program you’re using can (did we mention our own XSplit VCam can do this as well as videos from places like YouTube?), then these will be great!
The Shining (1980)Signs (2002)The Ring (2002)Halloween (2018)It (1990)Scream (1996)
We hope these spooky webcam backgrounds help you out with your next virtual Halloween party. Or, if you want to add a bit of the horror world to your next call! We don’t recommend showing up with one of these for your next check-in call with your boss, though! If you’re looking for some more webcam backgrounds that are less specific, we have a long list right here!
Colors have an impact on the way we see and interpret visual information. They can influence emotion, set the mood, build structure and emphasize certain elements. This means that choosing the right colors can make your presentation stand out and control how it’s received. So, what are some critical tips for using color theory in your presentations?
Using color theory in your presentations
Colors are often associated with emotions. Warm colors, like reds, oranges, and yellows can be used to communicate energy, excitement, optimism, and enthusiasm. In contrast, cool colors such as blues, greens, and violets lend feelings of professionalism, dependability, and elegance.
Whether you’re designing PowerPoint slides, printed material, or infographics, using color theory for presentations will help you add depth and meaning. In XSplit Presenter, you can set the color of your slides and backgrounds to suit the mood and tone of your content. Why not subtly personalize your presentation? Choosing colors that align with either the brand identity of your company or of the client that you’re presenting to can really help!
You can make your material ‘pop’ by deploying complementary colors. The two colors that sit opposite each other on a color wheel, such as red and green or orange and blue. Using both complementary colors on a slide, for example, using one for the background and one for the text provides maximum contrast and achieves a high impact as a result.
It’s worth knowing that pure hues (color without any white or black pigment added) all have the same intensity and value (lightness or darkness). Sticking within that group will give a flat and unimpressive look. To avoid this and add interest, you should vary the tones, shades, and tints of the colors you use.
One key rule in the use of color theory for presentations is to keep colors simple and balanced. Choose a palette of no more than three colors (black and white don’t count as colors for this purpose). Create a simple but eye-catching color scheme by choosing two tones, shades, or tints of one color. Then selecting a third accent color which is at least three spaces away on the color wheel.
Another rule for balancing the proportions of colors in presentation and design is called the 60-30-10 rule. According to this rule, once you have chosen your three colors, you should use the primary color for 60% of the space on the slides. The secondary color for 30% of the space, and the accent color for 10% of the space.
Use a consistent palette throughout your entire presentation, so that the same colors appear on every slide. This builds a color association with your audience and helps them to remember your presentation or brand. Using your company color palette serves much the same purpose. What’s more, consistent color-coding on headers and data can also make it easier for you to organize your presentation.
You can also use color theory to give a clear structure to your presentations. For example, using shapes or negative space can help control the flow of visual information by highlighting the different sections of a slide.
We’ve all been subjected to presentations that consist of just a few text-crammed slides. Instead, build interest and keep the attention of your audience by spreading your content out into smaller chunks of information. You can then spread this out over more slides. Then, vary the arrangement of the colors you use to make each piece of content stand out.
You can also impose structure by using the same colors for headings and subheadings on every slide. This can help your audience to find the information they need at a glance.
By playing around with colors, you can draw your audience’s attention in the direction that you want. Ensure that your presentation flows naturally, and make your presentation, and possibly your brand, more memorable to your audience! This is something we have discussed on this blog in more detail talking about how better online presentations can help you stand out!
If you’re producing a stream with guests, be that a podcast, running a tournament, or just putting on a show, doing this remotely has become the norm. This might seem simple on paper, load up Zoom or Discord and get streaming, working with remote talent actually brings in a unique set of challenges! So we’re going to discuss how to do it right with some tips I’ve developed over the years.
Using Discord to have Remote Guests on your Stream
My personal favorite for bringing in remote guests to a stream is Discord. It’s easy to use and if you have the budget, you can get really high audio quality by boosting your server. However, since you’re likely going to be having both yourself and guests in the same voice server you may run into issues adjusting audio levels.
Now one way to manage this is to have multiple PCs join the calls and capture the individual voices, but not everyone has that many computers laying around! For this, Discord actually has an audio mixer built into the call! Pretty handy for getting levels in right in a pinch.
Also in Discord, and generally any other call program (VOIP), you’ll want to disable things like noise reduction and any type of input limit, so both sides are getting the cleanest audio possible.
A lot of time you’ll be working with guests who have their own live streaming setup. Now, while this might seem like the ideal scenario, the problem is if there’s an issue it’s going to be hard to troubleshoot because everyone has a different audio setup.
The most common problems adding a remote guest to your stream like this are echo and/or getting a loop from whatever audio you’re sending the guest. This is most prevalent with 2-pc setups or when the guest is using a mixing desk. For simplicity just ask the guest to only send you microphone audio rather than a loopback mix from their PC.
This may require reconfiguring their stream set up a bit, but this is why you definitely want to have a tech rehearsal with your guests before the event. Make sure you’re getting all your video and audio routed correctly on both ends, for you and the guests.
A lot of streamers like to add audio effects and enhancements via VSTs to their live stream output. This won’t usually work in VOIP software unless they use software like XSplit Broadcaster to add VSTs directly to their audio output via its Virtual Microphone feature.
Finally, once you’re getting audio from your remote guest on your stream computer, you need to make sure it’s coming in at a manageable level. Most people who are streaming set their audio levels for a “final mix” which basically means at the highest level before clipping.
Now if you’re mixing this isn’t going to leave you with much headroom, so you’re going to want to see if the remote talent can lower the audio until you’re receiving at about 12-18 DB.
Giving your guests a preview scene
One of the most important things your guests need, especially if they are commentators on an event or it’s a visual show reacting to things, is a good preview scene. This is where they can see what is live, the different cameras, and perhaps a notepad with a run of show and general notes. There are two ways to do this!
The first is using the Virtual Camera output in XSplit Broadcaster. You can select whichever scene you wish to output, so just create and then pick the dedicated preview for your remote talent. Make sure to put this scene somewhere in your scene list where you won’t accidentally switch to it. Then just set the camera as the video input on your VOIP software.
Now usually this works just fine, but VOIP software will automatically adjust the bitrate to keep the video call stable, so if your remote talent is far away, they may receive a pixelated video. A workaround for this is using screen sharing. Make a project window for your preview scene and then use screen sharing in your VOIP software. Many times priority will be given to the screen share, which will give the highest video quality possible. Software like Discord will also let you set the quality of your screen sharing as well.
These are all things I have learned over years of hosting remote events so hopefully, this saves you a lot of time in trial and error! Be sure to let us know in the comments if you have your own tips that have helped get streams with guests going! Also, be sure to let us know in the comments what other topics you would like us to discuss in the future!
Live pitches can be daunting and, whether you plan on delivering it in person or via a video call, it is a good idea to have a live pitch deck to hand that you can refer to throughout. The best pitch deck will effectively communicate your idea and also capture your audience’s imagination. It should excite, inspire and educate in equal measure, striking a balance between style and substance. Read on to see how to make a pitch deck that will keep your presentation on track and wow your audience.
What do we mean by an effective pitch deck?
An effective, well-crafted pitch deck will serve two main purposes. It should act as a trampoline for you to launch your pitch from, while also getting your audience excited about whatever you are pitching, be it an investment opportunity, product launch, or new business venture.
The key is to make it clear and concise. Practicing your pitch will reveal which areas, and which slides, you absolutely need and which ones you can do without. Focus on the core idea that your pitch revolves around, while also making it compelling enough to draw the audience in. Ultimately, the best pitch deck will tell your story or that of your business, highlighting the problem or gap you have identified, what solution you can offer, and what you are looking for from your audience.
It should be visually attractive, but not overly busy or cluttered, offering key facts and an enticing investment opportunity that is easy to understand and act upon. Try to keep your visual style consistent throughout the entire deck. If visualization is not your forte, search online for presentation templates that you can customize to bring your pitch deck to life. See if you can find examples of pitches that are similar to your own, and see why they worked or why they didn’t.
Once you have chosen the tools and style you will use to build your deck, next you want to think about how to make a pitch deck flow naturally. Alejandro Cremades, the author of The Art of Startup Fundraising & Serial Entrepreneur, suggests the following flow based on his analysis of several successful pitch decks, including the template used by billionaire venture capitalist Peter Thiel.
Problem – the problem you have identified
Solution – a description of your product or service
Market – who is your ideal customer?
Product – showing the product or service in action
Traction – metrics showing the growth of the business
Team – who are you and who is your team?
Competition – how do you compare to your competition
Financials – projected earnings and profit
The amount being raised – the range of investment you are looking for
Depending on what the presentation is about, you may or may not need all of these, but it provides a good spine to work from. While these could all be one slide each, you can also experiment with this format and spread one section over a couple of slides if need be.
The length of the pitch deck will correlate to the length of your pitch itself, so practice your presentation and see how long it lasts. You don’t want to be flipping through lots of slides, nor do you want to leave the same slide on screen for too long. The general consensus is that at a minimum you want 10 slides. For some experts, this is also the maximum, while others suggest you can push it to 20 slides.
Several years ago, file-sharing company DocSend completed an in-depth analysis of over 200 pitch decks, looking at the sections included and how long each section was. Almost all of the sections were between one and two pages, with the exception of the Product slides, Business Model, and Financials.
So how long should your pitch be? There is no one definitive answer. Some experts say no more than five minutes while others stretch this up to 20. However, the DocSend analysis found that on average, investors spent 3 minutes and 44 seconds looking at the pitch deck. Alejandro Cremades suggests a time of around four minutes, and definitely no longer than five. This would work out at roughly 30 seconds per slide on a 10 slide pitch deck.
Using presentation software to elevate your pitches
Most pitch decks will be built on presentation software such as PowerPoint or Google Slides. In a physical meeting, you can connect this to a monitor or projector and discuss the slides in person.
However, investment opportunities are global, and in the post-pandemic world, more and more pitches will be conducted via video call rather than in person. The solution here is to screen share your pitch deck while talking it through, but your audience may then lose the ability to see you or have to flick between two screens.
XSplit Presenter offers a perfect solution to this and makes your best pitch deck even better. It is fully compatible with Teams, Zoom, and Skype, and allows you to inject some character and flair into the presentation. By using a webcam, you can integrate yourself into the pitch deck, making it more interactive and informative. It also allows you to annotate your presentation in real-time, or use notes you may have made in your original document. Plus, you can deviate away from your presentation, adding separate windows to show websites or other applications without showing your desktop.
Now that you know how to make a pitch deck, you can take these skills and apply them to similar scenarios like streaming, video presentation, or online meetings. Check out creating media-rich presentations to improve your online meetings to learn some creative ways to keep everyone’s attention during your next Zoom meeting.
XSplit Broadcaster 4.2 is here and with it are some really big upgrades to how you stream!
VST3 Support – VST3.0 Effect Plugins can be used on your main microphone to add enhancements to the mics sound.
Virtual Microphone – Much like Virtual Camera, you can now use XSplit Broadcaster as a virtual mic! So whatever audio is coming from Broadcaster, you can send that to any calls/sources you’re in!
Low Power Mode – Save processing power when video devices are not actively being used by activating low power mode on that source.
10 Bit HDR Support – Capture games that output in HDR and Broadcaster will convert them to SDR for your broadcast. So, you can play your game in HDR but send the correct signal out to your stream!
No more Admin Permission pop up – XSplit Broadcaster won’t ask for admin permission when you open it.
There are a bunch of other features and improvements like new sample rates added to noise suppression, updates to the stream-only speaker device, a single login/signup button, and more! On top of this, we have a whole bunch of bug fixes which you can find in the full release notes here.
It’s also worth noting that for security reasons XSplit Broadcaster now only supports Windows 10 and beyond.
Finally, we would also like to say thank you to everyone who has been using XSplit Broadcaster 4.2 in PTR, which if you’re interested you can download the latest PTR version of XSplit Broadcaster and try out new features before they hit the main release.
We’re always updating and improving our apps based on what our customers want so if you have any comments, be sure to let us know either on our social channels or right here in the comments section! You can also request new features over on the Feature Upvote page!
The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the way we work in a lot of ways and some of those changes look likely to persist even after restrictions end. Working from home has seen the use of chat platforms like Slack and Teams explode as employees can no longer consistently communicate face to face. But what are the best ways to use these programs in a hybrid office and when should chat features be used in place of actual meetings, virtual or otherwise? Here’s our guide on how to effectively use Slack and Teams at work.
Starting off on the right foot using Slack or Teams at work
Getting your virtual workspace in Slack or Teams set up correctly is arguably the most important part of keeping everyone connected in the hybrid office. A few tips to consider when looking at how to use Slack or Teams at work:
Be organized when setting up your channels. Cross-talk can create confusion between project stakeholders, especially with text chat, so clearly communicate what topics should be discussed in each channel by giving them names that are easily understood.
Starting a new project? Create a new channel for it as soon as you can so your team members can start communicating there rather than on unrelated channels.
Secure your accounts with strong passwords and two-factor authentication (2FA) if possible. Remote employees may not have full control over the networks or physical locations they’re using, so it’s worth being extra diligent with your security.
Finally, it’s a good idea to leave a general channel open for team members to coordinate social events, share GIFs, or enjoy a non-work-related chat. By creating a designated space for that kind of communication, you lessen the chance of it cluttering up your work-specific channels.
Use XSplit Capture to get the most out of your chat
Typically, chat is great for quick status checks or tossing around safe-for-work GIFs. But what if you could communicate more than just words and happy dogs from your chat command line? Enter XSplit Capture, a new tool, currently in beta, to supercharge your chat possibilities. Capture lets you quickly screenshot or record all or part of your desktop and share it from the cloud via an easily accessible link.
You can even record voiceover or add text annotations. This means you can share simple explainers with your coworkers on how to test the latest feature you built, or give specific feedback to your team on the latest mobile ad mockup, all without having to pull everyone together in real-time. When learning how to use Slack or Teams at work, making your life faster and easier is going to make all the difference!
Meetings get a bad rap, but you have the power to change that
There’s a lot you can do through chat, especially with XSplit Capture in your corner. But chat isn’t always great for soliciting feedback or brainstorming with a whole team at once. We’ve all been in a group chat where the conversation gets off the rails because everyone is responding to someone ten lines earlier – and it can be a mess. Finding out how to use slack or teams at work is very important here! There is a real backlash in our collective consciousness against meetings in general, but keep in mind that arose because of the proliferation of bad meetings. So, have great ones instead!
A good rule of thumb: if you want to get something more tangible out of your group, like a project schedule or a pitch document, that’s probably best done outside of a chat platform. For feedback or ideas, a meeting is usually best, whether that’s online or in person.
Chat can be a great way for workers to communicate, collaborate, and connect, especially while we’re not all in the office together. Now that you know how to level up your office chat game, learn how to win everyone over in meetings with our guide to giving great presentations.
This last year, it’s become clear that video conferencing is the way forward for businesses of all shapes and sizes. Many companies have learned the value of remote meetings. It can increase your potential client and collaboration base, as well as enabling you to have a more flexible workforce. If you’re just starting out as a business, or if you suddenly find yourself engaging with more online communication, what hardware do you need for effective video conferencing? We’ll take you through the basics.
Essential video conference hardware
It’s actually pretty straightforward. You need to be able to see, be seen, hear, and be heard. If you’re using platforms like Zoom or Microsoft Teams to engage in virtual meetings, there’s very little needed except for a computer, tablet, or smartphone, some sort of webcam, and a mic. You can improve your video conferences significantly, however, by combining software like Zoom or Microsoft teams with our XSplit Presenter. It makes delivering presentations to your company so much easier and even lets you add a little flair to them. You’ll be able to annotate with a virtual pointer and make use of the virtual green screen to remove your background and keep your team engaged.
If you’re a small company with numerous team members, you’ll need to make sure that every person has access to the right kit. With this in mind, we’ll look at easy and low-cost options, and give you some tips about making your meetings look and sound great.
Can you hear me? The importance of getting the right mic
Once upon a time, a small company could get away with one online-ready laptop, which was used by anyone booked onto a virtual conference. These days, with our teams more likely to be working remotely themselves, it’s important that everyone has good access to tech. Make sure that everyone in your team has a decent webcam and mic, along with reasonable internet bandwidth. If these aren’t in place, any online work can be incredibly stressful.
Starting with speaking: do you stick with the built-in mic or go for a separate one? We’ve discussed mics before but briefly, most modern laptops have a good built-in microphone. There are also plenty of webcams with built-in mics like the Logitech C920, which has remained a firm favorite. However, if you or a colleague is going to be doing a lot of online presentations, you may prefer the clearer sound of a separate mic. There are plenty of USB mics that offer optimal sound quality such as the Blue Yeti, Snowball, or the Elgato Wave:3. For something that’s a little lower in price, the HyperX SoloCast USB is ideal. It also has a handy little mute button that’s perfect for conferences.
Do you need a headset?
In theory, you don’t need to use a headset with a built-in mic for video conferencing but they’re pretty useful. Some remote workers prefer to use a headphone and mic set up, as it cuts out any background noise (hence their use in call centers), and can help with focus. If your team will be returning to a workplace but continuing to liaise with other collaborators online, headsets will help.
You can get USB, noise-canceling lightweight headphones with mics like the Jabra Evolve range that aren’t too costly. But, you could also make use of a number of gaming headsets that are ideal for canceling out background noise. The HyperX Cloud Mix and Logitech G Pro X for instance, have excellent mics. The latter even lets you play around with customization to control the clarity and output level of your voice.
What’s the right sort of webcam for video conferencing?
When it comes to video conferencing, most of us simply use our laptop’s camera, while feeling vaguely self-conscious about the awful angles. If you’re not happy with your computer’s camera, you can get an external USB webcam, and these are ideal if you need to capture a wider view than simply your face (for example, there are a few people in your room, or you need to demonstrate something). The Logitech C920 that we mentioned earlier is a great option for a USB webcam. It has excellent sound quality from the built-in mic but it’s also great in low-light settings and has full 1080p HD video.
At XSplit, we’ve come up with XSplit Connect: Webcam, which lets you use your smartphone as a wireless webcam. Download the app for your phone and the software for your laptop or PC, and there you have it – an instant, non-static webcam. You can also use the XSplit VCam, which also acts are the software for Connect: Webcam, to blur or change your background for a more professional (and private) look.
We’ve covered a few of the essentials but there is a huge variety of hardware out there that will make video conferencing a breeze for small companies. Don’t forget to also find out more about how to use XSplit VCam with the main video conferencing platforms in our blog.
Even before the coronavirus pandemic, people were gradually shifting to online courses and mobile apps to learn new skills. With fewer classes and classrooms available in the post-pandemic era, teaching and learning online has gone mainstream, making it the ideal time for you to find out how to create an online course.
We’re going to look at a basic overview of creating your own classes, including putting together an online syllabus, structuring them effectively, and the software you can use to do so. We’ll also consider which education and online portals you can share your class with so that more people to find it and learn directly from you.
How to create an online course using XSplit Presenter
If you’ve sat in an online class before, what people often do is share their screen while dictating over it. While this approach is simple and easy to achieve, it can often be dull. Especially if there are long moments of inaction. In order to prevent your students from disconnecting from the lesson, you can make it more interactive! You can add yourself as an on-screen presenter using XSplit Presenter.
The software features a virtual green screen, allowing you to appear in front of whatever media you are using during your lesson. Whether it is videos, images, slides, or documents. This means that you can record your lessons in real-time, with full control over all of your sources, instead of having to record yourself speaking and then edit your footage with the lesson materials. What if you have more than one teacher? XSplit Presenter has the ability to add more presenters through video call services such as Skype, Webex, or Zoom.
Another great tool that XSplit Presenter has is a virtual pointer. Just as a teacher in a classroom may have a laser pointer, this allows you to draw attention to specific items. For example, you could pause a video and draw a circle around a point of interest, or underline a section of text you want your students to focus on. When it comes to creating an online course, XSplit Presenter is the complete package!
How to structure an online course
You have the camera and software to record your online class, but how should it be structured? Shaping an online course is very similar to any other form of learning design. While there will be differences depending on the subject and teaching style, you can apply a general structure and then tweak it to fit the content.
People who take your online course will be doing so for a reason, which is to learn a specific new skill. By the end of your course, they will have gone through some form of transformation. Ideally, each section within the course will be an identifiable step towards that transformation. These modules may need to be in a specific order depending on what you are teaching. This should see your course plan naturally begin to take shape.
Within these modules, there may be smaller, bite-size lessons. An online course is not the same as a university degree. People are taking an online course in order to learn something quickly and most likely in their spare time. So, break the lessons up into small components that they can tackle easily. If you have a long video, can you break this up into five-minute sections, with each section covering a core idea. For each aspect, consider it from a student’s point of view. They want to know what they are going to learn, how it fits the overall aim, and why they need to learn it.
Once you’ve planned your content into a loose structure, you can then tighten that up and move lessons around. One way to do that is to see if you have any similar lessons that could be grouped into a teaching module. One thing to keep in mind is that modules do not need to be the same length. This will depend on the step you are teaching. One module may only have one or two core concepts that are required, while another may have five or six. Allow the subject to breathe and guide you as to how many lessons each module has.
When you feel your online course structure is ready, you can formalize your plan to make sure that it meets your original aims and takes the student on a transformative journey. This will make it easier to film and also spot any potential duplication that has happened while you’ve been writing and organizing.
Also, consider what your modules and lessons are called. You may have been referring to them simply as the skill or sub-skill that is being taught, but this might not sell it to a potential student browsing your lesson plan. Instead, come up with creative and enticing lesson titles that will make students want to take your course. Think of it less as a descriptive title and more like a marketing one.
With the boom in online courses being produced, there are now several platforms where you can sell or share your courses for free including:
Udemy
Skillshare
Thinkific
Udemy was one of the earliest platforms and it’s certainly the biggest. With over 155,000 online video courses, many focusing on programming skills and software. Offering thousands of courses suitable for both individuals and businesses, Udemy uses real-life instructors. They will share their knowledge and skills with more than 40 million students around the world!
Skillshare is similar to Udemy, but the lessons here lean more towards creative skills. The site is very user-friendly, and also features the Skillshare Help Center which guides you through how to make a Skillshare course.
If you struggled with building your online course, then Thinkific may be the platform for you. It has a series of easy-to-use templates that you can use to make a simple lesson plan.
How has working from home worked out for you? You may have embraced the commute-free world of Zoom and pyjama days, or do you feel that you no longer have time to yourself? After a year of working remotely, it’s time to give WFH an annual review. This year’s key question is: how are you balancing your business and leisure hours? Let’s consider some ways to improve your work from home routine.
Can you improve your work from home routine?
So you’ve stumbled into the kitchen. Ambition duly poured, now what? Rookie home workers have broadly taken two approaches: trying to replicate the nine-to-five routine, or throwing that out of the window and being flexible in their work schedule. If you’re not having to stick to schedules, the idea of working to your circadian rhythms or spending the day in the park and the night on your laptop can seem appealing.
However, research into working from home shows that a routine can be the best approach for your mental health. One of the hardest things about working from home is finding those essential boundaries between work and leisure. Time is your greatest ally here, and having a set schedule prevents your work/life balance from becoming too blurred.
Now, we hate to sound like strict, old-school teachers here, but a timetable is key. If your work has been a bit more free-flow so far, try creating a more fixed structure. You don’t have to go for the full, colour-coded timetable or spreadsheet here (although many of us would love that). You can eventually build in slots for things like admin and phone calls, but start simply with your working hours: start time, breaks and finish.
From a wider employment perspective, it means that you and your team or clients are all there for each other at the same time. This makes work both more efficient and enjoyable, and if you do end up back in the workplace, it won’t be such a shock to the system. And the real Holy Grail? Finishing by five and making the commute to the living room.
Plenty of rewards for the best work from home routine
While we’ve all been skipping lunch to impress the bosses, it turns out that if we go without breaks, we become less productive. Bear that thought in mind when you’re planning your day, and build in plenty of breaktimes. We’ve even heard of work teams who meet on Zoom for a coffee break every morning, which is a great way of staying connected with colleagues. Going for a run at lunchtime is far easier when you can just hop into your own shower afterwards, or you might even like to spend an hour gardening.
It’s also more important than ever to take screen breaks. In the typical work environment, we have plenty of natural opportunities to leave our desks. Many seasoned working-from-homers use approaches like the Pomodoro Technique, which helps you build in small, regular breaks.
Of course, a routine doesn’t take away those extra little benefits of working from home. You have the cat on your knee, the radio’s playing and nobody will steal your biscuits. Download our own XSplit VCam and nobody will be able to judge your workspace either (although we can’t replace your onesie. Sorry).
If we’ve learned anything over the last 12 months, it’s that life’s small pleasures are essential. These smaller WFH benefits can really help make working from home more enjoyable; however, try not to slide back into a vague approach to time management. Following a work-from-home routine helps you find more time for the things you love, and creates a firm barrier between business and leisure. When the lid’s closed, it’s closed.
How did your own annual review of your WFH routine go? We hope it’s given you some focus on planning your future schedule. To find out more about developing a healthy work-life balance, take a look at our blog.
