Since the Covid pandemic, most companies have restructured their business processes so that a fairly large percentage of employees can effectively perform their tasks even from home. Businesses are just happy: spending on renting premises, paying utility bills in offices and purchasing coconut milk and cookies for employees has fallen.
What about remote workers? Not all of them are happy with such changes because it’s quite difficult to organize themselves and work effectively, while not going crazy.
Fun fact: The number of employees working from home has grown by 159% since 2005. At the moment, 16% of companies around the world work almost completely remotely.
Especially for those who have not yet mastered the art of efficient and pleasant work from home, we`ve prepared five useful tips.
Don’t take on more work than you can handle
Usually, it takes confidence to turn down a tempting rush order worth millions of millions. Strength is also needed so that on Saturday and Sunday not to work for those who are resting at this time. In general, grasping at everything that is offered to you is very dangerous. It makes money, yes — and for a short time, you`ll be just happy with them. But later you`ll begin to slowly spend funds on a psychotherapist and not feel that you have money at all.
Find yourself a hobby
If the work is remote, then there may be few reasons to leave the house — the feeling of constant sitting in 4 walls may appear. You need to find yourself such an exciting hobby that would make you go outside and diversify your life. For example:
- professional courses in a new direction (photography, design, cooking, etc);
- gym, swimming pool, team sports, fitness, yoga;
- volunteering at an animal shelter or donating;
- going to the cinema/new cafe once or twice a week.
And this list could be endless.
Create a strict schedule and stick to it
This type directly affects the previous two. Once you have decided how long you are willing to work and what distraction you have chosen, make a schedule for the week — when to wake up, how many hours of work/number of tasks to do each day, then add your hobby for 2-3 days after work hours.
Think big if you are ready for it — write a schedule for the season or even a year ahead! Insert upcoming concerts or events that you want to visit there, this will saturate life with emotions.
Isolate the workplace from the “recreation area”
Another note from those who have been working remotely for years. If you constantly perform professional tasks from your laptop while lying under the covers on the bed you sleep in, then there is a high probability that your sleep hygiene will be critically compromised. Your body should not associate a work area with a rest area.
Thus, try to set up an isolated workplace, equipped with a desk, lighting, stationery, and everything else you might need. Ideally, if this zone is not in your bedroom. And, of course, make sure that the work area is closed enough so that the home does not distract you from tasks.
Prioritize tasks and master planning
Prioritization is the next level after making a schedule for a week/month/and so on. Be sure to write out all the tasks for the day, and you can highlight their importance by making a special order or leaving any notes that are convenient for you. All this can be done in the form of a bullet list: our brain is pleased to see the visualization of the completion of tasks, and it wants more items to be marked as “done”.
Well, of course, don`t forget about planning. Remember that the working day doesn`t last 16 hours and clearly allocate time for tasks and their implementation. If you don’t take breaks and don`t build a proper work/rest mode, you can quickly burn out and run out of steam.