Some people don’t like the idea of having to work from home, while to others it sounds like a dream come true. Certain people like the fact that they get out of the house in the morning and can socialize with people in the office. Others would trade all of that for the freedom of being able to do their jobs from the comfort of their home.
Regardless of your preferences, it can be quite difficult to adjust to do your job from home, especially if you’ve been working at the office for years. Read on to find out crucial tips that’ll help you ensure that you successfully navigate a remote-work environment.
Connect with Your Colleagues
There will be no more watercooler and hallway conversations once you start working remotely, but that doesn’t mean that you should stop chatting with your colleagues. It may feel unnatural to call one of your co-workers, but it’s something that you should get used to. If you establish regular communication with your colleagues even in a remote-work environment, you’ll boost the productivity and satisfaction of the whole team.
Make sure that you check in on different co-workers and see how they’re doing. After you do this a few times, they’ll likely start calling you from time to time as well. This can lead to increased collaboration, which can be beneficial to every employee. Sometimes, it’s a good idea to call up a colleague even if you don’t have any questions related to work. Chatting with a co-worker can be a great way to spend a short break.
Begin and End Each Day with a Buffer
Before you started working from home, you’d likely get up in the morning, drink a cup of coffee, eat breakfast, and then commute to the office building. This is a normal and healthy morning routine that helps prepare you for the rest of the day.
You shouldn’t give up a morning routine because you’ve started working from home. It can be counterproductive to open your laptop and start reading work emails as soon as you wake up. Instead, start each day with a buffer. Take at least an hour to make a cup of coffee and breakfast, read the paper, and maybe do a short workout. After you’ve done all of this, you can start working.
The same goes for when you’re done with work for the day. Take an hour to decompress before you step back into your home life.
Establish a Dedicated Workspace
One of the first steps toward ensuring that you’re successful in a remote-work environment is establishing a dedicated workspace. Where your workspace will be located depends on the size of your home and whether you live with other people. In case you live in a house, you’ll likely be able to find a room where you can create a quiet and well-lit home office where housemates won’t bother you.
However, you can find an isolated space even if you live in a small apartment. What you’ll need to get for your dedicated workspace is a good desk and a comfortable chair.
Invest in Better Equipment
The equipment you use will have a huge effect on your productivity and efficiency. It can be extremely annoying working on a slow laptop that keeps freezing whenever you open several tabs on a web browser. If this is something you deal with on a regular basis, it’s time to invest in better equipment.
There are a ton of affordable laptops that you can find nowadays. In case you don’t have the budget to purchase a new computer, you should talk to your employers and let them know about your situation and suggest that they hire laptops for remote work. This is something that even small companies can afford, as you only pay a small fee on a monthly basis.
Manage Your Time
If there’s one thing that’s challenging about working from home, it’s that you’ll have to pay attention to how much you’re able to work. It’s easy to get carried away and spend hours in front of your laptop working. This is something that would never happen at the office, as you’d likely pack up your stuff and head home at 5 o’clock in the afternoon.
To ensure that you don’t overwork yourself and experience burnout, you should be careful how you manage your time. It’s a good idea to create a detailed schedule for each day and follow it to the letter.
