There is no need to wake up early in the morning, hustle on the subway, and sit all day in the office, counting the minutes until the end of the working day. Remote work is a comfortable environment, flexible hours but unfortunately a new enemy – procrastination. We have put a list of tips for you to make your home workday more efficient and organized. There will also be time for everything, for work, for family, and for gatherings with friends.
Schedule matters
The biggest challenge in working from home is time management. You control the work yourself and set deadlines. And at home, there are a lot of distractions: a TV, a refrigerator, a pet, a stain on the curtains that you didn’t pay attention to before, and now, until you wash it off, you won’t calm down. People who have worked from home for years advise setting up a schedule. Yes, when your office is your home, you also need to wake up on an alarm clock: sleeping too long is dangerous for your productivity. When making your own schedule, consider your own characteristics. For example, if your work is more productive in the evening, then sit down to do business in the afternoon, and spend the morning on household chores and meeting friends.
Set boundaries
Some experts advise setting the end of the working day in advance: for example, end work every day at 4:00 pm. If this option does not suit you, you can make a list of tasks every day – your working day will end when all the items from this list have been completed. It is important during working hours not to be distracted by household chores and solving personal issues. Disconnect social networks for a while – reply to all messages when you’re done with work tasks. You need to be able to distinguish between personal life and work.
Organise your workspace
Working on the couch interferes with your productivity. You need to have something like an office at home: a comfortable table, a chair and nothing more! The main function of your home office is business. Therefore, it is advisable that your pets do not enter this territory and do not distract you from work. If you feel the need for a change of scenery, head to a café or park. It is even helpful to change locations from time to time, especially if you are stumped or need to generate a new idea.
Reward yourself for the work you do
To make the work go faster and more efficiently, come up with small rewards. You will receive them for completing certain tasks. For example, make a promise to yourself that once you get your paperwork sorted out, you’ll walk to your favourite coffee shop. Or, once you’ve finished your day-to-day tasks, allow yourself to watch an episode of the show.
Take care of your appearance
Clothing has a big impact on productivity. Agree, it’s hard to do work in a home T-shirt or pyjamas – you want to lie in bed and watch movies. Therefore, experts advise paying attention to your appearance when working from home. Wear something comfortable, but you shouldn’t feel ashamed to go outside or answer a video call in that clothes.
Do not forget to rest
Sometimes, working from home, we devote all the time to business and forget about rest. This is also wrong. Add a walk in the park or a run to your schedule. If you can’t leave the apartment, just go out onto the balcony to get some fresh air. This increases motivation and productivity. Interval work is helpful. For example, spend 45 minutes on business, and 15 minutes to rest.
Learn to interact with colleagues
Communication in the office is easier to build than remotely. At home, it is important to always be in touch with colleagues so as not to slow down the work process. Therefore, respond promptly both in private messages and in general chats. The best solution would be to use the intranet. Experts recommend that you agree with the team at what time you will be in touch. And do not hesitate to ask questions: it is better to ask again and clarify several times than to do the wrong thing because you misunderstood. You can also make the work of your colleagues easier if you yourself notify them about the work done or changes in the work process, rather than waiting for you to be asked.
Communicate with other people
When we work from home, we spend less time with people. For many, this becomes a real challenge. Some people notice that they become withdrawn and asocial. Therefore, you need to meet with a friend at least once a week for a cup of coffee or gather a company of like-minded people and arrange a coworking space – this will have a positive effect on your productivity.
Conclusion
As you can see, it’s not so hard to organise work from home. We hope that we helped you with these tips and that you’ll be more productive and do your work with more pleasure. We know that working from home can be difficult, but make sure to take all the benefits from it and forget about the disadvantages. Good luck.
