Working from home used to be rare, with very few roles available that allowed you to dodge the weekday commute. Since the pandemic, the number of people working from home has accelerated out of necessity. But now, the world has returned to a new version of normality, and many companies are continuing with their home working arrangements. Figures from the U.S. Census Bureau show that the number of people that work primarily from home tripled between 2019 and 2021. This demonstrates that full-time home working and hybrid working arrangements continue to be extremely popular.
Whether you are employed or run your own business, the benefits that can be gained from remote working are easy to see. Home working allows you to save money on the cost of traveling to and home from work, and you are free from the distractions of colleagues. Working from home can help you feel less tired as no traveling is involved, and it also maximizes your productivity. However, while working from home certainly has its benefits, it can be easy to fall into some unhelpful habits that impact your wellbeing and your productivity. If you want to make working from home work better for you, then understanding how you can make this happen can be challenging. Here you will find hints and tips that allow you to perfect the art of working from home and ensure you get the best from this arrangement.
Get Ready for the Day
When working from home was new, many people enjoyed the fact that they could sit at their desk in their pajamas all day and that it didn’t matter at all. While working in your nightwear and not getting dressed for the day may have been fun as a short-term option, getting changed is essential if you plan to make working from home part of your long-term routine.
If you are working from home every day, it is essential to feel professional and in the right frame of mind for business. This means that wearing your pajamas throughout the day is a definite no. Having the right attitude and being prepared is essential to make working from home a success. Feeling ready to face the day and work productively plays a crucial role in helping you to work from home successfully. So ensuring that you eat breakfast and get changed, just as you would if you were heading to the office, is vital to get ready for the day ahead.
Working from home can be isolating at times, and this can impact your wellbeing. Making an effort to feel smart and well-presented can give your mood a boost and make you feel prepared for the challenges of the day ahead.
Stop Multitasking
Multitasking is something that many people do in an effort to get more done in a shorter space of time. However, multitasking is rarely successful. Trying to do multiple things at once is likely to make you feel overwhelmed and stressed out and also makes it less likely that you will complete the tasks that you started. When you work from home, it can be tempting to multitask chores alongside your work. From doing the laundry between phone calls or vacuuming the living room mid-morning, this level of multitasking can ruin the balance between your home life and work life. Sticking to work during your working hours and saving the chores for another time will help you to stay focused on your job, meaning that you will work more productively and efficiently.
Remove Distractions
While working from home helps you to avoid many distractions, there are still a few ways that your focus may drift. Ensuring that you stay away from trying to multitask is one effective way to reduce distractions during your working day; it is also vital to consider the other potential factors that can cause you to lose focus.
One major distraction that may impact your productivity is social media. It is all too easy to waste precious work time scrolling through your social media feeds. Changing the way that you use social media is an excellent remedy for this issue and will help you to stop it from getting in the way of your work day. Being aware of the main distractions that you face and then being proactive to minimize them should help you to sustain your productivity levels throughout the day.
Improve Your Tech Setup
When you are working remotely, your tech is at the heart of all you do. So, it makes sense to work on improving your tech setup to ensure that you are fully equipped to work effectively and efficiently. Making sure that you have all the equipment that you need within your home office will enable you to work smoothly without constant disruption to your day. So, reviewing your existing setup and figuring out ways this can be improved to make your working life easier is a great idea.
Computer issues can be a significant source of disruption, so it is vital to ensure that your systems run quickly and without any issues. Problems such as running out of disk space can cause your computer to start running slowly, which impacts your efficiency. Checking how much disk space you have on your MAC is not always an easy task. Take a look at https://setapp.com/how-to/check-disk-space-on-your-mac to learn how to check your storage space and to help your computer run more efficiently.
Final Thoughts
Working from home is a trend that shows no signs of slowing down. Remote working offers an excellent opportunity for people to improve the balance between their working life and home life. However, remote working does have some potential pitfalls. Incorrect tech setups and distractions can directly impact your ability to work from home effectively. However, being aware of the potential challenges of remote working and addressing these effectively is an excellent way to ensure that your productivity levels increase and you get the most out of home working.