Since the beginning of 2020, the emergence of the coronavirus pandemic and all of the lockdown restriction measures that have ensued, the world has never functioned in the same way as it did so before. The pandemic has had a profound impact on the professional world across the globe and the ways in which we all work. Those who were accustomed to going into an office five days a week suddenly found themselves having to become experts of Zoom, Google Meets, or Microsoft Team to interact with colleagues through video calls and do things that way instead of face-to-face workplace interaction.
To work efficiently and keep your employers happy and satisfied with your contributions at work, you must ensure you are able to work productively and provide the business with results. Here we have come up with a guide to ways you can ensure you are productive when working at home in a remote capacity.
Take Proper Breaks from Working at Home to Refresh Your Brain
Taking regular breaks at work has various benefits. It is important to take time to have breaks to concentrate on your work and to allow yourself the opportunity to process and retain important information. Setting mini-goals and shorter-term deadlines provides you with a heightened sense of urgency and motivation to complete tasks more quickly and increases your workplace productivity.
Use Split Screens on Your Computer
Multi-tasking is an essential part of working remotely from a computer. You may have to answer constant work messages and emails and interact with your colleagues effectively throughout the day to complete tasks. Using the split screen setting on a Mac is one way you can increase your productivity and multitask when working remotely. Click here to read the Setapp blog post on how to split screen on a Mac for extra productivity. Setapp membership gives you an all-access pass to Mac and iOS apps with no ads.
Get Rid of the Sources of Distraction in Your Home Working Space
When working at home, it’s imperative to remaining productive that you get rid of any things which may distract you. That may include not opening and checking on social media sites regularly, putting away game consoles, turning off the radio or music, keeping the TV switched off and much more. Wasting time doing such things when you should be focussing on working will significantly decrease your productivity levels. Avoid temptation and getting easily sidetracked from doing your work by other things present in your home.
Arrange to Socialise and Chat with Your Friends Outside of Work Hours
We all enjoy having a good long chat with a friend over the phone or through messages from time to time. However, when you are working from home these little social catchups can all wait until later and take place outside of working hours. Spending time chin-wagging with friends is a distraction from your work and may negatively affect your productivity levels meaning that you don’t complete essential work tasks and miss out on targets. As much as it is important to have a healthy social life and stay in good contact with your friends, this should all be done outside of work and not take over during working hours at home.
Shut the Door and Politely Ask Members of Your Household to Respect Your Privacy Whilst You Are Working
There’s a new workplace etiquette that we’ve had to get accustomed to that has developed over the pandemic, it’s called remote work etiquette. It’s considered very much poor etiquette when you are on an important video call meeting to your colleagues to have members of your household interrupting and unwittingly featuring in the background constantly. Remember there’s a mute button and you can stop a video camera.
Before you start working at home, you should clearly let members of your house know you do not want to be distracted whilst working so they don’t keep on coming into the room and distracting you. Remember to stay reasonable though, there’s truly no point in shouting at your housemate or family member when they want to get a glass of water if you are working in the kitchen for example. Being distracted at regular intervals by people living in the same home as you can definitely have an impact on the productivity and output levels of those working at home. Try and work in the quietest room possible to avoid distractions.
Keep Your Calendar Well-Organised is a Great Way to Stay Productive
Keeping a well arranged and organised calendar is important for planning how to use your time in the most productive and efficient manner when working from home. You may decide to have a digital calendar on your computer or phone, or a traditional work paper diary with spaces for you to write things down using a pen or pencil on different calendar days of the year. Being organised and efficient with how you use your time are essential to ensuring that you are productive and complete the maximum number of tasks to the highest possible standard when you are working remotely from home.
Make Sure That You Eat and Drink Properly Throughout the Working Day
Eating healthily and drinking water regularly are key parts of staying sharp and productive whilst you are working remotely. Don’t order in takeaways constantly, eat processed junk food, and never use fresh ingredients, instead make the effort to eat healthily when working from home. Staying well hydrated is crucial to your health and general wellbeing. Failing to consume enough water and fluids throughout the day will mean you get headaches and migraines and start to fail to concentrate and process information properly which are vital to working from home. To keep yourself hydrated when working, you should always opt for water and avoid overloading on sugary fizzy drinks which are bad for your health. Of course, this is much easier said than done, so stay disciplined.
The productivity of a workforce always has been and always will be crucial to a workplace organisation’s success. Being a valuable member of a team who is fully capable of providing results for an employer on a regular basis has always been an important part of working, long before the coronavirus pandemic. So, try and avoid all of the distractions that may be surrounding you and try your very best to concentrate and be productive when working from home.