The COVID-19 pandemic has altered every fiber of our being, including how and where we are doing our jobs. During the pandemic, we were told to stay at home and all work-related activities were adjusted so they could be done remotely.
One of the obstacles to working remotely from home is not everyone has the environment to do their job comfortably at home. Hence, it is important to create a cozy home office, so you can achieve better productivity while working remotely.
Keep reading this article to unveil the secrets of how to make remote work more efficient.
Organize Yourself With Your Teamwork and Your Manager
Working remotely can affect your teamwork flow compared to when you meet your colleagues physically. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, we could easily talk to each other because everyone was in the same place at the same time. However, with the working-from-home phenomenon, it may take longer for us to be able to communicate with our coworkers.
In order to create a win-win solution for your teamwork and your manager, it is essential to set the ground rules and boundaries. By doing those things, everyone can be happy and comfortable, ergo, more efficient remote working can be achieved.
You can practice these tips below to stay organized while working remotely.
- Set flexible but specific office hours, and maintain them regularly. One of the examples by making your calendar visible to your teammates and vice versa. This allows everyone to see when is the best time to talk about work-related stuff.
- Schedule breaks. You can give suggestions to your teammate about break times and use them wisely. There are apps like TimeOut (Mac) and Smart Break (Windows) that will help you enjoy your break time entirety by locking down your PC during the scheduled break times.
- Socialize with coworkers. It is undoubtedly that working from home can make you feel lonely and isolated. So, hanging out with your teammates once in a while will help you feel more connected to the outside world, and also strengthen the bond between you and your fellow workers.
- Make roles and responsibilities clear. Every member of your team needs to know what is to be expected from them at work.
- Keep work files in one centralized platform. By keeping them in the same place, your teamwork can easily access them whenever they need them.
Organize Yourself With Your Family
We know that working at home means that you can be with your family 24/7, but that does come with consequences. While you can spend your day with your beloved family, yet also they can be a distraction to your work life. This is why we need to achieve work-life balance.
If you are a parent with little kids, it must be hard to excel in your professional and personal lives, somehow they are just intertwined. As a result, you fail to do your job properly, yet also abandon your roles at home.
In order to minimize this problem, it requires your family to cooperate in creating a suitable ambiance for you to work at home. When you feel comfortable working at your home, it is easier to get more productive. If you are working productively, you can finish your work faster and enjoy more time with your family.
Here are a few essential remote work tips for working parents.
- Build good communication with your family members about your schedules and expectations.
- Set a schedule that will work for everyone.
- Create a realistic daily routine.
- Share childcare duties with your spouse.
- Meal planning and prepping.
- Get your kids plenty of fun activities.
Set Up a Workable Home Office
As mentioned above, creating a workable home office helps you minimize distractions and allows you to work in a supportive atmosphere.
Here are the guides for home office organization.
- Dedicate a room or an area as your home office. Choose an area that allows you to concentrate, it is even better if the room has a window. Working in a room with a window helps you get the best natural lighting as well as getting fresh air.
- Invest in items that help your work efficiently, such as an ergonomic desk and chair, printer, second monitor, and even an office phone.
- Declutter your workspace. Keep anything that will be a distraction to your work life out of your home office. Also, keep your workspace clean and tidy to maintain a pleasant working ambiance.
- Decorate your home office. You can design your own workspace however you want to make it more lively. Putting some plants or paintings can also be an alternative.
Improve the Comfort of Your Home Office
After setting up your own workspace at home, now you can make it even more comfortable!
Here are some tips and tricks to create the perfect home office.
- Pick the right colors for your workspace. Since you will be spending most of your time in this room, it is important for you to be in a room painted with the colors that scream YOU. Choosing the right colors can have a great psychological effect on you, so choose them wisely. Most home offices prefer airy and natural colors, like light blues, broken white, cream, and greens.
- Choose ergonomic furniture for your home office. An ergonomic desk and chair may look costly now but think of them as investments. Not only they will improve your productivity, they are also good for your health.
- Consider custom-made furniture. This is the best solution to maximize the function of your workspace. Built-in shelving and desks allow you to organize your items exactly where you need them.
- Build a mini garden office. Plants can help you relax after hours of staring at the computer. The maximum height of your mini garden office is within 2.5 meters.
- Add a personal touch. You can add anything you like to make your home office homier but still looks like a workspace. It is best to surround yourself with something that makes you happy and boosts your mood whenever you see it, such as family portraits, paintings, quotes, or posters.
