Have you been forced to work remotely as a result of the covid-19 virus outbreak? Looking for ways in which you can enable your employees to work from home? Has the down economy forced you to close the premise and work remotely?
After WHO declared the covid-19 disease a pandemic, various aspects of life have been affected. Start-ups and also big organizations are grappling with survival tactics. Moreover, business owners are looking for available options for working remotely.
On the other hand, employees are also checking on viable options for working away from their offices. As a result, questions concerning employee productivity and work-life balance are coming up.
We explore five secrets of working from home in this article.
1. Plan the day
Working from home comes with challenges. Distractions are inevitable. Issues of an employee’s household chores and general family welfare might arise.
However, planning your day’s activities ensures that you work while time conscious. Have a schedule for each day. This way, you will easily handle distractions.
Moreover, make use of apps that help in tracking time and planning. Apps such as Trello, Evernote, etc.help you organize the day.
Conversely, managers should be human. Understand your staffs have a life outside the office. They could be chasing after an investment opportunity or dealing with a rebellious teenager. Furthermore, their baby could be sick.
As the supervisor, help your junior staff to live a healthy life. Ignoring real-life challenges usually affects employees’ productivity and might result in higher staff turnover. Most people choose family and mental health over a toxic work environment.
2. Accountability partner
You can have a supervisor at home. An accountability partner should be aware of what you intend to do. Thus, they should be having your to-do-list
The ‘supervisor’ should ensure that you achieve your day’s goals. At day end, they should check on what you accomplished against the plan. The accountability partner can be someone in the household, e.g. a spouse or a friend.
3. Have a work-station
The third secret of work from home is ensuring that you have a work station. Working away from the office exposes you to leisure activities. Watching the television, a movie, or listening to music can steal your time. As a result, set apart a place away from sources of leisure.
For this reason, consider the following as you set-up an ideal remote office:
i. Painting
You can paint the walls in beautiful colours. Avoid bright colours as they tend to be distracting. Go for soothing colours such as blue and green. Additionally, consider having some artwork to break the monotony.
ii. Go green!
Second, get a few pots of plants and place them in a well-lit part of the office. Also, choose plants that don’t need a lot of attention to maintain them. Did you know plants make people happy? They are also lovely when you look at them. Moreover, they help control humidity and purify the air.
iii. Lighting
Set up your home office in a well-lit area. Take advantage of the natural light. Note that sunlight inhibits sleep. You can also get floor lights and lampshades. The idea here is to avoid direct glare and shadows.
iv. Proper seat and table
Moreover, invest in a comfortable seat. Comfort, while seated or standing, should be the main focus. Above all, avoid straining the body. Having comfort is another secret of work from home, even as we await the Covid-19 challenge to pass.
4. Connect with the office
Granted that working from home can be deceitful, it is good to connect with colleagues at work to remind yourself about the overall goal. Consider using avenues like video conferencing, emailing, and phone calls. As a result, you will not have the “cut-off” feeling.
Again, a once in a while visit to the office is okay. Catching up with other staff on office-related issues is allowed. You could go for lunch or coffee for some reconnection.
5. Social media appetite
Having constant access to the internet and social media platforms can be tempting. Control how you interact on social media during working hours. With this in mind, log off from your social media accounts.
Secondly, use the incognito mode. An Incognito window will not autocomplete the web searches you type. Therefore, the temptation to check into social media accounts is minimized.
Additionally, you can disable your social media apps and enable them later. Focus on the tasks you have for each day.
Wrapping it up
Working from home is set to be the normal way for organizations and even startups too. Though it was considered as a future venture by researchers, Covid-19 has hastened up the whole idea. Laughable, isn’t it?
Major companies like Google and Facebook have already adopted various secrets of work from home. It means it is workable! Similarly, and with discipline, you can deliver the same way you would in a formal office setting.
If others can do it, you also can sail through. With the above points, you should look forward to very productive days while working remotely.
All the best!