For all of its potential to increase efficiency, working-from-home also presents unique challenges.
One of the main advantages of working-from-home is that it eliminates certain distractions, however it also opens the door to new ones, temptations to do non-work related things.
One other important aspect to consider is that the home environment itself can be a challenge if it’s not suitable for working. Whereas office buildings are generally designed to enhance productivity, such as with adequate lighting and space, your home probably wasn’t.
With that in mind, we’ve put together a short list of tips that might help you overcome potential hurdles (they helped our team).
Choose the right working space
Setup, setup, setup! It’s a good idea to have a space at home that’s dedicated to work, whether it’s a dedicated room or a defined space, where you can run both a laptop and desktop, if need be, within reach of some ‘perks’, such as your coffee machine (this is how you prevent a coffee making trip from turning into an hour’s time waster). Choose a space that’s airy, spacious enough and comfortable.
Focus on having a working routine
It sounds great; the idea that you can have the liberty to adjust your working schedule. It also may prove to be tricky, as you can end up either burning the candle at both ends, or reduce your productivity. Try to divide your most productive time frames, if your company allows it – for instance, early morning (7-11 a.m.) and then again in the early evening (3-7 p.m). Having a routine lets you focus on work and schedule other stuff in the time you have spare.
Try to allot daily time to offline activities
It can be very easy when you work from home to end up glued to your chair, for work-related, as well as personal tasks. That’s not good for your health or your productivity. Make sure that you build in time to exercise (at least take a walk) and get out of your workspace. Working from home should not mean working round the clock any more than it should mean never working at all.
Don’t disregard healthy eating habits
Sitting on your backside all day at home is fraught with risk anyway. So don’t push yourself any further over the edge by living on a diet of fast food and soft drinks. Granted, we know, this is easier said than done. It’s hard to resist the occasional splurge. It’s still a hard cold fact: the more junk you eat, the harder it is to find any motivation to get stuff finished.
Avoid blurry traps that get you out of the workflow mindset
Whilst you may occasionally prefer to dress down when working-from-home, try to get dressed for it, once in a while. Why? The act of getting dressed is something that you take on in work-from-office life. It reminds you that you are going to work and not just sitting in front of the computer all day. It also prevents you from accidentally surprising colleagues and clients when you answer a video call.