According to Forbes, by 2025, an estimated 70% of the workforce will be working remotely at least five days a month. You have enough freedom to do your job while working from home. However, if not properly designed, this luxury can easily turn into a lost opportunity. With this in mind, we’ve compiled a list of simple work-at-home tips that you can easily implement at home.
When you work from home, you’re less likely to leave the house and engage in regular activities. Furthermore, there are distractions at any turn.
8 Tips for WFH Productivity
Here are the 8 tips that will maximize your WFH productivity
1. Have a Proper Home Office
While many people find it convenient to work from the comfort of home, it can be difficult to avoid the urge to sleep when we have a not-so-healthy sleep schedule. That way, you can either succumb to your laziness – which is highly demotivating – or choose to break free from the allure of your traditional home setting. The latter is always better and more effective.
A dedicated workspace will enable you to keep yourself oriented to your work by providing a proper environment. Some quick tips for having a home office setup:
- Choose a corner of your room with good natural lighting, if possible
- Set it up with a chair comfortable to sit on, for around 8 hours a day
- Place a desk next to it and put your system on it
- Keep required stationery like a diary, pens, water bottle, lamp, etc.
2. Invest in Quality Technology
Even though we enjoy working at our own speed, a slow internet connection or an unreliable device can be inconvenient.
What happens if you’re using a face-time app to attend an important meeting and your internet connection goes down? Installing a capable wi-fi router in this situation would certainly solve the problem.
Therefore, in a remote work setup, good internet connectivity is essential. It is also preferable to invest in an affordable product from a reputable and trusted technology brand with good features.
3. Maintain Consistent Working Hours, Take Breaks
When you work from home, how much do you lose track of time? Isn’t it almost every day? When your mind is totally focused on your job, you can be completely unaware of the passing of time. This is a bad habit to get into. It’s fine to be a workaholic during working hours. But you don’t have to go overboard.
When working from home, keeping a general work-life balance is important. Your personal life is equally important as your professional life.
Therefore, you should keep track of your working hours at all times. Make sure you stick to your schedule if you plan on going for 8 hours straight on a workday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. If you don’t stick to a regular work schedule, you’ll be missing out on your social life as well.
Furthermore, do not overwork your brain by staying in the same position for long periods of time. Stress can take hold of you at any time and in any place. Take breaks at regular intervals to go for a stroll, play with your cat, or listen to music. Simply get moving and stay busy during the day. To be more conscious and productive during the day, you can also take brief naps or practice breathing exercises.
4. Eat Right, Sleep Well
When you’re a busy working person, eating a balanced diet is important. To stay energized and productive, you should eat foods that help you work better.
At the office, you have access to whatever food is available in the cafeteria or the lunch you brought from home. You are restricted, but at home, you are on your own. As a result, you should keep yourself in check and be on a good diet.
Some quick healthy eating tips:
- Eat energizing meals for lunch – iron (leafy green vegetables), protein (fish, meat, eggs), and complex carbohydrates (legumes & whole grains)
- Include fruits, nuts, and berries together with some juice or in the form of smoothies
- Drink a lot of water and keep yourself hydrated throughout the day
Also, maintaining a proper sleep schedule is imperative if you aim to deliver the best results. It keeps your head clear. Go to bed at a definite time every night and have a proper sleep routine.
5. Prepare a To-do list/Planner
Working from home necessitates keeping track of how you spend each hour of the day. In this regard, self-tracking helps you to see when you are most effective and when you are squandering your time.
You can keep track of your success more effectively by making a to-do list. You can then plan the most important activities during your most productive hours. The vital task should be regarded as the highest priority and completed as soon as possible.
A planner or calendar, likewise, serves as a tool for keeping track of meetings, deadlines, and appointments. Hence, a to-do list and a calendar are important for positive motivation, whether it’s for work or non-work activities.
Consider long-term goals, such as completing a large project, as well as short-term goals, such as the tasks that contribute to the bigger goal. As you are completing one goal after another, check them off the list to show that you’re making progress.
6. Get Into the Habit of Yoga & meditation
Early morning yoga has always proven to be effective. It improves self-awareness, improves concentration, and lowers stress levels.
Both the body and mind are exhausted after a hard day at work. Excessive work will cause your brain to shut down. Therefore, meditation is a great way to unwind at the end of the day. It helps a great deal in managing exhaustion or stress and keeping you composed throughout the day.
7. Exercise Regularly
Being proactive at work is one way to improve your performance. Adopting the habit of doing exercise is beneficial for both your personal and professional life. Working out increases blood flow to the brain, which helps to sharpen your mind and keep you alert. Stretching on a regular basis is also useful for maintaining proper posture.
Exercise increases endorphin levels, which boosts your happiness and interest—all of which are vital for achieving successful results for having a work-life balance.
8. Engage in Regular Interactions With Co-workers
You must be more proactive when it comes to cultivating professional relationships. Teleworking can be isolating, particularly if you work from home.
Everyone, from your teammates to your bosses, works differently at home. As a consequence, it’s always difficult to exchange details and have everybody on the same page. Therefore, you ought to figure out how much interaction is required for you to feel connected.
Also, do not hesitate to reach out to your co-workers for any kind of help. You can communicate with your colleagues, hold community meetings, and keep connected using a variety of chat channels and FaceTime apps.
