13 Tips to Maximize Productivity While Telecommuting

Witnessing the ongoing concerns about the pandemic situation, people associated with various businesses have initiated working from home policy.

Many employees might find it difficult to adjust to the home environment while doing office work. Working from home and ensuring efficient performance can be quiet challenging, especially for those who tend to get easily sidetracked by noises and need a professional environment to operate. 

With loads of distractions, complicated communication network, and uneasy environment, it becomes a challenge to ensure a productive outcome. Whatever be the frequency, every day, or a couple of hours each week, or while recovering from an illness, there are various ways to get you going throughout the time you stay at home and ensure an efficient performance all the while. 

Other than just difficulties and distractions, work from home can prove to be beneficial for some. Telecommuting or what most people call it, work from home helps you save on the expenses and reduces overhead costs.

Employees at any level of the hierarchy, ranging from the management head to the junior employee, can employ simple changes in their daily life schedule. Bringing in minor changes in the working routine can contribute to enhanced performance, smooth business, and learn the art of maintaining a proficient work-life balance.

Following some simple tips and adopting them in your routine will eventually prove to be of great help.

1. Create an Office-Like Setup

One might think of telecommuting while resting against a cushioned chair or couch. In this period, one must try to establish an environment that resembles that of an actual corporate office.

Creating an at-home office can be done by finding a consistent room (preferably, the study room) followed by placing a chair with lumbar support – a place where you can feel confident and keep things organized.

It is suggested that you try to put up a desk and ensure a comfortable and supportive chair with a hardware system enabled with an internet connection.

2. Schedule a Timing

The initial step towards making sure that the telecommuting process does not hamper your productivity is to manage and schedule every task according to a defined time slot.

In such a case, working from home can prove to be a benefit for those who like taking short breaks. Also, telecommuting provides you with a flexibility of when you want to start your shift, take a break, and when to call it a day.

Despite the flexibility, it is your responsibility to be available whenever your boss needs you to, or whenever your coworkers and customers want to get in touch with you.

3. Use Reliable Technology

Operating while staying indoors requires a smooth network connection that will let you keep in touch with colleagues and managers.

You can think of installing a high-speed router that will keep technology issues at bay. Other than the internet connection, your cloud communication system plays a vital role in making your telecommuting an easy task.

4. Operate in High Productivity Slots

Every person has their time slot in which they tend to work most efficiently. Such time slots are sure to be profitable periods for businesses and managers. 

While some people are early birds and prefer to start with the work in the early hours, some employees are more focused on the noontime.

5. Find a Permanent Spot

It is possible that initially, you start working from a place which you find to be a comfortable one. You need to find a perfect place to operate, especially when you are working from home for a longer time.

It is recommended that you find a room with windows and a proper ventilation system. An area where there are least disturbance and distractions tends to be the best place for doing your job efficiently.

6. Avoid Wasting Time

Working from home can cause a disturbance in personal life or vice versa. The main reason behind collision among both of them can be the absence of a boundary between the two.

There are times when your own life invades into your work as you sit at home and work like you are in an office. The process can be risky, but it is ones’ hands whether or not to let one of the two things interrupt the other one. In such cases, it is suggested that you organize a schedule and stick with it honestly.

7. Maintain a To-Do List

When we are working from our offices and operating in a professional environment, we have a boss for the surveillance, and that keeps us moving.

But the same does not apply when we are working from our homes. There are instances when one might get swayed away with managing their tasks and fail to keep up with the assigned schedule of each day.

It is recommended to prepare a to-do list of all the agendas before starting with the shift. Creating a list of tasks according to the priority and the upcoming deadlines can prove to be of great help.

8. Get Dressed Up Like You Are in the Office

In the case of telecommuting, you need not meet any of your coworkers or managers. But it’s essential to dress up formally while you work while being at home, especially when you attend a video conference meeting.

It is recommended that you start the day being a fresh person with formal clothes on. Dressing up in formal outfits will make you look professional and also keeps you motivated.

9. Call In a DND

As discussed earlier, it is necessary to build boundaries while operating from home. One must be able to put personal and professional life separate.

Our home is the place shared by many others, such as pets, kids, or roommates, who might sometimes pose a cause disturbance. In such cases, all you can do is ask them to cooperate with you carrying out your work. Ask them to keep boundaries in a friendly manner and help cope up with you.

10. Keep the Desk Clean

This tip enables you to focus more on your work for enhanced efficiency. Having a mess-free and clean desk drives you towards being organized. Keeping the things clean should be a pre-planned schedule carried out at the end of each week.

11. Do it With a Rhythm

One benefit of working from home is that you need not ask your coworkers to lower their voices or not to talk at all. Here, you can opt for any jazzy or calming rhythm that will keep you pumped up and filled with energy to do work.

Listening to soothing and relaxing tunes will help in doing the job with a peaceful mindset.

12. Keep Yourself Updated

Now while you are working away from your office, you might face difficulty in socializing and collaborating with your teammates.

You don’t have to miss this process even while telecommuting. You can keep up with your mates and seniors via several channels; chat, call, emails, or video conferencing. You can make sure that you are updated at both personal as well as professional front.

13. Stay Healthy

We devote more than half our day to the office work, primarily when we are operating from home. Such work culture can take away your daily routine and affect your health.

While adjusting with the telecommuting culture, make sure that you take care of your mental as well as physical health. You can take short breaks for stretching out and ensure a healthy diet. It is recommended that you keep a schedule planned for doing some exercise daily.

The Bottom Line

When followed religiously, the above-listed tips can make work from home will be easy as a pie.

All the 13 tips act as a handy guide for building a balanced relationship between work and personal life. Working from home might feel like a luxury only if it is for the short term.

But, when you are working from home for a longer duration, there will be a dire need to get organized and build an environment that replicates an office space to keep you from getting distracted or disturbed and stay dedicated to your job.