A lot of people have been eyeing the work from home setup even before COVID. And with the outbreak of coronavirus, millions of workforce all over the world are forced to work in the comfort of their homes. Most companies are now slowly trying to go back to what their life is pre-COVID and are now returning to the office, but some companies are still letting their employees work remotely.
Working at the comfort of your home is awesome; no commutes, no traffic, no need to get up early and hurry, and there’s no need to think over what you wear for the day. It is all good until your focus shifts from making reports to doing household chores, playing and taking care of your kids, a short nap that turned into a 3-hr sleep, or you got lured into watching your favorite Netflix series.
Work from Home Tips
For people who have been working in the office ever since, working from home is unfamiliar territory for them. Transitioning from office to home means grappling with issues like maintaining a healthy boundary between work and personal life, and when and where to work. To be able to cope with the transition successfully, here are some tips that can help you in starting with your work from home arrangement.
1. Make a Daily Routine
Just because you are working from home doesn’t mean you can do whatever you want. You should keep in mind that only your location changed, not your schedule nor the nature of your work. You may wake up later than your usual time since commuting is out of the picture. Still, start your day like you do when working in the office; shower, eat breakfast or drink coffee, and wear decent clothes.
Keep your schedule as it is. Maintain your regular working hours, not just when you feel like it. It will help you set a boundary between your work and personal life.
2. Create a conducive work station
Setting up a work station can help you cope up with the work-from-home arrangement easily. Although it would have been amazing to work while in bed, you do not want to fall asleep when you have important things to do. Mimicking the office setup by creating a workstation away from distractions will help you focus, which in turn, will help you more productive.
3. Take breaks
Just like working in an office, you also need to take a breather when working at home. Sometimes, we get to immerse ourselves with work we forget to eat lunch or any meals during the day. Give yourself a treat by walking away from your computer. Go to your garden, enjoy the fresh air and sunlight.
4. Refrain from using Social Media
It is so easy to get tempted in using social media while working at home. Unlike in the office where your boss and coworkers can see you, you are free to do anything you want at home. Social media is one of the reasons while employees’ productivity decreases. TeamLease World of Work Report said that an average of 2.35 hours is spent accessing social media at work every day and 13 percent of the total productivity is lost owing to the social media indulgence alone. You can use your social media sites with no restrictions after your working hours, but until then, refrain yourself from doing so.
5. Stay Connected
One of the disadvantages of not working in an office is not having easy access to your colleagues at any time you want. Email won’t suffice when you need to talk about things in detail. Thus, make use of free videoconferencing tools like skype and zoom to avoid confusion and misunderstanding.