The recent outbreak of COVID-19 has clearly changed the way the corporate world is operating fundamentally. Companies around the world have instructed their employees to work from home. But this should not affect any business aspect of the company and that’s why it is important to come up with a process to streamline work-from-home to increase the productivity of the employees.
But such extended work from home for employees with less face-time with teams can become your own worst enemy. Because when you’re not surrounded by coworkers going through necessary interaction, you do lose track of the efficient work. You don’t necessarily feel that same peer pressure or communal obligation to get stuff done. Below, I’ve compiled a bunch of great work-at-home tips and tricks for high productivity.
Get started early
One way to work from home productively is to dive into your to-do list as soon as you wake up. Simply getting a project started early in the morning can be the key to making progress on it gradually throughout the day before sluggishness takes over.
Structure your day like you would do on any workday in the office
When working from home, you’re your own personal manager and boss. Without things like an in-person meeting schedule to break up your day, it’s easy to lose focus or burn out. To stay on schedule, segment the entire day, from what you’ll do and the timeline over the course of the day. Create personal events and reminders that tell you when to shift gears and start on new tasks just like you would do any other normal day at the office.
Have two status calls – Planning and update
It’s very important to plan the day well. Having a status call in the morning to review everyone’s tasks for the day and then having a follow-up call in the evening to understand the challenges everyone faced during the day and work upon it. Also, meet the team on a video call or play some online game at least once a week to break the monotony.
Choose a dedicated workspace- be seated professionally
Just because you’re not working at an office doesn’t mean you can’t have a professional seating space. Choose a comfortable seating space rather than cooping yourself up in your room or on the couch. Dedicate a specific room or surface in your home to work through the day.
Pre-plan your work schedule
Spending time figuring out what you’ll do on any day can take away from actually doing those things in a timely manner. It’s important to let your daily plan change if it’s important, but it’s equally important to commit to an agenda that structures every task before you begin. Try to freeze your schedule the day before, making it feel more official when you wake up the next day to get started on it.
Pick a fixed finishing time each day
As in-office, your co-workers packing up and leaving the office reminds you to do the same, set an alarm at the end of the day to indicate your workday is coming to an end. You don’t have to cease all your work at exactly that time, but knowing the workday is technically over can help you start the process of saving your work, making sure tasks are complete and getting ready for the final status update.
Views expressed in this article are the personal opinion of Manish Singh, CEO, InnovatorsBay Technologies Pvt. Ltd.
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