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Over 56% of businesses offer remote work globally with productivity being one of the most prominent reasons for the shift to online spaces.
Needless to say, working from home is the new normal and here to stay. However, working from the comfort of your home can often be tough to manage. You need to juggle work commitments with the responsibilities of your house.
We have come up with some handy tips to help you stay productive while you work from home and keep a handle on your personal and professional life.
Challenges of working from home
While working from home has been unanimously welcomed by workers globally, it has also met challenges that threaten to harm an employee’s productivity. Some of the most common ones are:
- Inability to separate work and home life, making it seem like they were working all the time.
- A whopping 44% of employees state that they fear a loss of connection with colleagues and the communities they are involved in.
- This loss of connection manifests in loneliness as people work on their own in their homes.
- Employees that are not tech-savvy find it especially challenging to adapt to the online setting.
- People often get distracted easily, especially when they don’t have a designated work space at home.
How to be productive when working from home
The solution to the common challenges faced by employees while working from home is to have an organized work schedule. Having a pre-decided work setting brings order into your day and helps you stay focused.
Here are some ways to help you stay organized and be your productive best while working from home:
1. Plan your week
The very first order of business when it comes to working from home should be planning. Plan your week ahead of time to create a schedule you can work around. Many tools can help you create weekly planners.
Tools such as PosterMyWall offer a plethora of free weekly planner templates that you can choose based on your needs. You may give different themes to different days, or choose a minimalistic design that gives you flexibility.
Once you decide on a layout, customize it with text, photos, and even videos before downloading it. You may even print it out for reference and use it physically. Experiment with the different templates to see which one works the best for you.
2. Stay connected with your team
Another important aspect to take care of in a remote working setup is communication. Communication in itself is key to success in any work setting, it becomes even more important when people work separately from one another.
Collaborate with your team on tools like PosterMyWall by inviting them to it. It allows seamless communication and real-time collaboration on projects that allow you to work smoothly. This also gives you the creative freedom to bounce ideas off of one another.
Staying connected to your team via team management tools helps you separate your work and personal life. You have all the necessary work conversations recorded there to revisit as and when needed instead of them being buried in personal conversations.
3. Designate working space and hours
Working from home means working from their bed or couch for most people. Such settings contribute to the biggest challenge faced by people working remotely: work blending into their personal life and them being unable to unplug.
It is crucial to dedicate a work space and time to your office work in your home. Some people repurpose unused rooms or parts of rooms for it. If you cannot do that, something as simple as setting a laptop table atop your bed helps.
Whether you like working at office hours or odd hours, make sure you stick to them as a routine. It trains your brain to see that time of the day as work time instead of the entire day when you don’t have a routine.
4. Take breaks to rejuvenate
Just as you take appropriate breaks when you work in the office, it is equally important to take breaks when you work from home. A break can be however long you need it to be, just make sure you inform your team that you are on one before you leave.
Now, the more you unplug, the better it is for you. Taking a walk outside and playing a quick game on your phone will take the same amount of time, but the fresh air of the walk will be far more beneficial than staring at yet another screen.
Final thoughts
Working from home is rapidly becoming the go-to option for employees all over the globe owing to its flexibility and ease. But it is often accompanied by challenges of organization and seclusion.
Creating an organized work schedule helps you stay productive while you work from home. It also helps you separate your work from your personal life while staying focused. Make sure to stay connected with your team to stay in the loop with company matters as well
