Working from home can be difficult without proper discipline, time management skills, and problem-solving comprehension. Learning to balance your work and social schedules can help create an even better remote working environment. One that you can prosper in but also understand the sometimes blurred line between working hours and your regular living hours. Working from home has been a helpful and effective way to be able to get work done but also take care of home priorities during the COVID pandemic. With the success of people working from home, the workforce is seeing a surplus of remote positions becoming available, especially in the tech industry.
Working remotely is great for some but for others, it can be a challenge to change the traditional views of what working is or looks like. Staying productive, stopping work at the end of your shift, balancing your personal life with work life, and staying positive are easier when utilizing these tactics.
1. Have A Dedicated Space To Work
Having your own space to complete your work is a must. Completing a project or task is dictated by your work environment and if you have the proper resources available- A dedicated workstation is one of the resources you need. Your space should have access to Wi-Fi, be secluded, free from distractions, and quiet enough for concentration. When you work remotely you have to find ways to make where you work an enjoyable area.
Pro Tip: Make your space your own- Find things you like and make it a space you want to be in. Artwork, cool stationery, calming scents, a good chair, and adequate resources can transform your at-home work process for the better.
2. Scheduling & Taking Breaks
Breaks are needed in every work process. There aren’t any exceptions to this rule. You need time to rejuvenate your mind, thoughts, and creativity. Whether it’s only a few minutes or thirty, you need breaks to keep going. Scheduling breaks helps to ensure that during your work routine, you take the breaks. It gives you the awareness to stop what you’re doing and take time to do something else. Relaxing, eating, catching up on social media, or whatever else you like to do, take the time you need to be able to effectively get back into your work process. Try to maximize your day, effectively.
Pro Tip: Remember your day is for you, just as much as for your job. Do things to help you relax and make you happy so you can perform accordingly.
3. Make Sure You Have Needed Resources & Utilize Them
Having the proper resources dictates your work process. You can’t complete a project without having what you need to get it done. All resources are relative to what a person needs, their role, the task or project at hand, etc., having a prioritized list of necessities can keep you organized and performative. A resource that is sometimes not utilized often is our co-workers. Don’t be afraid to reach out for help. This can help minimize the time you take trying to figure out how to do something. Team collaboration is important to the overall work process so utilize the smarts of your team. There is nothing wrong with needing help and asking questions.
Pro Tip #1: Wi-Fi connection is a priority, so invest in a good connection.
Pro Tip #2: Your tools make or break your work so make sure you invest in what you need to succeed.
4. Have A Routine
Having a routine establishes your daily circumstances and tasks. Routines keep our priorities first and allow you to do what you want to do. They allow for work-life balance and less stressful workdays due to consistency. Routines will keep you productive and help with time management. We all have different days, full of different tasks and projects but being able to schedule everything ahead of time and planning your day can help keep you better organized. With a routine, your priority tasks will be completed and you can strategically block time out of your schedule to do things you want or need to do.
Pro Tip #1: Assess whether a meeting is an effective part of your day. Are you learning something new? Does this information pertain to you? Is your attendance necessary? Could your time be spent more effectively doing something else?
Pro Tip #2: Always make a to-do list. Checking something off of a list of important things to do just feels good.
5. Know Your Distractions & Block Them
We all have that certain something that helps us procrastinate and prevents us from doing what we need to do. Social media apps, mobile games, and phone usage in general i.e. texting, FaceTime, etc., can stop us from doing our job to the best of our ability. Eliminating these distractions will help you focus on the task at hand. This can be more difficult than you expect- Distractions usually help us escape from our realities. Sometimes we even want to be distracted to get away from the tasks at hand. Work can produce stress and irritability, so being distracted allows these feelings to subside but negatively affects our work process. Assess what usually distracts you from completing your work, create a list of what you think is affecting your work process, and either delete those distractions or make sure the distractions are not in your workspace. Your workspace should only include the proper resources you need- that’s it. Through trial and error, you will figure out the best working conditions you need to be successful and learn more about what you need to be effective while working from home.
Pro Tip: Don’t check your inbox too much during the day, especially in the morning. “An inbox is someone else’s priority for you”. You have to deal with your priorities first. Always be a team player but don’t lose sight of what you need to focus on by trying to appease others.
Successfully working from home is easy when you have the right mindset, willpower, and space to do your job. Being able to work from home has so many benefits for the company and the working person. Remote work is more eco-friendly, cost-effective, and helps with work-life and mental health. It’s becoming the norm for so many working people, and in a world in which going to the office was the ordinary thing to do, having tactics to make the remote work process more effective can be crucial to your success in the tech industry. Remembering that tech is a fast-paced, sometimes frustrating industry can keep you accountable during your workday. Having the mindset of ‘‘I need to fail forward’’ will get your further than you know. Although not everyone is remote, some are hybrid and others are back in the office full time, regardless of your work situation, these tactics are sure to bring success to any work process.