Hybrid work—the new frontier. We’re in a monumental era where work is rapidly transforming around us. Whether you’re working entirely in-office or primarily from home, building a hybrid workplace is a priority for all businesses.

As we’re exploring hybrid working environments for the first time, it’s important to learn from each other. How do your coworkers set up their at-home space? What does your in-office space look like? What tools do you use to keep your teams engaged, no matter where they are? And how do you keep your team connected across distances?

The questions seem endless! Luckily, our team has prepared some best practices in our time working from anywhere. Here are some tips, in their own words:

Build a hybrid work routine

When you’re not immersed in the office routine, building that structure for yourself can be tough. Our team’s advice:

Structure your day

“Having a flexible structure to your day assists in being able to set up healthy boundaries for work-life balance. Some individuals are naturally good at this, but at minimum, I recommend having a basic "start" and "end" to help limit overworking. Work will always be there—just close the laptop (or Slack).”

Mix your routines

“Add a mini sub-routine that relaxes you. Entering the state of flow is highly effective at reducing cognitive load—so if you want to do yoga, meditate, make yourself a breakfast, sketch or draw, or sit and read the newspaper in peace, do so! Just take some time to do this without interruptions and let yourself ‘go’ while you do this. It's very effective at breaking up the day.”

Take breaks and switch your focus

Pro tip: there’s more to life than work. You can take advantage of hybrid work flexibility—and you should. Here’s what our team says:

Take breaks away from a screen  

“Taking a break is nice, but it doesn't help your eye strain or mental overload if you go directly to a smaller, harder to read, screen. I took up gardening because it forces me to go outside and enjoy nature in the middle of my day. There's also some scientific backing that being in nature is effective in helping reduce stress. You only get so much sunlight per day—take advantage of being able to enjoy it! I'm also heavily biased by being in California.”

Take your own time

“Run errands or doctor appointments, etc. during times that you know won't have rushes. Have you tried driving to San Francisco (or your major city) during commuting hours? It's insane! This allows me to not waste time traveling to a location or waiting. I typically tack on time to my end of day if I need to. When I do this, I can work on something without having to do mental math in my head of "I should leave at X because it will take me 1+ hours to get to location A"—I just get it over with and carry on with the rest of my day.”

“Put time on your calendar for lunch/breaks or things you need to do (such as walk your dog). This helps you have time for yourself every day as needed!”

Use hybrid work tools effectively

On Slack

“Make sure you set up your Slack hours - especially when working across time zones. I’m on the west coast, so while I might be tempted to message someone at 7 PM PT, that's actually 10 PM ET (I've seen it even at 12 AM ET). I use /remind  @user "MESSAGE TO SEND" at (TIME OF DELIVERY) to send asynchronous messages.  Sometimes I want Person A to get a message when they are freshly starting their day instead of the end of the day, or if I might forget to inform Person B about something 10 mins before it happens. I sometimes do this when someone is OOO or sick. The downside of this is that when it reminds the person, you don't get a notification or the message that you wrote for the reminder.”

“I sometimes uninstall Slack from my smartphone. There's something about waking up at 6 am and already seeing 10+ slack messages that just doesn't vibe well. I also do this when I'm OOO for important time-consuming activities.”

“I’ll tag @user if I want them to see a notification number in their Slack messenger. Sometimes the channel being bold doesn't inform you where you're tagged.”

“I add keywords that relate to high priority projects in Slack Preferences. This will highlight a channel for me even if I'm not tagged. This allows me to stay in the loop for everything regarding these subjects, without having to look for them individually. Downside is that there isn't a number notification associated with these.”

“I use /zoom meeting NAME_OF_MEETING to start a quick zoom call in the chat without having to open up zoom separately and get a link, etc.”

Other tools and techniques

“I prefix my messages if they're not high priority to encourage asynchronous chat. This is to assure the recipient that they don't need to answer right away.  Example: "[Low Priority] Blah Blah Blah" I also do this when someone is feeling sick but happens to be online.”

“A coworker introduced me to a screen recording tool called Loom—it’s my favorite hybrid work tool! Makes it so easy for me to explain something while sharing my screen—and it’s a bit more personal than just a screenshot or a screen recording. You can also reply/comment right in the video at a specific time.”

Prioritize self-care

Believe it or not, those who work from home can get stuck in an “always on” loop—preventing them from focusing on themselves. Here are some ways to prioritize your work-life balance as a hybrid employee:

“Don't neglect the ergonomics at your home office—especially if you spend hours working with computers!”

Pro tip: here are some home office setups with ergonomics in mind.

“It's okay to work from your couch! You don't always need to sit at your desk.”

“For 1:1’s, be open to having a conversation to discuss if you want to/don't want to use video during your meeting. Video fatigue is a real thing, and sometimes your coworkers may want a break.”

Hybrid work is what you make of it

Building a hybrid workplace can feel daunting. As these mixed environments become the new standard of work, we can work together to quell those fears. It’s up to us as leaders to build strategies that make it easy and pleasant for everyone, no matter where they work. With some practice and knowledge sharing, you’ll soon find that hybrid working really, well, works.