For many modern professionals, working from home every once in a while is a luxury that our respective employers give us us. However, in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak, more employees are going to be “forced” to work from home and for some, it’s something they have probably never done in their working career.
Transitioning from a traditional office or job site to your living room takes time to perfect. Your home is full of distractions and temptations and most importantly, if you have never been the work from home type, your mind is wired to be in “rest” or “chill” mode while at home.
If you’ve recently found yourself having to work from home for health or even personal reasons and are having a hard time, take a look at some tips that we believe will help see you through;
First, create rituals
Keep doing the little things your mind had become accustomed to like, having your breakfast at the same time, in the same manner as you would normally do on a normal work day. A great example is getting dressed like you plan to go somewhere, even if you’re just going to sit on the couch. Simple actions that signify the start and end of your workday can do wonders for your productivity and mental programming for work.
Dedicate a work-space
It can be helpful to have a dedicated work space—like a home office, but not everyone working from home has that luxury. The next best alternative would be a solid table and chair set up in a corner somewhere equipped with everything you need to get your best work done on that day. This way, whenever you go into this space, your mind will know that it’s time to work and will automatically go into work mode.
Structure your day’s activities like you normally do in the office.
Working from home is different, you basically become your own manager. Therefore, without things like face to face meetings to schedule and perhaps keep people accountable for their activities, you can be quick to lose focus or burn out. To stay on focused, you have to segment what you’ll do and include specific times over the course of the day.
Remember to stay connected!
Keep in mind that working from home can easily make you feel cut off from your co-workers. Instant messaging apps like Whatsapp and videoconferencing tools can make it easy to check in with coworkers and remind you how your work is contributing to the vision of your company. Also, staying in tune with your company’s social media pages can be a constant reminder that you belong and you matter to everyone you work with at the company.
Are you currently working from home? What has been your experience? Which approach have you had the most success with? Share your experience with us in the comments section below, your tips may help someone do better.
