According to Flexjobs, a survey by the US reported that about 4.7 million people were already working remotely from home before the COVID-19 pandemic.
Although it may seem like it doesn’t matter because you are not exposed to a harsh work environment or the normal 9 to 6 routine, it doesn’t take much for a remote worker to experience symptoms on anxiety and depression due to not meeting deadlines, being cooped up indoors all day or due to over saturated work schedule they slowly lose a social life.
Productivity of remote workers can either be affected by mental blocks, stress or even depression. It may appear subtle but according to a report by the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions discovered that 41% of remote employees report higher levels of stress compared with just 25% of those who work in the office.
Remote work is not a passing trend, it’s here to stay and the above stats should not scare you into thinking otherwise. It is actually a better and far more fun experience to work from home but the following practical exercises will help deal with all the baggage that comes along with it.
1. Create a To-Do List
It can slowly feel like you’re getting overwhelmed by the mountain of tasks piling up. The best way to counteract this feeling is breaking each task into tinier tasks.
To solve a puzzle, you need the pieces. The same thing goes with creating a to-do list; rather than a huge task on your to-do list, you can break it down into little steps eventually leading to your goal. It’s kind of therapeutic checking things off your list.
2. Prepare a Home office
Creating a designated area for work could help with reducing distractions and increase focus. It lets your brain recognise that area as a place where work is done and you can easily get into the zone just being that area.
3. Find a Community
Sometimes we underestimate the importance of having people around us, that’s why loneliness and not being able to stay motivated creep up on us.
A 2019 report from Buffer on the State Of Remote Work stated that in fact, 19% remote workers struggle with loneliness, 22% with unplugging from their work, 17% with collaborating and communicating and 8% with staying motivated.
Having a co-working space with other remote workers, being part of a community or hub can help you benefit from their meetups, forums or you could even give a lecture on your field. These can, in turn, help boost your productivity and reduce the feeling of loneliness.
4. Workout
Sitting around all day, with the screen on your face and the only time you get up, is to go microwave your noodles. You could slowly add weight and easily get tired.
Increase in movement will not only improve your mental health but also your physical health as well.
You don’t have to do a whole lot of exhausting workout routines but simple routines that reduce fatigue and get you on your feets. Increased blood flow improves brain activities and also getting to stay in shape are all perks to working out.
5. Hang Out
It’s easy to get stuck on an idea or on a project. It can be frustrating at times when you have a project but can’t seem to crack the code or get it to work. You might have exhausted all of your existing ideas trying to get a project to work.
Get out, yeah get out like the movie. Constantly getting stuck at a particular stage of a project might get you depressed and easily slow down your productivity but all you might need is a breather, a little time away from all that you’re doing so that your brain does not overload.
Going out or hosting your friends could serve as a healthy distraction and after everything you might get back to your project with a different approach and things might actually start working out.
Call up a friend you have not chatted with in a long time and just hang out.
6. Get a Hobby
I mean if you didn’t take anything from the lockdown during the Covid-19 pandemic, you should have learnt that being home presents you with enough opportunities to learn new things and to acquire new skills.
Platforms like Skillshare, Udemy, School of Motion or YouTube are specifically created for people to acquire new skills and get a new hobby.
From a harmless desire to keep yourself busy with all the free time that you have, you could master said skills and earn professionally from it.
Rounding up
There are several exercises that can help boost productivity but the above mentioned are fundamentals. Be sure to always take care of your mental health while you earn at home.