So many people are working from home at the moment. Coronavirus has changed the working practices of thousands of companies across the world. They’ve had to, otherwise they would have faced potential disaster. Especially if they occupy the travel and tourism or hospitality industries. For some, working at home is the best thing ever. Those inverts who like to just get their heads down and work might find things easier while those who enjoy people’s company may hate it. It’s impossible to lump people into two groups too, everyone is different. One thing is for sure, there’s a lot of distractions at home. People may want your attention, you might be tempted to switch the TV on. Productivity can be easily affected and if you’re being monitored on your performance quite closely it’s important to do all you can to keep it up and well. What works for one might not work for the other, which is why it is important for you to assess your own conditions at home before you start reading advice and applying it straightaway. Use it in conjunction with your own situations for the best result you can get. It doesn’t look like things will change soon and with a second wave of coronavirus, plus with a lot of businesses realizing people work productively at home and save on a lot of costs, it might just be here to stay.
Your Comfort Is Number One
If you’re uncomfortable you’re not going to be productive. Your mind will be on the discomfort, whatever it may be or wherever it’s coming from. Work on what’s making you uncomfortable. If you’re getting tired consider JINS blue light blocking glasses. It might be you need a new general glasses prescription considering you’re sat in front of a computer. If your eyes are hurting or you’re finding they’re straining a lot more then this might make things a little better for you. You need to ensure you are sitting right too. Try not to slouch, and make sure your chair is set for your weight and height. You need a chair that allows you to do this. They can be expensive but they really are a worthwhile investment. You might even be able to get a small contribution from your work. The same goes for a desk. It needs to be of a reasonable height otherwise you won’t be able to sit comfortably at it. You should always try working from a flat top surface, working from the sofa with the device resting on your stomach is never going to work long term. A dining or coffee table might work but again the height might not be right and the chair won’t fit under it properly. A dining chair won’t do because it doesn’t swivel meaning you could end up with back or neck pains.
Protect Your Work Space And Time
When you’re working from home it’s so easy for someone to ask you to do the laundry, or to do some cleaning. You need to protect your time. Stop people talking to you if there are others in the home like a partner or kids. Work life balance is important, and it might be that you can do these kinds of things. However, at the same time they can also hinder your productivity. Let people know when you’re available and when you aren’t. Be sure to protect your workspace and your time otherwise it’ll get eroded and expectations set which you will be hard pressed to stick to. Your productivity will surely dip if you don’t set these out at the outset.
Find A Good Space To Work From
You can’t work from the bedroom. You associate that with sleep and relaxation, so working there will mean you won’t be able to switch onto work, or switch off to relax. The same applies to the living room. If you’ve got a spare room then that’s the perfect location for a work office. If you don’t, maybe you have some space somewhere where you can slip a small desk into the corner or against the wall. Splitting out these places from each other is important. Having that one place from where you can work from and which you associate with work in your mind is really important. If you live somewhere which is warm for most of your year you might be able to work outside in your garden, so long as you aren’t talking about sensitive topics where neighbours can hear. You may struggle with seeing the screen of your device, but you can get sun deflectors online which you can stick over the top allowing you to see it a bit better. If you have a nice chair outside, this could work for a short while but might not be too good as a long term solution because again, it won’t swivel like most office chairs do unless you find something specific in the garden. It can also hurt your eyes as you’ll be squinting often to see the screen due to the sun.
Make Sure You Get Out
Just because you’re working from home it doesn’t mean you have to stay there. Just like you would at the office, take time away from your desk at lunch and on breaks. If the weather is right it can be good to get out for a small walk. Exercise is important and sitting around for too long can be bad for your health. Getting out gives you that separation from work. It’s why most offices or places of work have break rooms instead of asking you to simply take a break at your desk. If you can get out and about you’ll get that separation so that when you come back to the desk and to work you’ll feel a lot fresher and can tackle things from a new angle, giving you a different perspective and ensuring your productivity remains high. If you’re very busy you have to be quite disciplined to ensure this happens. Put it in your calendar in work so that people won’t constantly book meetings and keep you from getting out. Protect this time as best you can and do all you can do get that clear break away from work.
Internet And WiFi Problems
Everyone at some point in time has had problems with their wifi. It sucks. There’s nothing worse than having super slow internet or your internet drop out when you’re working on something, or when you’re in the middle of a meeting. For you to have peace of mind and to be relaxed in knowing that it won’t drop out, there are things you can do. For a start do all you can to boost the signal. If your wifi router is downstairs and you’re upstairs at the opposite side of the home that can be an issue. Try moving the router closer. Better yet, you can get a wifi booster and put it between where you’re working and the router. If this doesn’t work, consider calling your provider. Sometimes they can sneakily limit your speeds. If they’re doing all they can you may need to pay for a better speed, or swap providers and see if you can get a better deal. It can be a pain to sort out but you’ll reap the rewards if your speed is silky smooth and with no problems.
Use The Right Software
Working from home and with teams can be made much easier if you’re using the right software. Office 365 can help as you can all work collaboratively on the same projects at the same time. It’s much better than having to wait until someone is finished in the document. Make sure you utilise meetings tools as well like Microsoft Teams or Zoom. Being able to meet people virtually and see them face to face makes working together a lot easier. Sure, it costs money but unless you’re the owner of the business you won’t have to face these kinds of costs personally and it might mean not only your productivity, but the productivity of the whole team will increase. It can take some time to adjust to this kind of thing but there are countless online articles and training manuals to help you out.
Stay Out Of The Kitchen
Some people like to procrastinate. Some are worse than others. One of the best ways is the old “I could do with a snack”. It’s deadly, not only to your productivity, but to your waistline too. Get around this by not working in the kitchen. You might have to work from the kitchen table out of necessity, but you really have to try not to eat. A great way of getting around this productivity buster is by preparing food beforehand. Have a lunchbox, almost. Where you have your lunch, and a snack or two. This should keep you going throughout the day. If you don’t, it’s so easy to just keep picking all day long as it’s right in front of you.
