EFFECTIVE STRATEGIES FOR WORKING FROM HOME

Spreading Joy: Sharp Consultancy’s Annual Easter Egg Drive

At Sharp Consultancy, our annual Easter Egg Drive has once again brought together our team, clients, and community to support local charities and spread a little cheer. As a finance and accountancy recruitment business rooted in Yorkshire, we’re proud to use our network to give something back—and this year has been no exception.Led by Tom Davage, Senior Consultant in our South Yorkshire office, our team has been out and about collecting Easter egg donations from our fantastic clients. The generosity shown has been incredible, especially given the ongoing challenges many continue to face. Thanks to everyone who contributed, we were able to deliver meaningful support to three wonderful charities in our region: Paces, a specialist centre supporting children with cerebral palsy and motor disorders; St Luke’s Hospice, which offers compassionate end-of-life care; and The Family Works, a trauma informed, family support project working alongside underprivileged families.Tom, who organised this year’s initiative, shared: “When you hear the stories from the people working within these charities, it really opens your eyes to the challenges others face. If we can bring a smile to someone’s face—even through something as simple as an Easter egg—it makes it all worthwhile. Every bit of support counts.” Seeing familiar donators from past years and welcoming new ones has been truly heart-warming. It’s a testament to the kind and community-minded nature of the businesses we work with. To all our clients who donated, thank you. Your kindness and continued support make this initiative possible and help us make a real difference. If you’d like to get involved next year or learn more about the causes we support, we’d love to hear from you. Together, we can keep making a positive impact—one small gesture at a time.

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With working from home becoming a norm in everyday working lives, here are our top tips and suggestions for creating an effective environment will help maintain a work life home life balance.

Set yourself ‘working hours’

As much as possible, try and put in place a ‘working day’ so you have a clear time frame for starting work and a recognised end of the day. Although this doesn’t need to be a traditional 9-5 routine – one of the key benefits of working remotely is the flexibility to work around appointments or, in the current climate, childcare arrangements. Communicate with your colleagues and managers of any adjustments that you need.

Create a dedicated work area

One of the best ways to separate work from home life is to have a specific room or area that is only for work. Ideally this would be a room that you can close the door on at the end of the day but if that isn’t possible, try to set up somewhere as your work area – you don’t want to be tidying up equipment and documents to free up the kitchen table every mealtime!

Set some boundaries

If you are working from home and other members of the household are around it can be easy to become distracted or slip into undertaking ‘home’ tasks instead of focussing upon work. If you need to juggle childcare with work, agree time slots with your partner where one of you can take responsibility for the children whilst the other is on ‘do not disturb’.

Take regular breaks

One of the key benefits of working from home is the flexibility to structure your day to suit your needs and it is important to ensure that you take regular breaks. This could be taking the time to go for a walk or run during the day, participating in an exercise class or taking the dog for a walk. If you can’t get outside, make sure you get up from your desk regularly and try to take your lunch break away from your work area.

Dress like you are at work

Having a ‘work wardrobe’ even whilst you are working from home can help separate work time from home life. That doesn’t mean you need to be suited and booted every day – it’s fine to adopt a more relaxed dress code but you don’t want to be caught out with a spontaneous video call whilst wearing joggers and sloppy t-shirt!

Sharp Consultancy specialises in the recruitment of finance and accountancy professionals. With offices in Leeds and Sheffield our highly experienced team of consultants recruit for temporary, interim and permanent roles across the full spectrum of positions throughout Yorkshire and beyond. CONTACT US today and speak to a member of our team about your next career move.