Who would have thought it would come to a time when employers would allow and encourage their employees to work from home? The COVID-19 pandemic has forced people to work remotely to control its spread. With advanced technology, people can work from home and perform all business operations in their homes’ comfort. All you need is a strong internet connection and a personal computer.
Working from home sometimes may make employees remain unproductive and inefficient. However, the following are tips to help remote employees to be productive and efficient in their work:
Create a small home office
A home office is vital as it ensures that you are working away from distractions. Remote workers find it hard to work when disturbed by their children or visitors. If you are a remote worker, you need to establish a small office at home. To feel like the home office is the typical working office, you should decorate it to resemble your typical office. Also, have some office chairs, a work table, and a few cabinets to make yourself feel like the home office is your regular place of work.
Adhere to the regular working hours
Working from home doesn’t create a room for you to work for a few hours as there is no one supervising you physically. You should ensure that you work for the usual hours you spend in your office. If you keep on having numerous breaks, you will have many workloads piling up and waiting for you to complete.
Regularly visit your office
A regular visit to your office makes you remain updated on office matters. It’s essential to visit your office at least once a week not to lose connection with your employer and other colleagues. You may call the office during meetings. If there are no meetings, you may go and spend the whole day working from your office. Do not worry about finding the office closed as there is always a limited number of employees who commonly report to work.
Keep socializing with other colleagues
Working from home may make you lose contact with your working colleagues, friends, and relatives. The results are loneliness, isolation, and disconnection, which cause mental health issues, hence low productivity. Connecting with friends can be done virtually through online platforms like WhatsApp Calls, Skype, Zoom, Google Meeting, and Duo. Physical calls are now not a must, as you can have a face-to-face conversation with your friends and colleagues through video calls.
Plan and organize your daily routine
Working from home doesn’t mean that you can start your day without organizing and planning. It’s always advisable to arrange your daily activities in the morning. It would be best to plan your workflow and set the day’s goals to remain focused and productive. Also, have weekly and monthly goals.
Employees are excited and have entirely accepted the new norm of working remotely. You do not need to go through the long traffic queues on the road heading to and from the office.