For some, working from home sounds like a dream come true: sending emails from your sofa, commuting from your bed to table, avoid the drama of office politics. But the uniqueness of these work from home perks can wear off quickly. Remote working has always been a popular work arrangement for professionals across the world. Many people had hoped once they get a chance to work from home, they would not let this opportunity go. If you are also one of them, then here is some work from home tips that will help you to maintain a balance between your work and home.
There are many benefits of remote working. No hassles of traveling, no need to stress while deciding the attire for meeting a client, no more eating unhealthy food at the office cafeteria, to name some. Everybody who works remotely must find out when to work, place to work, and how to create boundaries between personal and work life. What about office equipment, career development, building relationships with co-workers, and training opportunities? Working remotely, mainly while working from home most of the time, means figuring out these problems and others. Here is work from home safety tips that will lead to a better and more productive remote-working life.
Useful Work from Home Tips
Maintain regular working hours
Fix a schedule and follow it strictly. Having clear guidelines for the time to work and when to stop working helps many remote workers maintain a perfect work-life balance. That said, one of the major benefits of remote working is flexibility and sometimes you need to work extra hours or start early to accommodate somebody else’s schedule. When you do, make sure to wrap up earlier than your usual time.
Automatic time-tracking apps help you to check in on whether you are following your schedule. They also help you to figure out at what time of the day you are most productive versus when you are not. You can use that info to your advantage by reserving your hours of high focus for completing your important tasks.
Create a permanent workspace
The first step in your “work from home” journey is to dedicate an area of your home, for completing your tasks. This could be a spare bedroom that can be converted to a home office. If you have limited space, you can set up a desk for keeping your office supplies and computer. Regardless of location or space, create an area in your home where you will work and commit to working in that area every day. Be sure your workspace is quiet so that you can focus on the tasks.
Invest in quality technology
One of the significant work from home tips that you must follow from the first day is to invest in high-quality technology. Yes, setting up a workspace at home requires a small investment. Just like starting a new business, you may have to buy things like a laptop, desktop, remote phone system, or tablet to ease your daily tasks.
A high-performance router will save you from many technical problems. As working from often needs much more than chat messages, you will need a router that will keep the network up. An old router might be prone to common network problems. Based on the type of your work, you may also need to buy software or hardware.
Following a morning routine
If you want to improve your work from home productivity level, then you must stick to a fixed morning routine. Deciding that you will sit at your desk and start working at a fixed time is one thing and creating a routine that guides you into the chair is a different thing. What does your morning routine indicate? It might be making coffee and taking enough time to savor it before you start working. It might be returning home after a workout. A routine can be stronger than a clock at helping you start every day.
Set Real working hours
Another work from home productivity tip is to fix real working hours. Now that you have set up your work or office area, it is time to get down to business. If you are going to work from home every day, then you must set specific working or business hours. The best thing about working from home is you can be flexible in fixing your working hours. For instance, if you are most productive in the morning or if you need to drop your kids at school, then you must set your working hours from 7 a.m to 3 p.m. You must enforce a limit at the end of the day. You must distance yourself from work so that you do not have to work nonstop.
Take breaks
It has been noted that while working from home, most of us forget to take breaks. But, if you want to enhance work from home productivity level, then taking breaks is important. If you are self-employed, give yourself sufficient time during the day to take a break from your phone and computer screen. A lunch hour and 2 breaks of 15 minutes each is the standard for full-time employees.
Separate your personal and work time
Just as it is important to work when you have committed, it is equally important to give yourself time for doing your stuff. Do not extend your working hour more than what you had planned, at the risk of stressing yourself.
One of the most important work from home tips is to keep your work life and personal life different as this will help you to stay productive while you are doing your tasks and it reduces stress. Just like how you set your working hours, plan, schedule, and communicate when you will not be available for work.
For example, if you like to spend time with your family in the evening, make sure you communicate that you will not check any emails after a certain time. And make sure you follow that commitment.
Dress appropriately the way you go to work
Even if you do not communicate with another person, it is important to dress appropriately for success. This includes even brushing and showering. T-shirts and sweatpants might be more comfortable for you, but they can make you feel sleepy, sluggish, or unmotivated. It is also a good opportunity to try a new outfit!
If you feel lazy to decide which attire to wear, try to decide the outfit night before, or plan an outing during the day for which you need to get dressed.
Make use of a planner
In addition to making a to-do list, get into the habit of using a planner or calendar. For instance, if you have been working from home for a few days, then you must get in the habit of using a planner to make notes and keep track of appointments, meetings, and deadlines.
There are various types of task management tools using which you can make telecommuting a breeze. By organizing tasks into projects, you can complete them one by one. You can make use of a planner to log all activities and tasks, no matter if you work in the office or remotely. Plan the work and then work accordingly.
Never work in the living room
This is an important tip to follow because it is a productivity killer. Some folks might think that “working from home” is a day to watch Netflix. No. Remote workers know the responsibility that comes with work from home.
To give your best while working from home, you must avoid all kinds of digital distractions so that you can focus on your work and complete your things. You must not watch tv while working. It will disturb your focus. Instead, you can listen to music that complements your work style.