The idea of a burglar or thief entering your home typically is associated with you being absent. However, with so many people working and living at home during the coronavirus pandemic, the chances of being at home when an invader strikes naturally go up.
If you feel you’ve gotten a bit lax with your home security over the course of the pandemic, you’re certainly not alone. Here are a few basic home security tips to adopt to keep your home safe and sound while you’re working remotely.
Start by Considering the Threat Potential
Before you overreact and begin putting padlocks on the doors and iron bars in the windows, take a moment to consider the actual safety threat in your area. Is your community particularly known as a region that struggles with crime? If so, what kind of crime? Should you be guarding against robberies, threats of violence, a combination of the two?
Understanding the safety and value of your location isn’t just the golden rule of real estate. It can also help you decide what level of precautions you should make once you’re living in your home, as well.
Improve Your Community’s Safety
Once you’ve had a chance to size up the security concerns of your local neighbourhood, the first step that you can take is to look for ways to improve the area.
For instance, there are many small ways that you can make a difference, such as studying up on how to identify and properly report child neglect. This is important, as you don’t want to call in false reports, but you also want to make the right decision if a truly dangerous situation presents itself. Other ways that you can help to secure your neighbourhood include:
- Attending community meetings.
- Joining neighbourhood-focused social media sites or online communities.
- Helping with (or even creating) a neighbourhood watch.
By improving your neighbourhood’s security, you won’t just increase your own safety. You’ll also be helping those around you stay safe.
Review Your Own Home’s Security
Next up, it’s time to review your own home. There are many ways to increase the security of your residence, such as:
- Making sure all of your locks are working well.
- Putting up motion-sensor lights near any entrances.
- Installing cameras to monitor and record anyone approaching your home.
- Getting into the habit of checking all of your windows and doors before going to bed.
You don’t need to build a fortress to stay relatively safe. Often it’s little things like lights and locks that make all the difference. In many cases, the simple act of coming up against a locked door or seeing a security camera is enough to deter many threats.
Remember Your Own Daily Safety
Along with guarding against external threats to your home, it’s also wise to take steps to protect yourself from your own work environment.
Your home may not be as dangerous as a construction site, but it still can pose various risks. Take a look around for ways that you can make your home workspace safer. Can you declutter to reduce the risk of slip-and-fall accidents? Do you have poor lighting that can strain your eyes? Do you need to vacuum or dust to avoid suffering from allergies?
It may not be as dramatic as a burglar breaking into your home. Even so, there are many small things that can quietly threaten your safety right from within the comfort of your home office.
Don’t Overlook Cybersecurity
Along with your physical safety, it’s also important to consider the cybersecurity of your home office. There are many ways to ensure that your personal network and devices are safe as you labour on the homefront. For example, you can:
- Secure your home router with a good password.
- Make sure your devices are encrypted.
- Keep all of your devices and software up to date.
- Install reputable antivirus software.
- Use strong passwords and enable automatic locking.
Keeping your online activity secure is extremely important in an era where so much of our activity takes place via the cloud.
Don’t Forget Your Mental Safety
Finally, take a few minutes to consider the safety of your mind and emotions, too. The pandemic has created an endless flood of stress and anxiety that can take a toll, especially when you’re stranded and isolated at home.
Look for ways to build an affirming home environment. This can include decluttering your spaces, adopting minimalism, or using essential oils for aromatherapy.
Maintaining a Secure Home While Working Remotely
The pandemic hardly removed the need for security on the home front. If anything, it’s even more important to ensure that you don’t slip into a false sense of security while you’re spending so much time in your living space.
So take the time to review your community, personal, physical, mental, and digital security today. Then take steps to address any weaknesses so that you can truly labour in peace, no matter how much longer you find yourself working from home.
