Your “Working For Home” Survival Guide
Working from home can require a significant amount of self-discipline. Unlike a traditional office environment, where structure and expectations are often more clearly defined, your home can be filled with distractions that constantly vie for your attention. The lure of household chores, the comfort of your couch, a captivating television show, or the immediacy of personal errands can all easily pull you away from your work tasks. These competing priorities can make staying focused and productive a considerable challenge if you don’t have the right mindset and tools in place.
To help you stay focused and make the most of your work-from-home days, here are 7 critical DON’Ts. Avoiding these common pitfalls will significantly boost your output and keep you feeling accomplished, not overwhelmed:
#1. Do Not Work From Your Sofa/Bed Or Wearing PJs…. OR BOTH!
The ingrained mental association between work and a traditional office environment can significantly impact your productivity, especially when working from home. When your brain is used to associating tasks with a specific physical location – like a desk in a dedicated office – trying to work from the comfort of your sofa or in your bed while wearing pajamas can create a mental disconnect. This lack of distinction between ‘work mode’ and ‘relaxation mode’ can hinder your ability to focus, maintain motivation, and engage fully with your tasks.
#2. Don’t Just “Wing It” – Structure Your Day
When you start working from home, one of the biggest adjustments you’ll need to make is managing your own time. Unlike in an office environment, where your schedule is often structured for you, working from home means you are in charge of how you allocate your time. This is where a daily calendar and weekly planner/agenda come in.
Using a tool like Google Calendar can help you stay organized and on track. You can schedule specific blocks of time for each project or task you need to complete, as well as set reminders to make sure you don’t forget about any important deadlines. By having a clear and detailed calendar, you can ensure that you are making the most of your time and staying productive.
#3. Don’t Forget To Set Rules/Boundaries With People In Your Home
When you have other individuals such as roommates, children, parents, or significant others sharing your living space, it’s crucial to communicate your work schedule and work environment requirements with them. Clearly convey the hours during which you’ll be focusing on your job and any specific areas in your home that you’ve designated as your workspace. By doing so, you can minimize distractions and maintain a high level of productivity throughout your workday.
It’s understandable that when you’re at home, there’s a strong temptation to engage in non-work-related conversations, especially since you’re surrounded by your loved ones. However, these interruptions can quickly add up and negatively impact your focus and efficiency.
#4. Don’t Fall Down The Social Media Trap…WARNING: Some People Stay Trapped For Hours!
It’s no secret that social media can be a major drain on productivity. Its siren call of endless updates, notifications, and engaging content can easily derail even the most focused individual. We’re often aware of the problem, yet we still find ourselves falling into the social media rabbit hole. To truly combat this, we need to take a more proactive approach than simply knowing it’s a distraction.
#5. Don’t Be A Wallflower – Over Communicate
Maintaining consistent and frequent communication with your co-workers is absolutely crucial, especially when working remotely. Think of it as the lifeblood of a successful distributed team. This means going beyond just the basic “hello” and extending to proactively sharing updates on task completion as soon as they occur, clearly indicating your availability to collaborate, promptly asking questions that arise during projects, and generally ensuring that your active contribution to the team’s efforts is both visible and easily accessible. This level of open communication helps everyone stay informed and aligned.
As the saying goes, “communication is key,” and this is even more critical in a work-from-home environment. The ease of a quick face-to-face chat, a spontaneous hallway conversation, or a casual discussion over coffee in the break room – all of which facilitate natural and immediate communication – are simply not readily available. This means that more deliberate effort is required to maintain the same level of connection and information flow. We can’t rely on osmosis or non-verbal cues when working remotely, so relying on digital tools and clear verbal communication becomes paramount.
#6.Don’t Forget To Take Care Of Yourself
Companies have breaks for a reason – and employees’ mental well-being is one of them.
Don’t forget to schedule breaks where you can enjoy healthy snacks and meals, exercise and stretch, and even reach out to co-workers via video chat or email. It’s no secret that doing so leads to better overall work performance.
#7.Don’t Harbour A Negative Mindset – Be Positive!
