As many of us are most likely spending more time at home than ever before, now is perhaps the perfect opportunity to fill some of those hours by tackling that household to-do list you keep ignoring. And whether that list is long or short, it’s likely that somewhere on it is what many consider to be one of the biggest Herculean tasks of all: organising an overflowing and messy wardrobe.

Understandably, this is a chore you’ve probably been putting off for aeons because nobody wants to be faced with dubious impulse buys or clothes that don’t fit anymore. But actually getting to grips with this unenviable job doesn’t have to be as daunting as it at first sounds; we’re not talking a full-scale sartorial renovation here but more of a determined tweak, helping you to navigate what you own, and wear, with comparative ease.

With that in mind, begin by separating the wheat from the chaff, extracting all of the clothes that you haven’t worn in the last year, and lay them out in front of you. This obviously doesn’t mean those big spend items such as outerwear and expensive knitwear but instead the T-shirts and shirts you’d actually forgotten you owned.

And here’s the thing. If you haven’t worn any of these garments in the last 12 months, then you’re probably never going to wear them again, so put your emotions on hold, be ruthless and purge. Once you’ve bagged-up these unwanted clothes for the local charity shop, what you’re left with is space in your wardrobe to navigate the task ahead.

Begin by organising your suits; assuming that you’re not wearing them as you WFH ( if you are, gold star for you) then for the time being at least they’ll be spending the foreseeable future hanging in your newly spacious wardrobe. Zip them into suit bags to stop them from collecting dust thus keeping them spotless.

As for your shirts, separate the smart from the casual and buy a set of sturdy wooden hangers to hang them on. The wire ones you collect your dry cleaning on just won’t do and by actually using hangers that match you’ll instantly make your wardrobe look a lot more organised. Once all of your shirts are in place, fasten the top two buttons only.

All T-shirts, lightweight jumpers and cardigans and jeans can be folded and stored away, while trousers – both smart and casual – can be hung from wooden clip hangers.

Your underwear should be folded and kept in a separate draw from your socks which, when freshly laundered, should be balled into their matching pairs straight away. Also useful; invest in a good quality laundry basket because even dirty clothes need to be tidied away too.

A simple rack that hangs over your wardrobe door, or hooks screwed onto the inside, is a brilliant way to store your collection of impressive ties and belts, while footwear should be kept at the bottom of your wardrobe in their boxes.

Which, finally, brings us to the vexing issue of how to safely store your above mentioned favourite winter knitwear. Fold, never hang, and keep in storage boxes with the very important addition of cedarwood sachets or balls. This should go some way to keeping your knitwear nemesis, the pesky clothes moth, firmly at bay; unfortunately, if they do arrive uninvited for the all-you-can-eat woollen buffet, they tend to be the dinner guest that never knows when to leave.

The number of people working from home has almost doubled over the last 10 years, according to the Office for National Statistics, and while there are many benefits to this more flexible way of working, for those of us who are not used to working at home, lack of organisation and other distractions such as Netflix, deliveries, and furry friends can hinder our productivity.

If you work from home, be it a day here or there or full-time, whether you’re a seasoned WFH-er or new to the set-up, you’ll want to plan it out. Here are five tips to help you keep it together when you’re working remotely.

It’s important not to mistake flexibility with a total lack of routine. Establishing a solid routine, especially in the morning, is key to your success as a remote worker. Set your sleep schedule and try hard to stick to it, apps such as Sleep Cycle are a great way to track your sleep patterns and wake you up in a more natural way.

When you do manage to drag yourself out of bed, get dressed. We don’t mean into your hoodie and tracksuit bottoms – go for a smart-casual outfit that is comfortable but still looks professional.

And when it gets to the end of the day? Pens down means pens down. Avoid the urge to clock up hours of overtime. There may well be situations that do need a few extra hours of your time but don’t make a habit of it.

When you’re working at home, you can’t really turn off the internet – it’s a fundamental tool. But with distracting notifications from news outlets and multiple social media channels popping up every few minutes, it’s hard to remain focused on the task at hand. Why not try the Self Control app? It lets you block your own access to distracting websites, your mail servers or anything else online for a period of time you set.

A technique that works to keep you on track in the office and that will work just as well at home is segmenting your tasks over the course of the day. If you have an online calendar, set reminders that encourage you to move on to new tasks. Google Calendar makes it easy and has a good guide on it here.

As much as we like our own company, sometimes working from home can feel lonely. With nobody to bounce ideas around with you may be left feeling uninspired to get the job done.

When teams and clients are unable to meet in the same room, video conferencing tools offer a great alternative with group chat, screen sharing and instant messaging functionalities. There are loads to choose from and your office probably has its preferred channel. But just because your colleagues aren’t with you in person, doesn’t mean all etiquette goes out the window – The Evening Standard has a good take on the new meeting rules for dialling in.

If at any point you feel isolated or overwhelmed reach out to friends, family or co-workers. Alternatively, Elefriends (soon to be known as Side by Side) is a supportive online community that was set up by the Mind charity. It is a safe place to listen, share and be heard. You might be working solo, but you’re certainly not alone.

We all know that too long sitting down is bad for both our physical and mental health, but what can you do when you don’t have time to hit the gym? Well, the NHS provides a range of equipment-free home workout routines that you can do in between client calls and emails. They range from 10- minute home workouts to focused sessions on strength, balance, and flexibility. You can check them out here .

For many of us, there’s little that will challenge sanity more than being at home 24/7.  Calve out time for breaks and use that time to get outside, run errands and get some fresh air. Lots of research indicates that doing this will increase productivity and aid your general well-being.

And finally, take time to find some moments of quiet. Mindfulness has gone mainstream recently and for good reason: clinical studies have shown practising mindfulness to decrease stress and improve concentration. And if companies like Google, Nike and Apple are on board with mindfulness in the workplace, chances are it’ll work for you too.

However, for something that’s supposed to leave you feeling calm and refreshed, meditation can be kind of stressful. When is the best time to do it?  How do you do it? How long do you do it for? Meditation apps are a great way of aiding mindfulness practice, they’re really accessible and let you pick up your practice anywhere and anytime. The Calm app provides guided 3-25 minute sessions on various topics including calming anxiety to gratitude and mindfulness at work.

While all our social lives are small-scale at the moment, there will come a time in the not-too-distant future when we’ll have celebrations and black tie events and awards ceremonies to go to again.

Until then, why not put idle hands to good use and brush up on your bow-tie-tying skills? You can thank yourself later.

Have a go using our six-step guide below. It’ll take a little practice to get it right, but the result is well worth putting in the effort.

Take your time with it, don’t rush and definitely don’t panic that it’s not tight enough. If you over-tighten your bow tie your collar will bunch up and be uncomfortable. If you tie the bow correctly it’ll stay put on its own.

A self-tied bow tie will always be a little asymmetrical and that’s exactly what gives it its character. Master the technique and you’ll stand out as the guy who knows what he’s doing among everyone else with their perfectly-balanced pre-tied versions. And who doesn’t want to be that guy?

Days when you need to make a good impression can fall in every month of the year. Handily, suits come in light, mid and heavy fabric weights, so you can feel confident without shivering in winter or mopping your brow in summer.

But just looking at the fabric won’t tell you how warm or cool a suit is – there are summer-weight tweeds, after all. So here’s the lowdown on how to how to find out whether a suit will be a winter warmer or light and breezy for summer.

FIBRE VS WEAVE

Some fibres are naturally heavier than others. You’d expect a linen suit or Tencel shirt to be lighter, for example. But when it comes to wool, the weight is more technical as it depends on the thickness of its fibres and tightness of its weave.

When you’re shopping for a suit, you may notice some mentions of GSM. This figure is the weight per square metre, and it’s how you figure out if the suit is lightweight or heavyweight.

So what numbers should you look out for?

HEAVYWEIGHT SUITS

These suits are cut from cloths that weigh upwards of 400GSM (or 14oz as they may also be called). Think traditional tweeds and Donegal weaves, as well as those used for coats.

They’re ideal for winter because they let shut out the cold air to keep you warm. Tailors also love using heavy fabrics because they give more structure and drape beautifully to tease out wrinkles. That’s why heavier cloths are generally more formal.

LIGHTWEIGHT SUITS

Any suit cut from a cloth below 270GSM (or under 9oz) will be very lightweight. The looser weave allows plenty of airflow to keep body temperature down. If you want to wear a heritage-look tweed or herringbone suit in summer, there’s no reason why you can’t if you choose one in a light weight.

We’ve cut the grams even more with our lightweight suits by removing the shoulder padding and choosing minimal lining.

SOMEWHERE IN BETWEEN

For an all-rounder, a midweight suit should do a bit of both. Cloths weighing between 290GSM and 390GSM are usually wearable for most of the year.

If you’re just getting started with your suit collection, go for one that’s 290-360GSM for an all-season outfit and expand your options from there. Look for half-lined jackets for a smooth fit on the arms and more breathability on the back or opt for a lined suit if you want something that bit warmer.

When you’ve got a big event to get ready for, the last thing you need is the added stress of fiddling around with your accessories.

If you’re not confident in tying your own bow tie, then a pre-tied bow tie will speed the process up. By ‘pre-tied’, it means the bow is already in place, but you still have to adjust the neck strap to fit you snugly. A droopy bow tie will ruin the lines of your sharp eveningwear, so here’s how to fit yours like a pro.

First of all, a quick meet-the-tools guide. Clip A is a T-shaped bar at the end of the strap that goes into the slots on the back of the strap to adjust the fit. Clip B is a movable bar on the strap that you’ll connect to clip C, a hook on the back of the bow itself.

When does a cotton shirt become more than just a cotton shirt? When you factor in how its fabric is woven.

Different weaves create different characteristics and will determine how your shirt looks and feels. What makes one shirt more lightweight than others? The weave. And how about easier to iron? Yeah, that’s its weave. That interesting texture? Well, you get the picture.

Most business shirts will come in one of four weaves. So let’s break them down.

Poplin is a smooth, everyday weave and you’ll find men wearing it as standard in offices across the country. Its closely-woven threads create a crisscross pattern that makes this fabric particularly durable, yet it’s still lightweight and more breathable than other weaves. It’s also got little to no sheen, so it looks crisp and professional.

An Oxford shirt is made from a traditional basketweave fabric, meaning multiple weft threads are crossed equally over warp threads. It usually blends a single colour yarn with white for a micro checked appearance that’s equally suited to officewear as it is more casual outfits.

Sturdy yet soft, twill is woven with two threads that cross over and under each other to create a diagonal pattern. It’s thicker and warmer than other weaves, however, it also drapes well, has a light sheen and is more resistant to creasing, so you’ll find it a great choice for staying smart on colder weekdays.

Named for its similarity to the skeleton of the herring fish, this popular pattern has been used in menswear for many years, typically on suits and outerwear. Used on a white or plain coloured shirt, it’s a great choice to add a bit of interest to everyday outfits.

There are many takes out there on how to pack a suitcase, but our take is that the way you pack a suitcase for a business trip and how you’d do it for a holiday are two different things. Less squeezing in one too many pairs of swim shorts and an ill-thought-out novelty print shirt you definitely won’t wear, more select items folded for minimal wrinkles and in outfit-ready bundles so you can hit the ground running.

Here’s how to do it.

If you normally work in an office, chances are you’ll need to wear a shirt and tie at least some of the time and will be familiar with the morning struggle of matching them up. And if you don’t wear a shirt to work, you’re still going to have to figure out which tie to wear with your shirt when you go to a wedding or other similarly dressed-up event. Whatever’s in the diary, there are a few solid styling rules that will help you pair shirts and ties with confidence. Here are five ways to get it right.

A floral tie will work brilliantly for a wedding, of course, but it’ll also brighten up the boardroom when handled elegantly. To do this, forget coordinating with the main shade of your tie, and instead choose a shirt in the same shade as your tie’s accent colour.

Most of us will probably reach for a crisp white shirt to set off a bolder tie, but a pale grey shirt is just as easy to wear and will go with pretty much any colour, yet takes your styling from amateur status to something much more sophisticated.

The trick is to pulling off a pattern clash is to aim for patterns in complementary shades and scale. Too similar a pattern and it’ll all merge into one, but too different and the focus is lost. This simple trick will master daring looks in any hue – just remember your tie should always be darker than your shirt.

Textured fabrics are a subtle way to liven up formal looks. Mirror the texture of a dobby shirt with a woven silk tie and keep your colours and patterns on the simple side for an overall considered finish.

If you do have a particularly formal event to go to, you’ll probably have to roll out a double-cuff white shirt and dial your styling down a bit. That’s not to say you can’t add some colour though, and you really can’t go wrong with a classic pairing like blue and white. Try a delicate pattern like this navy spotted tie and sneak some navy cufflinks in for good measure.

And finally, now you’ve got the tie to set off your shirt, here’s a reminder on how to tie it properly

But even though it’s pre-tied, you’re still going to have to adjust it to fit your neck. Here’s how it’s done.

SHOP BOW TIES

First up, a brief intro on all the parts of your bow tie. Clip A is a T-shaped bar at the end of the strap that goes into the slots on the back to adjust the fit. Clip B is a movable bar on the strap that you’ll connect to clip C, a hook on the back of the bow itself.

1. Take clip A and fold the bow tie’s strap back on itself to a length that will fit snugly around your neck, with clip B at the end

2. Fix the length by sliding clip A into one of the slots on the back of the strap

3. Hook clip B onto clip C to secure your bow tie. If it’s too loose or tight, move clip A into a neighbouring slot to adjust the fit

Once your bow tie’s on, adjust its sides and plump them out a little. A flat bow tie is a sure giveaway that it’s pre-tied. There’s no shame in a pre-tied bow tie but a little artful illusion never hurt anyone.