Stacy Cox
There are plenty of benefits associated with working from home. You don’t need to wake up early, dress for work, commute to work and then get caught up in traffic on your way back. Work for home not only saves your time but also helps you cut expenses. You can work in your favorite pajamas and nobody would mind.
Did I mention how amazing it feels to have no one to watch over your shoulders while you work? Since working from home comes with the flexibility, you can also get away with a few precious moments to spend on your leisure while working.
Nevertheless, there’s a flip side to everything and working from home is no exception. You may come across a lot of challenges such as getting caught up in distractions, getting your desk set up just right, to staying connected with peers, keeping up with the tasks with minimal guidance, and so on.
This list aims to unfold secrets that might help you overcome work from home challenges and stay productive when working remotely.
You might have come across people saying working from home is like a vacation as there is no check and balance or supervision. They can’t be more wrong than that. Work from home is just like working on-site, the only difference is, you workspace has changed. As a matter of fact, work from home can be tougher compared to on-site work as you don’t have the liberty to call-in sick.
With that said, it won’t be wrong to say that work from home culture is often fancied by generation X and millennials as they expect it to be more lenient than on-site work. Welcome back from the La La Land, as working from home actually means getting stuff done, unless you have a magic wand to make your tasks disappear.
Working from home has its perks but that doesn’t mean you’d get away if you just slack-off on the assigned tasks. It requires a lot of self-discipline to be productive when working from home as there’s minimal supervision and guidance. So, if you happen to make a mess, there’s no one else to blame but yourself.
We are blessed to be born in the era of cloud technology. There are many tools that actually help you keep up with your assigned tasks, manage time efficiently and be productive on-the-go. There are many tools that can help you elevate your productivity in a WFH culture.
Let me quote my case here. We use uShare.to for team collaboration, video conferencing, and client coordination; Google Drive for file sharing and document management; Trello for tasks and project management, and TimeDoctor to track our productivity.
The tools prescribed above are just to give you an idea of how cloud technology and web-based application come in handy when working from home. There are many tools available, you just have to find the ones that are work for you.
Working from home is great and all but it sure comes with a price. Lack of social interaction with peers is one of the reasons that often leave people at a conundrum of whether to rejoice working remotely or hate it. In fact, a few of you reading this post might actually be working from home and missing the office gossip moments as of now.
Depending on your situation, you may be able to go into the office a couple days out of the week. However, if that’s not possible, you’ll need to find a way to get in some face-time so you don’t go insane. Humans are called social animals for a reason you know.
One of the biggest challenges of working from home is maintaining the work-life balance. It’s easy to get caught up in the never ending tasks and the same is possible for being too occupied in your leisure. Thus, it is recommended to separate the two. It’d be great if you could commandeer a room as your dedicated workplace.
This follows the same notion of leaving work at the office. If you can’t afford a separate space or arrange a spare room for work, try to cordon-off a workplace where you must refrain from engaging in personal activities. When you’re done with your day, come out of your work zone to give yourself a much needed break.
Comfort comes in many forms, from the clothes you wear, to the way you set up your desk, to the strength of your coffee in the morning. All these things might not have any direct correlation with your work; but, these factors sure have a strong impact on your daily routine. Let’s face it, no one does their best at work when they’re uncomfortable doing it.
Opinions vary from person to person. You may find different articles on the Internet that would tell you not to work in pajamas and to get dressed for work as if you were commuting to your workplace.
Many would say it’s not productive to work on a couch and you should have a workstation. However, to many, rolling out of bed and working in their favorite pajamas and sweatshirts would be the best part of being off-site.
Of course, it is a matter of preference. What works for someone, may not work for the other. Getting dressed for work is good but if it’s making you uncomfortable then you shouldn’t feel guilty if you forget to shave or decide to forgo the suit for some sweatpants.
Find out what works for you and then stick to it. If you’re comfortable work on couch, do that. If you want to stay organized, feel free to do so. Find what makes you comfortable and helps you in staying productive.
