Negosentro.com | How to Improve Your Performance When Working From Home | The COVID-19 epidemic has forced nearly all companies to adopt the remote work-from-home model. Although some may be used to doing this, others may feel lost in this new way of working.
Here are some ideas to keep you working productively from home, which will ensure the same productivity and efficiency as you would manage when working out of your business office.
Get Your Family’s Buy-In
You may not think it’s a huge deal to get your family to commit to the fact that you’re working from home but it is. If your family is accustomed to you working outside the home and, all of a sudden, you are around all day, there could be almost overwhelming demands on your time to do some house chores and run some errands or play with the kids.
It is up to you to make sure that everybody continues to value your time by first sticking with it. That ensures that when you’re working from home you have to put aside your personal life in order to sustain your productivity. Then have a chat with everyone and stress that you need their support as this is business.
Discover Your Peak Performance Periods
Contrary to common belief, every hour of the day is not created equal. Everyone has specific periods during the day that they are most productive.
For instance, some people are morning people – they are most productive and focused during the morning hours. For others, the evenings are their most productive time in the workday.
Find out when you are most productive and build your work schedule around your periods of peak productivity.
Plan Your Workflow
Develop the habit of planning your workflow before you start working. Take a moment early in the day and make a list of tasks you’ll tackle for the day and how you will go about them effectively. Keeping a bullet journal is a perfect means to log down the different types of tasks you tackle throughout the workday.
Productivity is not just about planning and working your plan, you also need to ensure you are working on the right tasks. So, as you plan your work, prioritise the most important tasks and leave some room for emergency tasks that may crop up from your boss.
Resolve to keep working at a priority task till completion. Do not move between jobs, or think that you have to reply to every new email immediately. Multi-tasking or constant changeover kills productivity.
Set up a Dedicated Workspace
Not everybody has a dedicated home office, so providing a secure, quiet room for your work is very important.
Separate your work environment from your personal areas if you can, and use it for business, not other things. Of utmost importance to your dedicated workspace is a door you can close, if at all possible. Make sure you have one. When there are other people nearby it’s almost impossible to work effectively at home. So, be assertive and shut out potential distractions when you have the space available. It also helps to wear headphones while you’re working. Listen to music that is conducive to concentration such as classical Baroque music or even nature sounds that aren’t distracting. It is usually better not to listen to anything with words as this may be distracting while you work.
Dress as you Would when Working at the Office
While dressing for business while working from home may not sound important, psychologically it helps.
Wearing sweatpants and pyjamas while trying to be productive doesn’t help mentally. Dressing up for work helps you feel better mentally, making it easier to concentrate on checking important tasks off the list.
You also need to realise that at some point, you may need to have a video chat with customers or colleagues and dressing appropriately will help you feel more relaxed and confident.
Eliminate Clutter
If the work environment is too cluttered, locating items when needed can be difficult and time consuming. Even a desk can become covered with documents and unrelated items that prevent you from concentrating or performing a task.
Don’t start filling your desk with trinkets and tacky items that detract from your work environment’s cleanliness and simplicity. If you have too many items on your desk or desktop you can become more distracted than productive.
You can save safe space by using self-storage units such as Safestore Containers to store important business documents you still need.
Maintain Regular Working Hours
While most businesses prefer to login and logout their workers according to their respective schedules, there are certain companies that are more lenient in their approach to people working from home.
However, if your company is more lenient or you work for yourself, decide how long you will work (from what time to what time) and try as much as possible to stick to it.
If you are working for a company, talk to your manager and plan your work time with him or her. Also, let your colleagues know during what times you will be available.
Exercise Regularly
Regular physical activity benefits not just remote workers but everyone. However, remote workers can easily squeeze in some exercise to their schedule. Do not hesitate to do stretches, perhaps some yoga, or ride fifteen minutes on your stationary bike, should you need a break. That’s much more difficult to pull off in an office without getting curious or even disapproving looks!
Investing a little time and effort exercising every day will make you feel good and boost your productivity. Don’t know the kind of exercise to do when working from home? Here are some exercise ideas for remote workers from experts.
In Conclusion
Working from home can be fun, inspiring and even successful, as long as you’re honest about the advantages and disadvantages and stay disciplined. Whether you’re a freelancer, a part-time company employee, or a full-time employee who just isn’t going in to the office on some days, it’s a way to escape the daily grind while still earning a salary.
The freedom of working from home comes with responsibilities you’ve not thought of. As many home-based employees will tell you, working from home is not easier – it’s just a different location.
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