The rapid spread of COVID-19 has introduced many people to working remotely. While there are many fantastic benefits of working from home, remote work presents a unique set of challenges and distractions that may seem daunting.
Here are my top 6 tips to help you be happy, productive, and successful when working from home.
1. Establish a morning routine.
Let’s face it: a normal work day is entrenched in routine. You begin your day by waking up, eating breakfast, getting ready for work, followed by your morning commute to the office. While at the office, you have regular meetings and tasks that provide structure to your day. You eat lunch at a scheduled time and place, clock off at a scheduled time, and embark upon the long, arduous commute back home for dinner with your family.
While some WFH jobs come with a set schedule, others allow you the freedom to choose your own hours. Either way, without the established routine of a normal work day it’s easy to feel a little lost.
To help yourself adjust, create a WFH morning routine. Mine is as follows:
4:45am: Wake up
4:50am: Brew coffee
4:55am: Unload the dishwasher and start a load of laundry
5:00am: Log on to my work computer and respond to any overnight messages
5:10am: While eating breakfast, create a daily to-do list
5:15am: Start daily tasks before daily meetings
7:00am: Morning meetings
8:00am: Adjust to-do list based on conversations with team lead
8:15am: Walk the dog
8:30am: Shower
8:45am: Back to work!
Having a daily morning routine will help you feel more productive and less stressed. It’s also a powerful and effective way to put yourself in a work mindset.
2. Set up a dedicated work space within your home.
Another great tip to put yourself into a work mindset is to create a dedicated work space.
An office or spare bedroom are great options for an at-home work environment. If you don’t have either available, try setting up a temporary workstation at your dining room table. No matter which area you choose, make sure that you limit the space to work-related matters only. You don’t want work to engulf your personal life, so don’t let it physically encroach on your personal space.
Make sure to set up your work area with any equipment that you need to perform your job properly. For example, as a software consultant I need space for my three laptops (yes, it’s excessive), two monitors, a mouse, a wireless keyboard, and a headset for virtual meetings. I also have space for two ring lights, a tripod, and a microphone for digital marketing and content creation.
3. Limit distractions
It’s easy to get distracted when working from home. You may be working alongside your significant other, family, or an over-affectionate pet that demands your attention (see my above picture). You have a dishwasher that needs unloading, laundry that needs folding, and a leaky roof that needs to be fixed. Even though you’re putting in overtime to deliver your report before the big presentation on Thursday, your eyes can’t help but wander over to your Playstation. “Wouldn’t it be so much more fun to play Kingdom Hearts right now?” you ask yourself as you open Reddit for the third time to look at pictures of cats standing up.
It’s crucial to limit distractions as much as possible to ensure that you remain productive throughout your work day. Treat working from home as seriously as you would treat working in an office. You wouldn’t drop an important task at the office to wander into the breakroom and play Mario Party, so don’t do the same in your own work space.
It’s also important to establish clear work boundaries with family and friends. Communicate clearly that working from home is equally as serious as working in an office. Just like it wouldn’t be acceptable for your sister to show up at your cubicle and talk about her relationship problems for two hours, it isn’t acceptable for her to do the same in your home office. Let your loved ones know what you will be unavailable for personal matters throughout most of your work day.
4. Create a daily to-do list.
Working remotely often means less direction and oversight from upper and middle management. While this gives you more freedom over your work activities, it also means that you need to take more responsibility over your productivity.
At the beginning of each day, create a thorough to-do list encompassing any tasks you need to complete before the end of your work day. Work with your supervisor to prioritize your activities to ensure that you stay on track with your department’s goals.
5. Utilize technology to communicate with your team.
Without face-to-face interaction, many workers struggle with effective communication. Luckily, we live in an era oversaturated with workplace software that can help keep us connected.
Virtual meetings can be as lengthy and counterproductive as their in-person counterparts, so try to limit quick communications to email and chat software such as Slack or Microsoft Teams. If you do need to schedule a virtual meeting, stick to discussing items from a pre-defined agenda to keep everyone on track. If your company uses software such as Salesforce to help organize your team’s activities, keep your records up-to-date and accurate so everyone is on the same page.
Bottom line is, without the ability to discuss important business items in person, it’s essential to rely on technology to avoid miscommunication.
6. At the end of your work day, disconnect.
One of the main downsides to working from home is that it can be difficult to disengage from work. Once your work day is over, turn off your computer and step away from your work area. Just as you drew a clear line to your loved ones setting aside your work day for work, draw a clear line to establish personal time for yourself. You’ve worked hard- now you deserve to relax!
Note: This post was originally published on Ciao by Shay on April 27, 2020. It was migrated to Happy Health Stylish upon my blog’s rebranding.