The ongoing pandemic continues to force us to work remotely. It is still too early to tell when employees can go back to their regular office and forget about spending most of their time at home.
Working remotely is not that easy for some because home is a place we associate with leisure. And if you have to work from such a place, it is natural that your thoughts are elsewhere, and you find it difficult to concentrate and motivate yourself to be productive.
In case the situation is not improving, and you would like to see some improvements, consider the tips below. Implementing at least a few of these should help with remote work productivity.
Keep in Touch With Your Coworkers
Since you cannot interact with colleagues in person, the odds of miscommunication increase significantly. Someone might mishear a word or fail to read an email and not do their work properly.
It is important to improve your communication with colleagues and supervisors, so your productivity does not drop even further. Besides, if you have someone you are close to, maintaining proper relationships should also be a good enough reason to keep in touch.
If you use Zoom to video chat, you can spice things up by having custom backgrounds. Some of the best backgrounds for zoom include various interiors, historical monuments, tropical paradises, and fictional locations.
When someone sees you in a different environment, they might get a laugh from it, which is a good ice breaker during awkward moments.
Take Regular Breaks
Not having supervision and other people working around you means that you might lose track of time. When that happens, people overwork themselves without realizing that it is way past their usual break hours.
A day or two of such mishaps is not the end of the world, but it will not be too long before there are problems with your health if you fail to take regular breaks.
Even a few minutes every hour where you get up and move away from a monitor to take a breather will do wonders for your productivity.
Finally, make sure that you have a proper lunch break. Do not rush it and make yourself a delicious meal that you can enjoy. Since you cannot go outside, why not spend that time learning how to cook better?
Avoid Distractions
The temptation to procrastinate is quite big when there are so many different distractions at your home. The computer itself offers a plethora of different forms of entertainment.
Watching videos or playing games sounds like a lot of fun instead of work, but your job should take priority. Otherwise, you will fall behind on it and struggle to meet deadlines. Working late into the night is not a fun experience.
If you do not live alone, other people might also get in your way. Set boundaries and tell them that they should not distract you during specific hours unless it is really important.
Finally, take care of your smartphone. Notifications that pop up at random will disrupt your workflow because you will likely want to check the smartphone constantly. Disable those notifications so that they do not get in the way of your work.
Have a Morning Routine
Working from home means not having to commute to your office. Spending extra time in bed in the mornings is quite nice, but you should not sleep too much because it might get out of hand.
Instead, have a morning routine that you can continue without putting too much pressure on yourself.
For instance, you could prepare yourself a delicious breakfast or read the news about recent events before starting your work. A short exercise is also worth a shout, as it would help you wake up faster and improve your health.
Keep a Dedicated Office Space
A dedicated office space might seem like too much of a hassle because you would have to work quite hard to prepare one. On the other hand, you may find that working in a dedicated office space is easier because you will associate the location with work. Once your computer boots and is ready for use, you will know that it is time for work.
Take Advantage of Extra Time
Similar to how you can take advantage of having extra time in the mornings, you should also make the most of your free time after work. If you are spending hours at home already, why not put them to good use?
For example, you could learn new things on the internet that will help advance your career. Or maybe you have a passion for history or another subject and would like to deepen your knowledge of it? If so, there are a plethora of available online courses that should provide the information.
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