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When you’ve been used to office life for a few years or even decades, switching to working from home is more complicated than it seems. While it may initially be a dream for many office dwellers, they quickly realize it’s more challenging to be productive at home.
Also, the lack of in-person communication with colleagues is often missed.
Here are five strategies that may help make the transition to remote working easier.
Keep Fixed Working Hours
While the fixed working hours at the office may have grated and your employer may be offering a flexi-time arrangement now, that doesn’t mean you should take advantage of it.
Set working hours provide a ready structure for your day. This matches what you’ve been accustomed to already. Also, it makes the transition feel a little more like a normal workday than it would otherwise.
Trust us, trying to get work done in the late afternoon or the evening is no picnic!
Let People Know When You’re Working
If you live with others or sometimes have a partner at home, tell them when you’ll be working.
When your work times fluctuate, they’ll struggle to keep up with the changes. Send them a WhatsApp message at the start of the week confirming your work times. This will let them know when to avoid disturbing you unless it’s essential. They can also schedule important activities or ones that need your participation around other times.
Get the Right Amount of Sleep
When you have trouble sleeping, it affects your energy levels and how much sleep you get. Feeling unmotivated to work comes from lethargy, which is causally linked to poor sleep habits and should be addressed if it affects you.
Sleeping well depends on whether you sleep alone or as a couple in the same bed. It depends on your sleeping needs, but you may benefit from a large bed or a “split king.”
The split king consists of two mattresses placed side-by-side. Its adjustable bases, which act independently of each other, allow it to be set at different height levels. The king also offers motion isolation, so if your partner’s tossing and turning tend to keep you up at night, this will stop that.
Keep in Regular Contact with Colleagues
Keeping in contact with work colleagues via Skype, Zoom, or Microsoft Teams maintains a visual connection even when no longer working in an office.
Not only do we all need some degree of “people contact” to be happy, but ironing out any issues that get confusing over email is also beneficial.
You’ll also be relying on your friends more for the same reason. While we may not always love the office environment, the interaction is sorely missed when it’s no longer there. So, if you’re more social, look for other ways to be more interactive.
Stay Better Organized
People who work from home suffer from a lack of organization. When they aren’t organized from the start, they suffer later when they cannot find an important document.
Good organizational practices are also required for physical papers and digital filing. Co-workers will have little patience for remote workers who aren’t organized or don’t use systems that support their work.
Working from home is harder than it looks. It requires adjusting one’s work habits to get the most out of it. However, once these changes are made, people usually never look back.