Ideas & activities for you & the family.
Bringing you the best guides & tips in one place for WFH.
Effective ways to keep in contact with your customers.
Harper Macleod home room is here to help, whether its business advice or living your best life.
What's new
Always together
The family of Harper Macleod has always been an extremely important part of the firm's ethos and the strength of our connections has never been more important than during the pandemic.
Our primary concern from the very start has been the health and wellbeing of everyone – including colleagues, clients and the communities within which we work. You can call it community spirit, or corporate citizenship or simply looking out for one another when it counts – it's about leading by example and sticking together.
We know this has been a testing time for many people. That's why at the outset of the lockdown we created the HM home room as a positive response to what was going on in all of our worlds.
What is the HM home room?
The home room is a community, a club that's free to join, where we share insights, knowledge and tips that we hope help us all cope better with the impact of the changes to 'normal' life. Developing a better balance to our work and life can benefit everyone and the home room encourages us to make the most of positive opportunities arising from difficult situations.
Here you'll find a focus on wellbeing and links to resources which enable everyone to stay active, healthy and mindful. You'll find a range of practical tips for working from home, whether you live alone or have family around you.
The home room is constantly changing as the world around us changes, and we'd love you to share any other great links, tips or resources that you feel would benefit others. Let us know and we'll make them available for everyone.
Lifestyle & wellbeing for you and the family
Wellbeing for you and your family is always important, but even more so now.
From activities you'd wanted to do for some time, to new ways of keeping you in great shape physically and mentally, below you'll find a range of activities to keep you and the family active and healthy.
- DMC Fitness - Get fit with a guided at home routine for all abilities
- Stay fit with Glasgow Warriors Liam Walshe
- Catch up on previous episodes of P.E with Joe Wicks
- Stair Shuffle Challenge - can you stair shuffle?
- FitOn app - Free on demand workouts
- Prana Yoga Studio - introduction to Yoga (part 1)
- Prana Yoga Studio - sun salutations for absolute beginners (part 2)
- Prana Yoga Studio - yoga flow (part 3)
- Prana Yoga Studio - guided relaxation (part 4)
- Nature walk bingo
- Take your family to Disney World without leaving home!
- Harry Potter at home
- Make and race a balloon-powered car with Dyson Engineeers.
- Get your Tik Tok on - Make Your Day
- Try the 30 best board games of all time
- Make your own archaeological dig / pirate treasure / ice age
- Make a beastie hotel, bird bath or feeder from recycled bits from around the house with these handy guides from RSPB.
- Join the keepers at Blair Drummond safari park on facebook and learn about all the animals and how they care for them.
- National Theatre - Enjoy live screenings in the comfort of your home
- Games for tomorrows programmers - Blockly
- Elgin museum at home - activities and quizzes
- David Walliams - free audiobooks daily
- The Little Art School - free daily drawing lessons
- Athlete Focused - Mental toughness in the workplace - Giving you the tools to cope with working from home and all the distractions that go along with it.
- Headspace - Everyday Mindfulness and Meditation app to help with stress, anxiety, sleep and fitness
- Colour in Lorne - Just print out and enjoy with all the family. We would love to see your finished pieces!
Glasgow Warrior, Chris Fusaro shares some homemade recipes with us. Who wants to give them a TRY?
- Here Chris is joined with his kids (sous chefs), Freddie and Sofia, to make a healthy snack/breakfast - banana pancakes.
View how to make the tasty treat here. - Chris shows us another of his signature dishes, his Steak 'Cheat' Ramen! So put the kids to bed, grab a drink and enjoy a night in with some delicious food!
- This time around Chris shows us another of his signature dishes, his Greek Style Flatbread! Perfect for lunch of dinner at the weekend.
Practical guides for working from home
Working at home is the new normal for many people and whether you're dealing with yourself or with kids, it's important to have a basic structure so that your days are productive. It's also good to know that you don't have to reinvent the wheel. There are some great resources which can help you make the most of working from home, and also keep the kids in line (and entertained).
Use the drop down sections below to access some useful resources. And if you find any more, please let us know. Click here to submit your ideas.
1. The Wikipedia for Remote Working
https://www.notion.so/Remote-work-wiki-1b21ef5501714fffa9f5c5c25677371f
2. 11 Best practices for working remotely
https://usefyi.com/remote-work-best-practices/
3. OMG I'm working remotely, now what?
https://benediktlehnert.github.io/
4. FYI's 180 Tips for Remote Work
https://usefyi.com/remote-work-tips/
5. Zapier's guide to working remotely
https://zapier.com/learn/remote-work/
6. Morale, Mental Health and Avoiding Burnout
https://www.holloway.com/g/remote-work/sections/morale-mental-health-and-burnout-in-remote-teams
7. How to set up your desk
8. Using your iPhone to scan and email documents
Webinars
Maximum Performance - Working from home webinars
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/1-working-from-home-tickets-100306148390
1. How to stay connected with your colleagues while working from home
https://www.zenefits.com/workest/how-to-stay-connected-with-your-colleagues-while-working-from-home/
2. How to stay connected to the office when you work remotely - 3 Tips
https://www.topresume.com/career-advice/stay-connected-work-remotely
3. How to work remotely and remain connected
https://highfive.com/blog/how-to-work-remotely
4. Here's how to stay productive and connected while you work from home
5. How to stay connected while working remotely
https://startupnation.com/grow-your-business/stay-connected-working-remotely/
6. Great British Home Chorus with Gareth Malone
https://decca.com/greatbritishhomechorus/
7. Ofcom: Stay connected during the Coronavirus
https://www.ofcom.org.uk/phones-telecoms-and-internet/advice-for-consumers/stay-connected
1. How to work at home with children?
2. The Remote Working Parent's Survival Guide
https://doist.com/blog/remote-working-parents-survival-guide/
3. Integrating Work and family - 21 tips working at home with kids
https://open.buffer.com/integrating-work-family-21-tips-working-home-kids/
4. A Remote Working Guide for Parents
https://blog.trello.com/remote-work-guide-for-parents
5. 5 tips to balance remote working while your family is also at home
6. Shona Crawford - COVID-19 We set some ground rules
https://www.shonacrawford.co.uk/post/covid-19-we-set-some-ground-rules
Sumdog
Twinkl
Offering parents of children one month all access membership. Home learning packs offered.
Scholastic
Learn at home is providing 20 days’ worth of active learning journeys
Purple Mash
Offering free access to both Purple Mash and Serial Mash whilst schools are closed
https://www.purplemash.com/login/
Classroom Secrets
Offering their new BETA site Classroom Secrets Kids completely free to support home learning
https://classroomsecrets.co.uk/
Dyslexia Gold Phonics
Ofering a free spelling tutor for pupils to access at home
Early Learn
Offering premium access to their objective focussed educational games most suitable for 3-5 year olds.
The Active Educator
Maths and literacy games
TTS Group - Reading materials
Mr McMaking Memories
https://www.mrmcmakingmemories.com/reading-resources
https://www.mrmcmakingmemories.com/maths-reosurces
Extra Literacy and Reading resources
https://www.mrmcmakingmemories.com/literacy-resources
YouTube Super Power word playlist of videos / game ideas
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLWee7c-xY- eRRDiyMBjhMqtTk8Qr1KJBY
Phonics / alphabet song Boom Shake the Alphabet
Maths Songs
Everybody get Up https://youtu.be/aKvgwVAGSgw Shape song: 5 6 7 8 (shape) https://youtu.be/0sfZ3gdiH6c
The Imagination Tree
Survival guide – planning, play and learning ideas for self isolation
https://theimaginationtree.com/stay-at-home-survival-guide/
Tpet
Free downloadable home teaching packs
Khan Academy
BBC Learning
http://www.bbc.co.uk/learning/coursesearch/
Futurelearn
Seneca
https://www.senecalearning.com
Openlearn
https://www.open.edu/openlearn/
Blockly
Scratch
https://scratch.mit.edu/explore/projects/games/ Creative computer programming
Ted Ed
National Geographic Kids
https://www.natgeokids.com/uk/
Duolingo
Mystery Science
The Kids Should See This
https://thekidshouldseethis.com
Crash Course
Crash Course Kids
https://m.youtube.com/user/crashcoursekids
Crest Awards
iDEA Awards
Paw Print Badges
https://www.pawprintbadges.co.uk
Tinkercad
Prodigy Maths
Cbeebies Radio
https://www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies/radio
Nature Detectives
https://naturedetectives.woodlandtrust.org.uk/naturedetect…/
British Council
https://www.britishcouncil.org/school-resources/find
Oxford Owl for Home
https://www.oxfordowl.co.uk/for-home/
Big History Project
https://www.bighistoryproject.com/home
Geography Games
https://world-geography-games.com/world.html
Blue Peter Badges
https://www.bbc.co.uk/cbbc/joinin/about-blue-peter-badges
The Artful Parent
https://www.facebook.com/artfulparent/
Red Ted Art
Toy Theater
DK Find Out
As a firm that works with some of Scotland's leading entrepreneurs and high-growth businesses and SMEs, we teamed up with them to get their advice on the best way to work from home and keep things going during difficult times.
Recent updates
- Coronavirus: How good PR and communications is vital to avoid the ‘Court of Public Opinion’ - Article provided by John Morrison, managing director of Morrison Media
- More relatable role models please - Article provided by Gayle Mann, Co-Founder at Misadventures In Entrepreneuring
- You are an entrepreneur. Yes YOU. Article provided by Lucy-Rose Walker, Co-Founder at Misadventures In Entrepreneuring
- At last we can finally stop hiding our humanness - Article provided by Gayle Mann, Co-Founder at Misadventures In Entrepreneuring
- I just need a plan - Article provided by Gayle Mann, Co-Founder at Misadventures In Entrepreneuring
Key contact
Find out more about how Harper Macleod can help your business during this time on our entrepreneurs, growth and investment page or contact Paula Skinner on:
Paula is recommended as a "Leader in the Field" in corporate law in Scotland where she is described as having "a particular specialism in advising start-ups, entrepreneurs and investors." She is recognised for her expertise in crowdfunding, and a market insider reports: "There are no gaps in her knowledge or understanding of the market." (Chambers UK). The Legal 500 regards her as a "Next Generation Partner" and The Law magazine listed her in the Hot 100 of Lawyers for 2015 across the UK (the only lawyer from a Scottish firm to be listed). View full profile.
Lauren's Lockdown Diary
Exploring Elgin the Wright way!
Lauren Wright is a Partner based in our Elgin office. During Lockdown, she entertained and enlightened us with a virtual tour of the city for those who weren't able to visit or had never been there before. She may even have shone a new light on Elgin for people who thought they knew a little about it!
So, for the inside track on Elgin, read on here.
Home: The Abiding Place of Protection
Michael Angus is an architect, author, educator, musician and, of course, a presenter on the fantastic television series Scotland's Home of the Year. Fortunately for Harper Macleod, Michael is also a fan of the HM home room, the online community created by the firm in response to the lockdown. The home room is an open hub where over the past few months we have shared insights, knowledge and tips to help us all be apart together. We are delighted that Michael has taken the time to write this article for the home room, sharing his thoughts on the concept of home and its role as a place of shelter, protection and so much more in our lives. Read more online here.
The extended HM family
Top banana!
Our Highlands & Islands team zoom called in yellow to celebrate 'Make a Will Month' for Highlands Hospice.
Star bakers & showstoppers
We've been channelling our inner Mary Berry and gone bonkers for baking.
Bella's the boss!
Bella’s taken over the Marketing team whilst Laura Vernett has a coffee.
Angela Gray's little lamb
The biggest change to my new typical day in the office has been spending my lunch hour helping out in the lambing shed!
Ciara Mcshane & Rory
"New coworker, he's a bit too noisey but keeps the spirits up!"
Kelly Fraser & Lexi
'Lexi progressed to the table this morning... I’ll have her typing in no time! '
Amy Walsh & Stella
'Stella reporting for team mascot duty this morning.'
Bonnie & Kobe
'For Richard Steell and Marc Penman the company of Bonnie and Kobe - taking the isolation out of self-isolation"
Lyndsay McMahon & Baxter
'Baxter is ready for another week of WFH. He was a wee bit tardy with his timekeeping and effort last week but I am hoping it was just initial nerves. Would hate to have to let him go
'
Maintaining customer contact - it's good to talk
Communicating is more important than ever for a whole host of reasons. In fact, it's crucial to every business that we continue to talk to people and reinforce the vital relationships that have been built up over time.
We're all in the same boat and what people need more than ever is to have trusted contacts to be there for them, listen and provide practical advice and assistance that will add value to their own situation.
The social aspect of talking to someone can't be underestimated. While email is useful, sometimes it is more effective to pick up the phone or video call to keep in touch - Just checking in with someone and making sure that they are okay can be enough. They may not know that there's something we can do to help them, or someone or some resource we can direct them to that could make a big difference to them.
It's nice to be nice.