How to Stay Productive While Adjusting to Working from Home for the First Time
Even if you’ve spent years dreaming of a day when you might be able to work remotely for a living, the coronavirus pandemic may have taught you a thing or two about the various challenges of working from home. From experiencing feelings of isolation and loneliness to dealing with distractions that keep you from getting your work done during regular business hours, you may be realizing firsthand just how difficult working from home can be. To explore some of the steps you can take to minimize these distractions and boost productivity while adjusting to a work-from-home environment, read on!
How to Stay Productive While Adjusting to Working from Home for the First Time
Even if you’ve spent years dreaming of a day when you might be able to work remotely for a living, the coronavirus pandemic may have taught you a thing or two about the various challenges of working from home. From experiencing feelings of isolation and loneliness to dealing with distractions that keep you from getting your work done during regular business hours, you may be realizing firsthand just how difficult working from home can be. To explore some of the steps you can take to minimize these distractions and boost productivity while adjusting to a work-from-home environment, read on!
Create an Optimal Workspace
While your long-awaited dream of working from home may have included a couch, cozy blanket, and pajama pants, the key to minimizing distractions and boosting productivity has a lot to do with your workspace. Even if you’re tempted to work from your couch or bed until you head back into the office, the following tips will help you to stay focused, comfortable, and inspired all week long.
- Choose a functional location for your new home office. Even if you don’t plan to telecommute on a permanent basis, it’s important to design a temporary office space that fits your personal and professional needs.
- Make space in your living room if you don’t have anywhere else in your home to set up a temporary office. If you and another household member are both working remotely for the short term, you could also create a temporary two-person workstation along any unused wall.
- Decorate your home office with your favorite colors, patterns, and decor pieces. To reduce clutter and keep your workspace organized, make use of decorative catchall trays, colored file boxes, and stylish storage bins.
Minimize Distractions During the Work Day
Whether you live in a noisy neighborhood or you’re working from home with your spouse and kids, one of the greatest challenges of working remotely is learning how to deal with these types of distractions. As you adjust to working from home, the following tips will help you to minimize daily disturbances so you can focus on your work and stay as productive as possible.
- Soundproof your office environment with a few DIY hacks. The Spruce recommends hanging heavy curtains over doors or using a draft stopper to fill any interior door gaps.
- Learn how to work remotely with children in your household. Depending on your situation, it may help to establish office hours so your family knows when you are — and are not — available for interruptions.
- If you have school-aged children, create a flexible routine that allows you to juggle homeschooling with working remotely. If possible, you and spouse/partner may wish to work opposite schedules until the end of the school year.
- Boost productivity and eliminate distractions with mobile apps such as StayFocusd, LeechBlock, and Brain. fm. With LeechBlock, for instance, you can block websites for a designated period of time to keep yourself on track during the work day.
Improve Your Virtual Communication Skills
Even if you consider yourself a pro at video conferencing with your friends and family members, there are some additional things you need to keep in mind when communicating with your colleagues. To improve your virtual communication skills while working remotely, it’s important to understand the dos and don’ts of video conferencing and learn how to collaborate with your team — even from afar.
- Make sure you’re practicing good video conferencing etiquette. This means eliminating any distractions and testing your microphone before a meeting.
- Explore some of the things you can do to improve collaboration in the remote work age. Amid the pandemic, team communication is more important than ever before.
- Wear professional clothing during virtual meetings with employers, colleagues, and customers. Typically, it’s best to present yourself as if you were attending an in-person meeting.
Whether you’re a creative who works for a professional design studio or you spend much of your day developing mobile apps, adjusting from an office environment to working from home isn’t going to be as easy as you’d think. With these tips and resources to assist you during the transition, however, you’ll learn how to create a home office, minimize distractions, and master the art of virtual communication. Once you get into the swing of things, you may feel more productive than ever before!
