Working from home can be such a blessing, especially for parents. You get to be close to your family, organize your day, and save both time and money on commuting.
Also, you’re in charge of creating the work environment you’re in, and there’s no one to pressure you or cause any additional stress.
But, what happens when you don’t know how to handle your work from home workday?
Well, it can lead to poor performance and low results. Luckily, we’ve prepared this guide to make sure you know how to manage working from home.
Here are the 7 tips to help you work from home like a true professional.
Let’s break it down together.
Set up a Space
Working from home does not imply taking your laptop from one room to the other, and laying in your bed while you’re completing tasks.
On the contrary, you need to step up the professionalism if you want to increase your productivity.
In order to do this, you need to set up a home office in your house:
- chose a remote spot in your home
- set up a desk and an office chair
- bring all your equipment there
In addition, make sure to decorate the home office according to your taste, to make it as inspiring, motivating, and comfortable as possible.
A home office will motivate you to work harder and focus solely on your job.
Create a Schedule
When you’re working from home, in most cases you have the luxury to create your own schedule. You can get as flexible as you want as long as you meet the deadlines.
But too much flexibility leads to confusion and missed deadlines.
This is why we strongly recommend that you:
- create a day-to-day work schedule
- organize and prioritize tasks
- stick to it
Get Support
If you live with your family, partner, and especially if you’ve got kids, working from home can be additionally difficult for you.
Everybody’s got their own things going on inside the house, often during your work hours. While you can’t ask them to disappear or stay dead silent while you work, you can still come up with an arrangement that works for everyone.
The best way to handle it is to:
- gather the family
- talk about supporting each other
- agree to respect each other’s workspace & need for quiet time
If you talk with them openly, they’ll have more understanding and will do their best to not get in your way while you’re working.
Take Dynamic Breaks
Just like in a regular office, you should also allow yourself to take at least one quality break during your work hours.
To make sure this break is effective and lets you recharge your batteries at least a little bit, you should avoid spending it inside the house, on your couch, watching TV. Short breaks on the playground with kids, a happy walk with your four-paw friend, or even a quick ride on rollers or with a folding bike will recharge your mind and will increase your productivity.
Be more active, and take dynamic breaks:
- go outside with the kids
- walk the dog
- ride your bike
- go for a jog
- eat something healthy and nutritious
- catch up with a friend over a coffee
Try making the most out of every break and give yourself a reason to go out of the house. This way, when you go back to the office, you’ll feel ready to work with maximum capacity.
Stay Connected
While it can be a huge benefit not to have your boss or colleagues standing above your head, sometimes you need a person to talk to or get a piece of advice from.
This is why staying connected matters for everyone working from home.
To eliminate the sense of isolation or even loneliness, you should use different means to stay in touch with your colleagues:
- use collaboration tools
- have conference calls and meetings
- communicate over email
Whatever way suits you best, you go ahead and do it. Make sure you get regular feedback from your superiors and communicate openly with your colleagues.
Remove Distractions
When you’re working from home, it’s easy to get distracted and carried away by something you’re not supposed to be doing. These distractions will limit your productivity and you’ll find it hard to complete your tasks in time.
This is why your improved work-from-home plan needs to include methods for removing distinctions:
- your workspace should only contain work-related things
- stay away from social media- use social blocking apps if you can’t control yourself
- prepare your meals the night before to avoid nibbling and walking to the fridge
Self-control is key to an improved workday, and preparing in advance can help you out with that.
Consider Your Kids
If your kids aren’t at school during your office hours, you’ll have to help them manage their day while you’re working.
Help them to organize their lives:
- create homework schedules
- give them fun assignments to do
- teach them how to play constructively
- give them chores to do
Help your kids stay active, entertained, and busy, and you’ll have more time to focus on your work and complete all your daily duties.
Final Thoughts
As you can see, working from home can be productive and successful if you know how to organize your workday.
Use the tips above to create a work environment that suits you and works for the rest of the family. Start working on those improvements as soon as possible, and you’ll be able to feel the positive results sooner than you expect.
