During this quarantine period, due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, employees are working from home. It is a forced arrangement and organizations worry about remote working being productive. Neither organization nor employees were prepared for this change.
Today, it is a new normal. Employees and organizations are adjusting to this new working environment. There is a lot of advice available on the internet on making your working from home productive.
In this blog, I would like to share some of the practices I use to be productive while working remotely and helping me. I hope some of it will help you too.
Here are my 5 tips:
#1 Always find a dedicated place to work
In your home, find a place that is dedicated for you to work. It can be a separate room or a corner in your office. While finding such a place, try to think of a place that is quieter. There should be sufficient electric sockets for your gadgets. It is not possible to create a workplace like an environment but it might help you to find a place where you can focus on your work.
#2 Always decide working hours for the day
It is easy to get carried away and get distracted while being at home. There are kids and many other reasons for you to get distracted. Although it is not possible to get away from these distractions completely, having fixed working hours can be helpful.
You should be flexible enough to change your working hours considering your day to day requirements. You can look at your meeting times, work to be done and the availability of people you have to work with on that day to decide your working hours for the day. We should also let your co-workers be aware of your working hours. You can do so by blocking your calendar (eg google calendar) or any other way prevailing in your organization. It will also help you to maintain a work-life balance.
#3 Be deliberate to take rest in some intervals
Work from home can be stressful. It is easy to forget or skip taking breaks. During working hours, you should also find time for breaks for food, tea/coffee or for being idle. These breaks will help you to relax from long working hours.
You can also use this time to call your family, friend or colleague, just chill.
#4 Find ways to make virtual meetings more engaging
Virtual meetings/ Video calls can be tiring. In these times, when there is no in-person interaction, start your calls with some informal chit-chat if time allows. I would suggest spending the first 10 minutes in a 60 minutes call to chit chat with the participants. You can talk about their day or weekend or anything else going on around them.
#5 Let remote working not hamper your productivity
There are chances that your productivity gets hampered due to remote working. Take ownership of your work. You are accountable for your work to the organization. Follow the above mentioned 4 tips if you find yourself stressed, anxious or disturbed. Please remember, you are the one who has to find creative ways to be productive.
Plan your day. Find 3 things, you wish to complete in the day and make sure you complete them.
Use other time and work management ways to be productive and make the best out of your working hours.
Blog written by : Govind Singh Negi
Senior Director-Talent Management and Delivery Center Lead, 3Pillar Global & Founder-HR SUCCESS TALK
Twitter handle : https://twitter.com/govindsinghneg3 Linked in : https://www.linkedin.com/in/govindsinghnegi/