Remote work is fast becoming a thing where most tech startups and local and international clients are adopting this policy.
Working from home comes with a lot of perks like working from the comfort of your home, flexibility, and the ability to spend more time with your loved ones. But it is not without its downside. Handling all tasks and staying on top of your game requires a good level of discipline and productivity.
If you are new to this new normal or not and you don’t seem to have a hang of it yet. Trust me I have been there before and it gets overwhelming sometimes. I was thrilled at first to have escaped the rush hour and worked in my sleepwear (not recommended though) and simply do work in the comfort of my home.
Here are tips to help you stay productive working from home based on my experience and what I learned from others in no particular order.
1. Share Your Work Schedule With Friends and Family.
If you are the type that gets buzzed up regularly by family and friends then you need to share your work schedule with everyone to let them in on your new schedule. This way you'll minimize the number of calls or messages during your work hour for better concentration.
Or you have children and/or family members to tend to then you’ll need to consider how to coordinate your schedule to accommodate their needs so that it doesn’t eat into your work schedule.
2. Set Up a Work Space
Workspace here can be a corner in your bedroom or a quiet space in your house. Creating a designated work space sets you in a work mode to get your task done. Sometimes working from bed can be all you need but it will make your work suffer. And over time your brain begins to link your bed with sleep, your couch with relaxation, and your workspace with work so it’s better to appropriate these energies accordingly. You want to resist the temptation of watching TV or being on your phone during work hours. These things have a way of taking your time without you knowing it.
You don’t need everything fancy, a table and chair with your work equipment are about everything you need. You can set it up to suit your comfort. Your workspace can eliminate distractions and increase your concentration and get your task done.
3. Take breaks and Log off When It’s Time To Go Home
Yeah, that’s right. Working from home will make you want to work all the time and even eat into the time for yourself and your family. This is one web that unconsciously catches most remote workers. You need to try and stick to the closing time, log off, and shut down. Having your work, relaxation, sleep, or other activities under the same roof can pose a problem to switch off. Sometimes you don't know when the day begins and ends.
But if you get more intentional about it it will positively affect your general well-being. Especially in getting enough rest to rejuvenate and get you ready for the next day. You can also set reminders for breaks in between work to step out and get a scroll. This helps to clear the mind.
4. Resist the Urge to Reply to Messages
We live in an era of instant feedback or quick response and beep on the phone. There is always that urge to check your phone once a notification drops which is normal but when you are working it becomes a problem especially if the work is time sensitive.
You can get carried away. From checking the message or notification to quickly checking out something someone posted and before you know it you’ve started checking other things and even forgot why you picked up the phone in the first place, I’m guilty of this, but what I do is to keep my phone away or ignore all messages until when after work and then I can reply to my messages. This will help you focus on your tasks at hand and get them done.
5. Get Some Exercise
You have to be deliberate with moving your body regularly. Your movement reduces when working from home and for this reason, you need to be proactive in getting physically active as often as possible. It will help you to manage your weight, improve brain health, strengthen your bones and muscles and reduce the risk of diseases. Generally, you’ll be able to handle everyday activities.
6. Start the Day with a Reflection and Work out a Plan
Working from home gives flexibility and there is no one looking over your shoulder to know what you’re up to. It’s entirely in your hand to set yourself up for a successful workday.
Starting the day with reflection (prayer and meditation) can help you achieve a calm state of mind and help you focus on the activity of the day and the task you need to get done.
Prioritize setting aside a few minutes every morning to make a list or journal what you need to get done before the end of the day within the right time frame. To be more productive keep the list short and realistic, no imaginary stuff.
7. Get a Backup Plan
For the part of the world where I belong, you certainly need a backup plan for your internet connection and power supply.
It’s a normal thing here to plan out your work but your internet service provider is not connecting or the power suddenly goes off, the best way to beat this scenario is to get multiple internet service providers so that when one is not working the other one will. You’ll also need a standby alternative power supply for the time the power goes off. You can quickly switch to these alternatives without a long interruption to your workflow.
The idea is to be productive while working from home and feel like you did everything and even exceed expectations at every closing time so you don’t feel bad. So make every conscious effort to get your task done and on the days you don’t get enough tasks done, it’s OK, and with time and constant practice, you’ll get a hang of it.
BONUS TIP: When a task is proving difficult or almost impossible switch it with a non-work task that you enjoy instead of staying stuck and not doing anything. You'll get clarity on it when you come back to it later.
You can share tips that have been working for you working remotely
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