Remote work, or work from home, is the new reality for most industries in 2020 due to the unprecedented challenges brought upon us by the novel Coronavirus.
For a lot of us, work from home started as an interesting new change from the usual hustle of travelling to work everyday but soon became desolate due to lack of social interaction.
For those who aren’t used to the remote work setup, it is challenging to not have a fixed work schedule. This has led to the lines blurring and work spilling throughout the day due to lack of boundaries. It has also become difficult to stay focused and be productive on a daily basis.
Although a lot of people are loving this new lifestyle of working from home in pajamas, a lot many are struggling to stay productive. Regardless of your work profile, here are some of the best productivity tips to make work from home more efficient :
- Create a dedicated workspace:
Set up a clean and quiet corner to be your workstation. When you have a designated area for work, your brain automatically starts perceiving it as a place where it’s all work and no play. This ensures you stay focused whenever you are in this space. Make sure to keep everything you need handy in order to avoid frequent disruptions.
- Maintain and stick to a schedule:
Figure out a routine that works best for you and stick to it. You get to decide what time works best for you and what you plan to do in that time. Creating to-do lists also helps you stay focused and understand your daily progress. At the end of the day, when you see all items checked from this list, you get a satisfying feeling of having a productive day.
- Keep track of time :
Invest in a time tracking app to understand how much time you are investing in a certain task. A timekeeping app is an affordable and very easy-to-use time management tool that helps you become more efficient. With a steady control over how you spend your time, you end up getting more things done in a given frame of time.
- Divide and conquer :
We often procrastinate bigger projects and end up feeling remorseful later for starting working on them too late. In such situations, it’s best to divide your work in small chunks/tasks and keep ticking them from the task-list. This prevents you from getting too overwhelmed by the size of the project and ensures you stay productive.
- Take breaks:
Yes, one of the most promising ways to ensure high productivity is taking a short break from work. It’s not healthy to be working continuously for hours and can in fact impact the quality of your work. Even a short 10 minute walk outside your home can clear your mind and make you feel relaxed and rejuvenated.
- Avoid frequent distractions:
It’s easy to fall prey to the habit of frequently checking notifications in our phone when we are not in an office environment. We all love to check social media platforms and often lose track of time while indulging in an online conversation. Restrict this activity to your break time in order to minimize distractions and stay productive.
- Foster engagement with team members:
Let’s face it – remote work does feel lonely. Lack of personal interaction often takes a toll on us and we end up losing interest in work. Staying in touch with team members helps you stay connected and get motivated by their work patterns or achievements. You may also get to learn from your teammates newer and better ways to stay productive.
Conclusion:
As per current trends, we all know that remote work policy is here to stay. The sooner we learn to adjust to its challenges, the better are our chances of being productive.
