Remote work: is not it everybody’s dream? You eliminate the need to go to the office anymore, have co-workers as a distraction, and can create a better work-life balance. That can all sound pretty idyllic, and in many ways it’s. But there are some challenges that arise from it.
More than ever, people are working from home. Due to the global pandemic, businesses have had to ask employees to work at home, on very little notice, and just make it work. Studies have shown that employees are often more productive when they work at home, but they can even work longer hours and work at a more intense pace, which shows that working remotely is not at all times fun and makes you sleepy. There are challenges individuals face when working from home, in addition to challenges facing business colleagues working remotely. So how can they be handled?
As a business, looking at things like managed service outsourcing can help as more people work remotely and there may be a greater need for IT help. Sharing data is another thing that can get tricky when working remotely, in addition to keeping company information secure. So implementing cloud computing, if you do not have already got one, could be a really good idea. But what about individuals working from home? What can they do to improve the situation?
If you want to avoid overwork, so that you can truly take advantage of improving your work-life balance, here are some things to consider:
- Enter specific tasks as appointments in your calendar. You might make an appointment to play sports or take a walk with the children. You can set up an appointment to go out for lunch. While it is on your work calendar, you will not be rescheduled with work appointments and meetings.
- Reminding yourself to rest is essential. If you do not set a reminder for yourself, several hours may have passed and you will not get up from your desk. Stopping for a drink of water or taking a brief walk will help you be more productive when you get back to your desk.
- This may be hard to do, but if possible set some physical boundaries for yourself between work and home. If possible, have a designated room or office area where you can turn off the computer and get on with what you need to do in your home life.
- Your smartphone not for work can be an enormous distraction when you see notification popups. So turn off your notifications so that your personal e-mail and app notifications can wait until you finish doing your work.
It takes plenty of planning and organizing, particularly if you have kids learning from home at the same time. It’s no picnic at these times, but when you lay things down, it just goes to show employers how much working from home can work. This will truly be the future of business.
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