It’s hard to predict the extent of the economic slowdown that the COVID-19 is about to bring to the whole world. Amidst all the uncertainties, one major concern for most organizations around the world is how to work remotely and continue their operations.
Well, desperate times call for desperate measures, and remote working is currently the most viable option for organizations to survive. However, with little to no experience of working remotely, most managers and teams are left scratching their heads.
At this time, you may be feeling anxious about how remote working will work for you and your team. However, remote working is possible for almost every organization, and believe me, this is coming out of sheer experience.
Working remotely or from home is indeed a completely different experience than working in a traditional office space. At home, you will not only find the working environment to be completely different but also feel it difficult to draw a line between your personal and professional life.
While making a transition to remote work, you need to put some extra effort to make sure you easily get accustomed to your new personal workspace. Also, you can bring out the best in you and be highly productive while working remotely by following some simple working from home tips that we’ll share with you through this article. But before that, let’s take a look at some other important aspects of remote working.
Is working remotely a good idea?
Most of you might have wondered at some point in your career if remote work is possible for you and how to work remotely. Well, you will be happy to know that remote work is completely practical provided that you have the necessary skills and essential remote work tools with you.
However, whether you are a new remote worker or an experienced telecommuter, self-discipline is one of the key factors to boost and maintain high productivity.
A study revealed that remote workers are more productive than office employees. Also, the study sheds light on various factors that are responsible for the better productivity of remote workers.
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Benefits of Remote Working
Remote working is not only restricted to work from home. Even if you are working from a cafe or a shared coworking space that is located away from your organization, then you are still a remote worker.
Remote working offers several benefits to people associated with an organization. Check out some of those benefits below:
For Employees
- It is common for individuals working remotely to have a flexible lifestyle. As a remote worker, you can work from a place of your choice, and also save yourself from unpleasant daily commuting
- Working from home means that you can exercise during the short breaks and eat healthily to maintain your overall well-being.
- Instead of wasting time on things such as planning your dress for the day, you can invest time to plan your daily schedule.
For Employers
- Cost-saving is the biggest advantage that an employer will enjoy by having a remote team. Whether it’s the expenses for the office space, hardware or electricity, you can save a significant amount of costs for your business.
- Sometimes the most valuable employees of a company have to leave because of certain reasons like relocating to a new city, pregnancy, etc. To retain such employees, employers should have a remote working policy in place, which allows individuals to work for the organization literally from anywhere.
- By allowing individuals to work remotely, an organization can access a pool of a more competent workforce as there will be no geographical restrictions for employers while hiring individuals.
What is the most challenging aspect of working remotely?
Whether you are planning to work remotely or already made the transition, you might be thinking of the biggest obstruction that you’ll be facing on the way. Well, as a newbie remote worker, you may find that your productivity is not as high as you were expecting earlier.
Working remotely, especially from home means that you are more vulnerable to distractions, low physical activity, lack of in-person interaction with peers, and so on. Consequently, these reasons can add up and hamper your productivity. Also, you may find yourself to be less productive than you used to be in your office.
However, there’s no need to worry as low productivity is a challenge common to almost every individual who is new to remote working. Besides, there are widely accepted tips that can help you to work at optimal productivity levels.
How to Be Productive While Working From Home
When you start working remotely, the most important thing that you need to do is to prepare yourself mentally. Putting trust in yourself is the key to make things work and become productive while working from your home.
Once you get accustomed to remote working, it becomes easier for you to concentrate on work and give your best for each task.
It has become a well-established fact that remote employees tend to be happier and more satisfied with their jobs than office workers.
Now, without wasting any time, let’s take a look at the best tips for working remotely that you should follow to improve your overall productivity:
- Get ready like you are going to the office
While this may sound odd, you need to follow your usual office routine (except for commuting) even when you are working from home.
Get up early, take a shower, eat breakfast on time, and dress nicely. By following the office routine, you will be mentally prepared to face all the challenges at work. Also, you will feel energetic and find it easier to concentrate on tasks.
- Set up a dedicated workspace
The workspace is the most important thing to consider when you are working remotely from your home.
Don’t just start working in any corner of your house and change your workspace frequently.
Ideally, you need to choose a specific section of your house and mark it as your dedicated workspace. Also, it is better to have a separate room where you can work without the intervention of your family members.
“Don’t work from bed. You want your bed to be a place of peace and calm, not work stress.” – Liz Grossman Kitoyi
- Gather all the stuff you need in advance
Getting up from your workspace too often to get stuff that you need throughout the day will not only affect your productivity but you will also find it difficult to concentrate on your work.
Thus, it’s advisable to get together all the important things such as a water bottle, notepad, pen, etc. at the start of your work hours.
Moreover, you need to keep your work table clean and well organized to avoid cluttering.
- Prepare a to-do list for the day
Without the supervision of your manager, you may find yourself stranded when it comes to organizing your tasks. Moreover, you may find it difficult to decide which tasks need to be completed first.
For tackling this situation, all you need is to prepare a to-do list at the start of each day. You should communicate with your manager to discuss your work schedule for the day.
In fact, you can also opt for online collaboration software that allows you to create and save your virtual to-do lists.
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- Don’t forget to take breaks
Sometimes, we tend to get so involved in work that we forget to take breaks that are absolutely essential.
However, taking a break doesn’t mean that you unlock your smartphone and start scrolling through apps like Facebook, Instagram, or watch videos on YouTube.
Instead, you should take a walk or interact with other people in the house to refresh yourself both mentally and physically.
It is widely accepted that taking short breaks at regular intervals helps to improve performance and also makes you happier.
- Communicate with your teammates
We all miss the social interactions that happen instinctively while we are in the office. And honestly, these interactions are important for you to feel involved and be a part of the team.
However, working from home doesn’t mean that you feel isolated from the team. Therefore, you need to stay in constant touch with your teammates and manager.
To ensure that you and your team stay connected, you should use leading remote working tools that allow you to chat, share files, and proof files and documents in real-time.
- Participate in Team-Building Exercises
While some of us may find team-building exercises to be irrelevant and wastage of time, the reality is quite the opposite.
These exercises tend to bring members together and also allows managers to learn the strengths and weaknesses of each team member.
Furthermore, team-building exercises make it possible for managers to enhance the skills of the team without putting them under pressure.
As an individual, you should always participate in a team-building exercise because it will help you strengthen your bond with your teammates and improve your productivity.
- Use Technology To Your Advantage
None of us will disagree with the fact that it is modern technology that has made remote working possible on a very large scale.
At present, several online software and platforms are available that are designed specifically to improve the productivity of organizations and professionals working remotely.
For every team that is working collectively to achieve certain goals, team collaboration is of paramount importance.
So, you and your team need to utilize the most innovative remote working software, which is none other than an all-in-one project management software. A full-fledged project management software combines and makes all the necessary tools for managing tasks and projects available in one place.
Manage multiple projects and teams remotely from anywhere. Switch to ProofHub!
What is ProofHub and how can it help remote teams and workers?
ProofHub is one of the leading project management and team collaboration software available in the market. Unlike other project management software like Asana and Wrike, ProofHub does not charge per user and comes with straightforward pricing plans.
Another highpoint of ProofHub is that both managers and teams can use it to organize and complete their tasks on time. Key features that make ProofHub first-choice of remote teams across the globe for boosting productivity are as follows:
- A simple and easy-to-understand user interface that anyone can use without any hassle
- Available in more than half a dozen languages
- Create tasks, subtasks, set deadlines, select assignees
- See project work moving through multiple stages using Kanban board
- In-built chat tool for communicating messages with team members
- Create reports with a single click, customize reports as per your requirements
- Timesheets for keeping a record of the working hours of each team member
- Cloud-storage for storing and sharing files with the team
Need a quick intro to ProofHub or expert help for setting your workflow on ProofHub? Contact ProofHub Support Team or leave a mail at support@proofhub.com.
Conclusion
Whether it’s your personal decision to work remotely or your organization is switching to work from home, the bottom line is to make it successful. It is quite normal to wonder how to work remotely and have low productivity in the initial days after making the transition. However, the tips that we have mentioned in this article will help you boost your productivity while working from home.
