Due to the unprecedented events of 2020, more and more people have found themselves working from home. Some of us have embraced this change with glee, while it’s been a more challenging transition for others. However, whatever our perspective on remote working, there are some tactics that can help it be a more productive and even enjoyable experience. Read on to find out what they are.
Routine
While sitting in your pajamas and eating only cheese puffs can feel as if you have won the lottery when you first start to work remotely or from home, such habits can quickly land you in a funk.
Many of us also don’t realize how much we rely on being told to do things by other people, matters.
The good news is that this issue is quickly resolved by setting yourself a routine when working remotely. You don’t have to have your day planned down to the millisecond, either. After all, there is little sense in micro-managing yourself.
Instead, why not try the time blocking technique where you set aside periods to complete specific tasks, something that you can vary as you need to. The benefit of this being you will still have some novelty in your day and don’t need to worry about getting so stuck in one routine that you become bored.
Breaks
While we are on the subject of preventing boredom, you must also be sure to schedule breaks throughout your day. Sadly, without the company’s rhythms of coffee and lunch breaks, this can be tough to do.
One thing that may help is to set an alarm for the morning, evening, and lunch. It can also be useful to leave your desk during break time, giving yourself the chance to stretch your legs and move to another part of the house.
Tech
It truly is the technological advancements that have allowed remote working to become such common practice, even in the catalyst has been Corona. Of course, what that means is that you will need a basic tech standard to work from home effectively.
For most people, this includes little more than a laptop, and for some, a smartphone will do. However, anyone who needs to type for a significant amount of time for their work will need to invest in a proper keyboard device.
However, it’s not just the ability to type that you will need your tech to provide.
You will also need to be able to use it to connect to and communicate with your colleagues. The most crucial use of tech in remote working for many businesses is using software such as Zoom. This is because such software facilitates face-to-face video meetings between people in various locations.
This communication enables teams to work together on projects as they would in the office and complete the tasks that businesses require to run.
Productivity
You may think that you are the most motivated person in the world until you find yourself working from the desk in your spare room at home. Then, all of a sudden, hanging out the washing to dry, organizing the cupboard under the stairs, and cleaning the mildew off the grout in the bathroom seem to shout louder and require much more of your time and attention than they ever have before!
Fortunately, there are some simple strategies you can use to keep your productivity on track. The first is always to have a finish time.
No matter how far through a task you are, you always finish at a set time each day and do not go back and work later.
You may think that this is counterproductive because you will be working less, but that is not the case. After all, productivity is about the focus and quality of work you do, as well as completing as many tasks as possible.
To that end, if you allow yourself to work all hours of the day and have no time for rest and recovery, something that can be very easy to do when working from home, the quality of the work you do is likely to go down.
Outsourcing
While working remotely is often a task you do alone physically, you do not have to complete every task yourself. It is entirely possible to outsource, delegate, or subcontract out specific tasks in line with your company’s policy on doing so.
The good news is that there is already a beneficial infrastructure for outsourcing.
It is incredibly easy to find people who can specialize in just about any field, from graphic design to accountancy. In fact, using virtual accounting services after COVID-19 is set to become standard practice for most businesses. Something that means you can still get great advice and help with your accounts no matter where in the world you are located.
Isolation
While the first few weeks of remote working are likely to feel amazing and freeing, the longer-term transition can be a little more tricky. After all, we are social creatures, and many of us rely on our workday interactions, for good or bad, to provide us with our daily dose of being social.
The thing about switching over to full remote working is that this social interaction that was once an implicit part of your day now isn’t.
This often means we either have to search it out or go without altogether. Something that can be problematic if you are going through a period when you are incredibly busy, tend towards introversion, or have trouble managing your time.
With that in mind, it is vital to build social and outdoor time into your schedule.
Grab a cup of coffee with a family member or neighbor or head out for a walk on your lunch break. Yes, these things may seem very small and insignificant, but they can make all the difference for those working from home permanently.
After all, even for remote workers, there is still a world to interact with outside of our front doors, even if it is a socially distanced one of late.
