Remote working seems exciting in the beginning, but gradually you start understanding that work-from-home is not that easy.
Like anything else, remote working also has cons and common challenges such as low productivity, distractions, feeling of isolation, and logging more hours.
To help you make remote working work for you, here are some best work-from-home practices to stay productive, motivated and happy at work.
1. Understand the transition
From regular office timings to working in isolation can be a huge transition for your work style.
To stay productive, it is imperative to understand this transition and analyze the challenges to find solutions and overcome them on time.
To create a productive and happy remote working experience, understand what is causing the problem and accordingly find a solution to that.
It is critical to understand your company’s work-from-home policies to stay aligned with its culture and objectives.
In case you need any clarity, ask your manager or HR to share guidelines related to office timings and other expectations to ensure a smooth flow of work.
Moreover, understanding your company’s remote working policies helps you to stay on track and easily measure your performance.
2. Set up a right workspace
You must set up a workspace where you face less distraction and can focus on your work easily.
Choose a sitting area that is comfortable and ergonomically apt to avoid any health issues.
You also need to manage any distractions you face when working from home, such as roommates, family members, or kids at home.
Keep your expectations clear with everyone and ensure no one disturbs you when you are at your workspace.
Staying away from distractions helps you to increase work productivity and keeps you happy with your overall work quality.
However, it doesn’t mean that you need to put a ‘Do not disturb’ board outside your room.
The idea is to communicate this to people around that when you are available and when you need to focus on your work.
Use your scheduled breaks to take out time for other things that need your attention at home.
3. Take scheduled breaks
Self-care is extremely important when you are working from home.
Busy work schedules, long meetings, and strict deadlines leave you with lesser time for yourself.
Many people find it challenging to take out time for lunch breaks also.
To ensure a healthy work-life balance, make sure you follow scheduled breaks and relax.
Long hours of sitting at one place and gazing at your laptop create health issues for you.
Remember, you can stay committed to your work only if you stay committed to your health.
Therefore, do not hesitate to take breaks to refresh, which helps you to increase your work productivity.
4. Set in office hours
Many employees face it difficult to unplug after office hours when working from home.
Even many managers also want their employees to log extra hours because they have concerns that employees are less sincere and busy in bingeing Netflix during office hours.
However, the situation can also be reversed when seen from an employee’s point of view.
Many employees end up working for extra hours every day.
In such a situation, it is vital to set in your office hours and communicate it to your colleagues so that you can easily unplug from work at the end of a hectic day.
Tip: Building strong team relations when working remotely can prove to be effective in establishing a healthy work-life balance.
If you get proper time for yourself and your family, it keeps you motivated to start your work the next morning instead of dragging yourself to work every day.
5. Track your work progress
One of the easiest ways to make remote working work for you is to know how to track your work progress.
Working from home makes it more important for you to proactively track your work and communicate it to your manager from time to time.
This not only helps you to win the confidence and trust of your manager but also helps you to get involved in more challenging projects that ensure your career growth.
6. Communicate efficiently
One fact of remote working is that managers monitor employees’ timing and work schedules even more when they are working from home.
Therefore, communicating efficiently with them becomes more important.
Reply promptly on emails and calls to avoid sending the wrong message that you are not working even if you are working hard.
In this scenario, a delay by 10-15 minutes in responding to an email might be seen as a huge lag.
Therefore, regular communication with your manager helps you to get frequent feedback on your work and leaves lesser opportunities for any major issue at work.
Stop worrying about little things and take out some time for self-care also when working remotely.
With these quick tips, you can easily create a favorable scenario and make remote working more effective and rewarding.
All the best!
