How to Work From Home: 10 Tips to Stay Productive
COVID-19 pushed technologies five years faster. The pandemic led to people losing their jobs. And people with choices were doing the job online. Before, working from home was a choice. Now, it is an option available for most jobs. People stayed in their homes and learned how to remotely engage with their clients.
Working from home created blurred boundaries between work and home for some people. Some people gained more family time. Work from home is now an international practice. Even people and organizations from third-world countries are adopting such practices. Companies and people are both realizing that they can benefit from work-from-home. A study shows that modern employees would now choose to spend 40% of their time working from home.
The shift to remote work is real. Companies are making it easier for employees and people are setting up their home offices. Schools and universities are making e-learning efficient and effective. Remaining in the comfort of your own home can make you lazy and inefficient.
Here are 10 tips to stay productive while working from home:
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1. Install a Routine/ System
You can work effectively in an office because you have colleagues. They are working with you for achieving organizational and personal goals. Their motivation guides you. You subconsciously want to achieve and learn more when you are in a group.
But, in the case of working from home, there is only you. This is where you’ll need to bring a discipline factor. You can create a routine for work. Try working at the same time every day. Separate working hours with home hours.
You can always create schedules and systems using Apps like Notion, Google Calendar, Todoist, etc. . This routine guides you even if you are a freelancer. Research has found that people who dress up for work at home tend to be more efficient at their job.
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2. Setup desk
You may need more than a writing table for your work. This is only an option and not a compulsion. But, reciprocating your work setup from work can be good. This is especially necessary if you’re in a technical field. Try putting up two monitors and use a sturdy table for your setup.
You’ll also want a comfortable chair. You will stay for certain hours of time on a chair. Take care of your backbone and health. Search desk setup inspirations in Youtube and Pinterest. You’ll save a lot of time and money by this.
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3. Terminate distractions
Your mom calls you for lunch. Or your friends wanna hang out with you. Do you need to cook lunch at a certain time?
There can be various distractions at home. After all, it is your comfort zone. Try mitigating these distractions beforehand. Plan meals and hangouts after working hours. Just don’t differentiate between working from home and office. Have and prepare instant snacks and healthy meals. Put your phones and social media on silent and hold.
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4. Connect with colleagues
Working from home doesn’t mean that you will have to do your individual tasks. You should have chats with your colleagues. Most modern organizations use Slack, Microsoft Teams, and Skype. Freelancers use dedicated channels from freelancing sites. This is necessary because working alone can be unmotivating and boring.
It can be even a basic question like, “How are you doing?”. Just talking about work is not recommended. You can learn about Raisha’s son’s piano lessons and John’s new hobby.
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5. Work in a co-working offices
Co-working places came to rise after COVID. People wanted to hang out in a place having different people working in the same field. A co-working space will have the basic qualities of an office. A conference room, meeting rooms, cubes for people, and lunch provisions.
A co-working space has creative individuals from various fields. Some people work in cafes and restaurants. You will be in the company of people who you don’t know. You may even meet someone who has similar interests and fields. WeWork is a good co-working space provider here in the UK.
6. Take Breaks
Taking breaks while working is necessary. Breaks are essential for task clarity and concision. You can use applications for taking breaks. Some organizations provide in-house time tracking systems. They have a Pomodoro timer. It consists of certain minutes of work hours(25-50) and breaks(5-20) minutes.
Take breaks for having lunches. Use your break time to scroll through social media. Planning your “unproductive” time makes you productive.
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7. Change surroundings
You’d probably walk back home or take a commute if you worked in an office. But how do you do it in your home?
You can do it by separating your workplace from your room. Make a certain part of your room your work corner. This gives you mental clarity about which is work. Leave the area after your work is finished. Chill in other places after work.
8. Keep snacks
Let’s talk about the advantages of being at home. Snacks!
You can put snacks on your table. Munching on snacks during work hours gives you the energy to do more work. Just don’t eat a lot of them. Put a bottle of water near you. Hydration has many advantages. You can also keep sour candies which are mostly used by students when studying. Dried berries and nuts are the healthier options among snacks.
9. Add tools
You can learn about tools for home automation. You can buy and use them as per your budget and convenience. This can be a new mouse or keyboard. It can even be a new internet router. Remember, your internet speed can be affecting your work.
Rethinking and planning your setup is necessary from time to time.
10. Increase security
Make sure to hide your location and phone number. You don’t want people to hold grudges against you. Using a good VPN is a good step. Security is less in this online world. But, you can do some efforts to up your setting.
Maintain your privacy during a video call. Put a clean background behind you for easy recognition. Use two-factor authentication and strong passwords for your online platforms. Explore the security options for available devices.
Working from home is not always fun. But, you can always make it better. We don’t recommend you to follow these tips step-by-step. One thing might be useful for you, other not so much. You can also learn your colleagues’ behaviors. You can get insight into people working from home on Youtube.
Summarizing all this, we can get:
- Changing your surroundings can be good
- Adding tools
- Connecting with colleagues
Work from home is the new way to go!
Also read: How to excel in an interview
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