For some people, working from home is a dream come true. For others, not so much. While theoretically working from the peace and comfort of your own home comes with a wealth of benefits such as more flexibility, no commute stress, better work-life balance, comfort and convenience, reality is not the same for everyone. Flexibility can turn into a complete lack of organization and what should be a serene and peaceful work environment can prove to be a chaotic and hectic setting, with countless distractions stopping you from fulfilling your tasks.
With more and more businesses adopting the remote work model, we see a lot of employees struggling to adapt to their new work system. The transition can be tricky and even daunting if you’re used to your 9 to 5 office schedule and you’ve never worked from home a day in your life. However, with the help of right strategies and tools you can make your work from home time as productive as it is comfortable. So here are some useful tips that can help you out in this regard.
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Set up a proper workspace
When you work from home it can be tempting to simply grab your laptop and use your bed as your desk, and we can understand why. It’s cozy and comfortable, and it also saves you a lot of time – you don’t have to make your bed if you lie in it all day and you don’t have to set up a dedicated home office.
However, there are some downsides to it as well. First of all, working from bed can lead to poor posture and that can result in a variety of health problems. Also, since you use your bed for both sleeping/relaxing and working, the boundaries might get blurry and you might be tempted to take more breaks than usual.
So, instead of transforming work from home into work from bed, you should set up a proper workspace in a quiet corner of your house. Having a separate space where you have all your work items and can focus solely on your job-related tasks can help you maintain a clear boundary between work and relaxation, and keep your productivity levels high.
Have a reliable working system
A proper work setting can help a lot, but only if you also have a reliable working system in place. And by that, we mean having a good internet connection, thanks to something like one of these viasat internet plans, and proper work equipment that you can rely on to perform as expected at all times. The last thing you want is to be in the middle of an important meeting via video conferencing and miss parts of the conversation or not be able to take part in the discussion because of poor internet connection.
Therefore, choosing the right internet provider is key for remote working, and there are a few steps that can help you with this, as follows:
- Do some shopping around and compare various plans from different providers
- Check providers’ websites and do more in-depth research
- Check out reviews from other users
- Make sure you read the terms and conditions before making a purchase
The same goes for the work equipment you’ll be using at home. You need to invest in quality devices that can support you in performing your daily activities and make sure to maintain them in proper functioning condition.
Don’t skip the morning routine
Since you’re working from home and there’s no one around to judge your appearance, you might as well skip the time-consuming morning routine, right? Well, you definitely can, but we highly recommend you don’t.
Taking the time to prep for work can get you in the right mindset and help out you start your day on the right foot. So, you should still wake up on time, freshen up, and prepare your coffee, just similar to you would if you were heading to the office. This doesn’t mean you should dress to the nines or put makeup on as well. You can adopt a more relaxed look and replace the suit with comfortable womens pajamas since you’re not going anywhere. The point is to look and feel fresh so you can get into action and stay productive all day long.
Limit distractions
There’s nothing quite as irritating as dealing with constant distractions and interruptions when you’re trying to get some work done. So things can get even more stressful when you have deadlines to meet and you can’t afford to waste any precious time due to continuous disruptions.
While you can’t control everything that happens around you, there are steps you can take to limit distractions such as: turn the TV and the radio off, put your personal phone away or turn off social media notifications, keep your workspace clean and tidy, set up your home office in the most peaceful area of the house. Fewer distractions translate into more time for you to focus on your tasks and enhanced productivity.
Set boundaries
Even if you take all the steps we’ve mentioned above and try to separate your work life from your personal life as best as you can, other members of your household might make things difficult for you without even realizing it.
That’s why it’s a wise idea to talk to your family members or housemates, tell them about your needs, and set clear boundaries together. Let them know about your schedule, so they are aware you can’t be interrupted during your work hours. If anything in your schedule changes, communicate these changes so you can manage expectations and create a proper work environment.
Have a consistent work schedule
It id easy to lose track of time when you work from home. You can be so focused on what you’re doing, always trying to get one more thing done, that you don’t even realize how your work is bleeding into your personal time, affecting your work-life balance.
You can avoid this by creating a clear work schedule and sticking to it, so you can manage your workload and finish your tasks in due time. When you know exactly how much time you have allocated for each specific task, you’re less likely to work overtime.
