Make your Work From Home more effective

Remote Working during this Coronavirus Pandemic is proving to be an enormous challenge for many employees. During the lockdown period, professional expectations by employers are the same, but the settling is not at pace on the work-from-home lifestyle. And it’s not always an easy transition. To help you stay focused despite the non-stop distractions, be it interruptions from family members, kids or the alluring programme on the TV that you may face at your place, following are the tips on simple routines and habits which each employee can follow so that productivity of organizations is maximized during these days.

1. Start your Day Early - Feel the same as how you used to get ready to go to the office and start your day early. Without taking any pressure at the beginning, the time you would typically use to commute to work every day can now be utilized to practice yoga /exercise, jot down a journal, meditate or listen to soothing music, really refreshing yourself in the early hours to pep-up your mood and stamina throughout the work schedule. Stock necessary refreshment nearby such as water, coffee-tea flasks, light snacks for the working hours.

1. Create a comfortable work-zone - Rather than placing yourself up in your room or laying on the couch that are connected with leisure time, choose a place that will give you the right ambiance on your work set-up space. Confine yourself to your work area, and discourage any temptation that invade your concentration. It is also important to set the right precedents for working, such as a comfortable chair, connecting to an enlarged display - TV screen and other associated peripherals.  A low-quality internet connection or an outdated computer can get you meddled up, costing you time and productivity. So it is important to plan the pre-requisites such as getting the VPN access to your office network shared folders. To quickly settle, place good luminaries on the workspace and ensure the lux levels are optimum while working because most of the homes are warmly-lit with low Lumens. Elongated hours working on such lights will harm yourself disturbing the circadian pattern. Prop yourself with a few throw pillows to maintain comfortable posture.
2. Create a Daily To-Do List - Dive into your to-do list before you start work. These checklists can be the key to making progress on it gradually throughout the day. Setting priorities is imperative at the office and certainly more so when working from home. Work accordingly, otherwise you'll prolong the day and let the laziness wear away your motivation.
3. Learn to Communicate Effectively - When you work from home, things change as it will be quite difficult to communicate with your team since face-to-face interaction is drastically reduced. So capitalize the use of apps and other online tools to correspond through group chats, video conferencing, Zoom meetings, etc. Or else you can have a morning huddle/ritual online where everyone gives a quick rundown of what they’re working on for the day and top-up with sharing of minutes of the meeting for future reference.
4. Schedule breaks - Your calendar may be lined-up with an array of tasks, calls, meetings, deadlines, but it also should include exclusive break periods. You can assertively inform your colleagues/superiors about the mid-day breaks. Should they be expecting anything from you, this would avoid any irking disturbances. On the flipside, these Intermittent breaks help you to re-energize and focus better.
5. Spend quality time for self-learning & development - It's not just work-related stuff, download and read books that will help you gain more knowledgeable insights. If you don’t like reading, tap into wide accessible wealth of great podcasts and YouTube videos that would set on self-improvement, learning about new topics, broadening your knowledge base and staying up-to-date with fast-changing news/events around the world.
6. Commit to doing more and evaluate your performance - Prepare a Daily/Weekly report of your performance and evaluate to see how much it will help the organization and your productivity, and feel free to share them with your superiors if required. Do not hesitate to clarify your doubts and expectations two-ways so that all are on same page.
7. Use Cloud-Based File Sharing - It is more efficient and large files can be downloaded and transferred hassle-free and quickly hence setting the momentum for efficient and speedy virtual interaction with your team.
8. Relax your eyes/neck and stretch yourself - To boost your physical & mental fitness during secluded working, do some quick 1-2 minutes of eyes & neck exercises, deep-breathing exercises, and walk/stretch yourself for few minutes near the workplace. Change your posture and do some light finger exercises.
9. Discuss with your colleagues about the day’s work- At the end of the work hour, introspect, debate and discuss with your –co-workers, you would get useful insights and clarity on what all you have missed in your day's activity encouraging a checklist culture. Such summarized discussions are a healthy practice that can ward-off loneliness, isolation, and disconnect in your remote-work life. After you log off for the day, you can set yourself to have some leisure during the the down-time; breathe fresh air, watch movie or plainly indulge in whatever activity makes you happy. 

The succinct message is enjoying remote working, getting accustomed to the new work trend optimally utilizing time to set a judicious balance between professional and personal commitments, evolving a stronger than before work-culture.

Althaf Ali

Founder - LEDWORLD

Founder - DESROCH

Founder - LUMIBRIGHT

CEO of Inspired Holding Group