While I have 20 years of experience working, I understand that this is the case rather than the norm for many people. Here are some very useful ideas that I’ve discovered to help make it a stress-free, productive experience. My first home office was a two-story, two-story terraced railway cottage with three kids running about. I’ve even served in an open-plan house with few internal walls, and now I’m based in a 16th century farmhouse. Each one presents its own set of difficulties. This is a collection of my reflections on working from home in general, as well as some ideas and tricks for making things work.
Regularity is beneficial.
Make it a routine to get to work on time. Try to stick to the same schedule every day. Instead of driving to work, go to your home office, turn on your machine, and make a schedule for what you want to do by the end of the day. It would be beneficial to use your planner to devote the day to the different tasks you need to complete.
Treat your house as if it were your workplace.
Go on as if you were at work. You wouldn’t stay for four hours in the office without a cup of coffee or a conversation with anyone, so don’t do that at home. Stop every now and then, get up, spread your legs, eat something, take a break from the screen; it all works.
You are not lonely.
Maintain contact. Check in with coworkers via Hangouts / Teams / Facetime / Skype / Zoom… and so on. You have discussions at work, and you should have conversations while working from home. Accept that one of your coworkers would bother you from time to time, and take the call even though you’re in the midst of something – if you were in the workplace, you wouldn’t be around to call-screen people. They’re calling for a cause that’s important to them; note that another time you’ll be interrupting their flow, but you’ll still want them to respond. Remember, if you were in the workplace and wanted assistance, you would request it. Nothing has improved just because you are at home.
Take advantage of the versatility that working from home provides.
Living at home differs from working in an office. Embrace the versatility that home working offers; it doesn’t really matter where you do the job, then if it’s more comfortable to do it at 8pm and have an hour with the family at 3pm, do it. You are not limited to 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; instead, have a schedule that helps you to work while you are more active. Rather than working behind a desk for 8 hours a day, concentrate on the results you need to deliver. When people are at home, it’s easy to wonder if they’re actually busy. You can’t search as quickly as you can in the workplace.
People are judged based on their performances. If they aren’t performing, now is the time to look at why. It doesn’t matter if they get the job done but want to start at 5 a.m. and take a break in the middle of the day to walk the dog for a couple of hours; what matters is that the work gets done and they are ready as needed. At that moment, you will need to let people know when you will and will not be available to chat – they will normally see.
If you’re having trouble concentrating, consider listening to some soothing background music or turning off the radio if you usually do. It’s your house; you can do whatever you want if it helps you get the job done.
Maintain your concentration.
At home, it is easier to get overwhelmed and harder to concentrate. You wouldn’t usually waste hours on Facebook at work, so don’t do it at home. Without someone watching over your shoulder, a five-minute diversion into social media will easily transform into a half-hour diversion. Limiting yourself to five minutes requires self-control. It’s much better to lose yourself in a piece of work when you’re not distracted by the normal stresses of office life – it can feel nice to work on a challenging piece of work without interruption.
Maintain self-control.
Don’t want to do two things at the same time. The ability to check your inbox or read the news during a phone or video call is a recipe for catastrophe. You really cannot do it at the same time. Everything that occurs is that you actually can not know what is being said, making it impossible to rejoin the dialogue. If anyone asks you a question when you’re on the phone, you might be caught off guard. Stay concentrated and avoid being overwhelmed by’stuff.
Stay hydrated.
Do not put off drinking until you are thirsty. You’re still slightly dehydrated by the time you feel thirsty. When the weather is hot, drink plenty of water during the day and drink more fluids than normal, particularly if you’re active. You can use water softener not using salt to treat your water if you cant access drinkable water.
The standard of living improves. My coworkers and I have been employed virtually for a long time and we enjoy it. We understand that it isn’t for everybody, and that certain jobs want you to be in the workplace. However, if you can make things functional, it can be an extremely productive environment. It’s a talent that, like most skills, needs some practice.