Teleworking is here to stay. While many workers have returned to working in offices since lockdowns ended in most parts of the world, others have continued working from home, with its pros and cons.
Before the pandemic, teleworking was seen as fortunate, something that every worker tired of offices, annoying colleagues and bosses wanted. When remote work was imposed, many discovered that doing work tasks from home was not so simple and there are many who have completely lost control of their work routine.
In order to help you, below we are going to see a few tips for teleworking and making our home work day more productive
15 recommended tips and strategies for teleworking
Before the pandemic, many were those who envied those who teleworked. There was an idea that teleworkers were those lucky few who could get up late, sit in their pajamas all day in front of the computer, or lie in bed with their laptop. The idea that the teleworker is his own boss is established in popular ideology a boss who pampers himself, snacks when he feels like it and relaxes when he deserves it.
But since teleworking has spread as a result of the health crisis, those who previously worked from the office and then from home have changed many of their beliefs about this new way of working. Teleworking is hard, very hard. Workers face all kinds of distractions in the “comfort” of their home, also facing the clash of their personal life with their work life in the same place and time.
Losing control over teleworking is very easy Tasks accumulate, overwhelming us and making us lazy in equal measure. For this reason, in order to avoid it, we are going to learn some tips for teleworking and avoiding the most absolute of work disasters.
1. Designate a workspace
It is essential to have our own workspace when we work from home. Ideally, have your desk in a quiet area of the house a place where you can concentrate and that serves to separate your work life from your personal life.
2. Do not work in rest areas
Many people believed that teleworking was great because it allows you to work from your bed or couch. This is one of the worst mistakes we can make working from home. You have to make an effort to get out of bed, and prevent places reserved for rest from becoming work places.
Lying around all day may sound interesting for the first few days, but after a while it will prevent us from getting to work Furthermore, our backs will most likely hurt because we cannot work well from the bed and the sofa, they are not designed for that, but rather for relaxing rest.
3. Establish clear work schedules
One of the biggest risks of teleworking is having totally anarchic schedules, and I say this from experience. For this reason, we must make an effort, set aside a few hours focused exclusively on doing work tasks and notify the people who live at home not to interrupt us.
We must set clear guidelines for the hours in which we work and preferably in the work area that we have specifically designated for this. We must stick to a very specific work schedule, and notify people of interest such as our work team, family and friends so they know when we are available for work and when we are available personally.
4. Start the day with a routine
The morning is the most critical part of the day in the life of the teleworker. Between getting up, having breakfast, going to the bathroom and doing other specific chores such as shopping, the morning can go by in the blink of an eye.
It is inevitable that, from time to time, something comes up that we have to do in the morning that throws our schedule a little off. However, as a rule, mornings are going to be normal and the best thing we can do is take advantage of them by making them part of our routine.
It is better to start the day with a routine, establishing tasks that give it structure It doesn’t have to be with work tasks, but we can dedicate it to doing household chores, exercising, learning a language online or taking a walk. The point is that the mornings are stable. And very important. Get up at the same time and get dressed as soon as you wake up.
5. Basic task management
One of the problems with working from home is motivation. Unlike when it is done in an office, working remotely costs more because there are no in-person colleagues or bosses to motivate us to do basic tasks.
It is difficult to maintain a good level of self-motivation, for That is essential to establish plans for the next day and strive to fulfill them A very good recommendation is to start each day by prioritizing the most important task on the to-do list.
6. Prioritize the most complicated
If we start doing what is most complicated and most time-consuming, the better. The more challenging the task we complete as soon as we start our work day, the more motivated we will be to do the rest, which we will see as a piece of cake. This way we will not postpone things and we will do the rest of the work with fluidity and dynamism
Related article: “How to manage pressure at work: 10 simple tips”
One of the things that people envied most about teleworkers back in the days of the old normal was flexibility. Being able to do things when you felt like it was one of those advantages that teleworking was believed to have.
It is really a positive aspect if you know how to manage, but since human beings need a certain preparation and order in their lives, the most advisable thing is to follow fixed routines. Not preparing for what may come unexpectedly during the day will create chaos
8. Divide the day into blocks of time
Human productivity varies over time. We cannot spend 8 hours in a row working without a break, but we cannot dedicate only 5 minutes at a time to doing our tasks. It is best to work in blocks, adaptable to our ability to concentrate and manageable according to our needs. Dividing the day into easily manageable parts will help us greatly to improve productivity by teleworking
Normally, our concentration begins to decline after 45 minutes, although there are people who are capable of working quite well for 2 hours straight. Whatever our productivity period, once we have finished it, even if we have work left, the thing to do is get up and distract your mind for five minutes to start the next block again with regained strength.
You may be interested: “The keys to motivating yourself”
9. Avoid using the phone
Not only at home, but also in the office, it often happens that we check our phone over and over again, distracting ourselves. When we are working, it is not the best time to use the cell phone. The best thing we can do is turn it off but, if we cannot for work reasons, leaving it silent is also an option and letting our contacts know what our working hours are and that if they have to call us for something trivial, it is better outside of those hours..
10. Restrict app usage
Related to the previous point, to avoid falling into the temptation of gossiping on Instagram or Twitter, what we can do is download applications to control the time we use them There are all types, some being Sense and Offtime. With them we can control the use of social networks, set daily limits and restrict access to any application that distracts us from our work.
Related article: “5 psychological tips to work from home efficiently”
11. Force yourself to rest
Working from home all day can be very exhausting and frustrating. Teleworkers have the problem that it is very difficult for them to physically disconnect between work and private life, since both occur in the same space. Furthermore, as work is stretched like a piece of gum, those who work from home barely take 100 steps a day, realistically, the ones necessary to go from the bathroom to the desk and the kitchen.
To avoid this we must force ourselves to take a break of at least half an hour between sessions , and dedicate an hour to eat every day. When we are resting, we can walk around the house or go for a quick walk around the block and relax a little.
12. Stay physically active
Exercise is essential to maintain a healthy lifestyle and perform not only at work, but in any other aspect of life. There is enough time in the 24-hour day to do a minimum of 20 minutes of exercise, even if it is lifting water bottles like dumbbells. If we can take a walk or go to the gym, even better.
Relaxation is also very important, especially for our mental health Yoga, meditation and similar practices will help us be more productive while teleworking, in addition to not feeling so much stress about our work tasks and, in addition, it will give us the feeling that we are very productive people in all aspects of life. life.
13. Take care of what we eat
Another fundamental aspect to be healthy is to eat well. When working from home it may happen that, having the refrigerator on hand, we turn to it to manage the stress of work. This means that many people gain a lot of weight in the first months of their lives as teleworkers. That is why it is so important to eat healthy and control what we eat, without dieting but avoiding eating junk. Furthermore, very heavy digestion will harm us if we work in the afternoon.
Related article: “The 10 best recipe apps”
14. Ensure security
Even if we telework, we may be exposed to occupational risks. Our home becomes our office during the hours we work and, although it is difficult for us to think that accidents that occur in the office happen at home, that possibility may exist. That is why we must ensure our safety by making a list of all occupational risks that occurred in the office and that can happen at home in order to avoid them.
15. Communicate with colleagues
Communication is very important in the workplace, even more so if we are working at home. Many teleworkers ignore this aspect, which causes them the feeling of isolation that can evolve into depression something that will not only affect your productivity but, obviously, your mental health.
Just because you don’t work in an office doesn’t mean you can’t establish contact with your co-workers, interacting with them both on issues related to employment and also to get to know them a little better and even meet up with them. occasionally in person.
