Work From Home is a concept where the employee can do his or her job from home. It gives flexible working hours to the employee and the job for the employer is done with ease. The benefits of working from home are like a dream come true. No need to deal with early morning traffic or dress up formally. No more awkward chats with the new people. It’s like working in a relaxed environment but “With great power comes great responsibility.”
According to a business survey, the number of people working from home or want to work from home is up to 39%. A survey of professionals found that 82% of workers would like to work from home at least one day a week. And due to a series of recent events, increasing numbers of companies and people around the world are opting to work from home.
Due to this thought of the employer, the biggest fear for managers is that their teams will have trouble staying productive and focused at home. Staying productive while working from home can be difficult, especially for teams that don’t have experience. How to structure your day and keep yourself focused on work requires a plan is the basic start of productivity. There are various steps and ways that we can do our job productively at home and give less stress to our team, company, and managers.
1. Set Work Hours – The term work-life balance fits here, as every company has their fixed working hours of 8 to 9 hrs so if you are working at home then set the working hours accordingly so you will have the time for yourself as well as for your family.
2. Make a schedule that works for your brain – Put schedules and set the target that you have to do this much today by attending many important meetings. Set it according to your brain capacity although we have to keep our minds calm for the future.
3. Set Up Your Home Workspace – To create a dedicated workspace for focused and productive work from home. Ideally, there will be a room in your home that has a door. When you’re working, other household members will at least know when you’re officially working. Set the desk near the window with some natural light and air as the study says if we work in nature the productivity increases and our focus can be strong. As said, nature is the key.
4. Be mindful of your self-distracting habits – Distraction during work is bad and needs to be controlled. We are not saying that you have to give up that need to connect, NO DON’T DO THAT. One thing you can use is to set the reminder, turning off all notifications for a given period to allow yourself to focus on your work. Whether it’s half an hour, an hour, or longer, at the end of the work, allow yourself to indulge yourself with others if you need to communicate.
5. Call wisely – That means a message is sent through and you get back to the person when you’re free. Discuss this with your team and clients and let them know that, to be more productive, you’ll now be responding to messages throughout the day. This will keep you from having to constantly shift back and forth from the task at hand to the latest communication.
6. Plan your to-do list and schedule – A great way to minimize the madness is to plan your day, complete with a to-do list of specific tasks. One way to go about this is to journalize about your next workday at the end of your current one. For example, writing the Wednesday schedule and target on Tuesday for better focus.
7. Give Yourself a Break – For more focus, you need to take a break between your work. Whether you are in the office or working from home you should take a small break by doing a fun activity or little chatting or listening to music that will relax your mind and you will be back with a good mindset.
8. Tools for Boosting Individual and Team Productivity – For boosting the productivity of both individual or team various tools should be used which will help the employees and employer for great success and time management, e.g. – timely,webex or skype and many more.
9. Try to schedule 30 minutes of self-care every day – Self-care must be needed for everyone whether it is an employee or employer. When you are working at home you need to take care of yourself more like doing a little workout, have some mind relaxing activity, do some meditation. These activities will boost your mind and spirit.
10. Don’t stretch yourself – By stretching yourself means you don’t have to say “YES” for every task and meeting. Take that much work which you can perform without disturbing your mental and physical state.
11. Set expectations with other people in your home – Tell them the working hours and break time and share your thoughts with them so they can understand you and will give you proper time, rest, and energy for better productivity and focus on work.
At the end of the day, learning how to work from home effectively and not lose your mind, is a matter of trial and error. It’s a combination of knowing and learning about yourself, then working on ways to accommodate yourself in a way that keeps you comfortable, happy and able to get all your work done. Keep experimenting until you find your groove. It may be tough at first, but you’ll get better with every new day!
Just believe in yourself and head start!! Best of luck!!
By – PRANJALI