Planning on working from home? You’re among the emerging trend of remote workers who work from their home office.
This handy guide helps you maximize your newfound freedom (and responsibility). These tips don’t only apply to individual contributors, but also managers and team leaders.
Working from the home office affords many benefits to increase performance, business continuity, and achieve greater work-life balance.
Although working from home was once a luxury, it is now a mainstay among large companies and small businesses. The key reason? Productivity. Working from home is great, but it can be problematic if it’s not well managed.
Let’s dig into the tips and best practices for working from home.
1) Build a Permanent Work Space
The first step in your “work from home” journey is to designate an area of your home, specifically for getting work done.
This could be an empty or spare bedroom that you convert to a home office. If you are pressed for space, you can set up a desk for your computer and office supplies.
Regardless of space or location, establish an area of your home where you will work, and commit to working in this space every day. Be sure your workspace is quiet so you can focus on the task at hand.
2) Invest in Quality Technology
Yes, setting up a home office or workspace may require a small investment. Much like starting a new business, you may have to purchase technology, such as a desktop, laptop, tablet, or remote phone system to do your job every day.
A high-performance router will save you from many technology hassles. Since working from home often requires more than chat messages, you need a router that will keep up. A router from several years ago might be prone to common network issues.
Depending on the nature of your work, you may also need to purchase hardware or software. Our recommendation?
Invest in whatever you need to comfortably and efficiently do your job.
3) Set Real Work Hours
Now that you have your office or work area set up, it’s time to get down to business — literally. If you are going to make working from home an everyday commitment, then set specific business or work hours.
The beauty of working from home is that you can be flexible in setting your working hours. For example, if you are most productive in the morning, or if you need to get the kids to school, then you may want to set your work hours from 7 a.m. until 3 p.m.
Use your deep focus to zoom through your tasks. Keep reading to see how to manage your time effectively.
Enforce a hard limit at the end of the day. Distance yourself from work, so you don’t work nonstop.
Regardless of your schedule, be sure to establish set work hours to follow each day. Communicate your work schedule to co-workers, teams, and your boss.
4) Avoid Work Creep
A career that lets you work from home can be invasive in your personal life. This is because if you are always home and near your work, then your work creeps into your home life. Yes, the risk is real, but only if you let it.
This goes back to setting work hours. By setting specific work hours and sticking to them, you will increase performance and develop a healthy work schedule.
At the end of the day, shut down your laptop, set your work app to “away,” and shut your office door. You (and your team) will be grateful.
5) Discover Your High Productivity Periods
Every individual is most productive at different times of the day. For example, some individuals are morning people, and they are most productive and focused during the morning hours. For others, their most productive time in the workday is the evenings.
Discover when you are most productive and build your work schedule around your peak productivity periods.
6) Update Your To-Do List Every Mornings
When working from home, it can be challenging to keep track of what you have to do throughout your workday. It’s easy to lose sight of priorities, tasks, and deadlines.
Start your day by reviewing priorities for the day. When you make your task list, stick to it. It’s tempting to just leap into your email, but with a little extra focus, you can move the needle while working from home.
Set goals and time limits for each task. After you complete each task, cross it off the list. This simple technique is both effective and fulfilling.
Stay on task by quickly writing down all the things that need to get done at the start of each day.
7) Stick to One Project Management App
If you aren’t a “write-it-down” to-do list or planner person, don’t worry—there are plenty of modern project management apps available that can still help you.
Omofis is one of the best for office and team management for remote working.
It offers both web-based and mobile versions so that you can use them on your phone. Some can even be integrated with other apps, such as Jira, for team collaboration.
Explore Omofis, to keep remote work organized and creative.