When it comes to How to Work More Efficiently at Home, different solutions await us. A short search will find many of them. In this article, we have tried to summarize what you read elsewhere.
So let’s not waste time and go for solutions to increase productivity in telecommuting.
Appropriate equipment and tools
Having the right equipment and tools play an essential role in increasing working productivity while telecommuting. In the following, these equipment and tools are discussed.
The appropriate equipment.
Working from home does not mean that the employee can easily put a cup of coffee next to his laptop and get to work. Rather, one needs to raise to maximize productivity by using the right tools and equipment.
A comfortable ergonomic table and chair help the person focus on their work instead of focusing on the back, leg, and neck pain.
Also, the screen size should be appropriate and at eye level. Besides, the waist should be perfectly straight and your shoulders back; the waist should have proper support, and the feet’ soles should be on the ground. For people who are not interested in working in a sitting position, having a standing desk will be a good idea for working in a short time. Moving between a sitting and standing table is good for the back, and on the other hand, it also increases a person’s consciousness.
The working environment should be comfortable, simple, and effective, and there is no need to store a large amount of equipment in it.
The appropriate tools and software.
A personal computer or laptop is the primary tool in telecommuting. But this system alone is not enough to do high-efficiency work. The right software tools for assigning tasks and managing them, interaction with other colleagues, and, if necessary, with customers are some of the tools needed to increase working productivity. Having the right software that facilitates and accelerates information flow is of great importance in this regard. Therefore, telecommuters should equip and prepare themselves using software tools suitable for remote work.
SOJECT Helps you to create your appropriate customized virtual team’s software. Also we provide you with the best video conferencing apps.
Learn more: Efficient Tools in Managing a Remote Programming Team
Set boundaries
Teleworking often causes one to become overwhelmed with work and forget about work-life balance. This causes fatigue over time and reduces productivity at work.
To fix it, individuals must draw the line between their personal lives and their careers.
Determining spatial boundaries
People who work in bed or in front of the TV usually do not work effectively. That’s because these areas are where we rest. On the other hand, some people do not enjoy having a home office, but telecommuters are required to consider a place at home as their office. Moving between working and resting areas helps one to draw the line between personal life and career. These techniques help people to be well-focused and productive when they start to work. Most importantly, after the end of working time, their minds get free, and they can engage in personal insanity and entertainment.
Determining time boundaries
Although telecommuting usually means flexibility in working time, one must have a detailed schedule for work and, of course, justify the family members in this regard. Having a “Please Do Not Disturb” note on the desk during working hours can help those around you to better understand a home-office concept.
Of course, you also need to feel committed to working with high productivity and without wasting time during the working hours. For example, avoid answering unnecessary calls; – Just like being in an office where you are usually forbidden to make many personal phone calls.
On the other hand, having time boundaries helps you not to be busy all day and night. Start work at a particular time and end it exactly on time. let your mind go free after work and spend time with your personal life.
Determining time boundaries helps you increase your productivity while working.
Practice self-care
One of the things that help you increase your productivity at work is caring about your health. According to a study by Softchoice, telecommuters are less likely to leave work and rest on sick days. However, teleworkers also need to take leave, just like those who work in person. In general, an essential piece of advice to telecommuters is to pay close attention to their health.
Exercises
Having a regular exercise program is good for everyone. But telecommuters can do this much more easily than in-person employees. As they are not stuck in an office, they can spend time between work doing all kinds of stretching exercises and even yoga, or cycling for a certain period of time, for example, 50 minutes. It is usually not possible to do this when working in the organization’s office.
Lie down
Lying down in the middle of a working day or a so-called short nap can help maintain your energy level and, consequently, efficiency. Of course, this does not mean having an irregular sleep-wake schedule during telecommuting. Still, given the more intimate work environment, it is recommended that people lie down in the middle of the workday for a short period. This increases your energy levels and concentration. Finally, it is up to the individual to decide whether having a quick nap will help.
Going out
Most of the time, people who work at home do not leave it for a long time. This approach can have severe consequences for a person’s mood and health. Therefore, it is recommended that teleworkers make time for outdoor and social activities. Being under the sun and breathing fresh air motivates a person to work energetically, with a better mood and higher productivity.
If you cannot leave the house for any reason, including physical condition, you can have a green home space by keeping flowers and plants and spending your time there.
What advice do remote workers do to increase productivity?
Experience always comes first. Thus, it is good to be aware of other remote workers’ experiences. Let’s see what they offer to increase working productivity at home:
Start early in the morning
Telecommuting does not mean having an irregular sleep-wake schedule and waking up late. Start early so you can finish sooner. There are many direct and indirect benefits to starting work early, including separating personal life boundaries from one’s profession.
On the other hand, if you do not start work early, you will have to work from the time you wake up until you go back to sleep. Do you really like it?
Another benefit of getting started early is preventing rush-in performance and reducing the quality of work. Because long-distance people usually do not have a specific limitation about working hours, they may get lazy and shift their work to the day’s last hours. Doing things when you are tired and have little time will probably not be quality.
So if you want to do your job without stress, insufficient time, and lack of quality, start working early.
Prepare your lunch the night before
Prepare your lunch the night before, like when you work in person.
Of course, one of the significant benefits of telecommuting may be the consumption of freshly cooked food. So if you insist on preparing your food on the same day, do the preliminary work the night before. For example, pre-cook meat and fry eggplant to take less time.
You can also eat a light meal at noon and transfer the whole meal to the night.
Pretend you are going to work
Wear appropriate clothing when working – but not a suit. Work behind the desk and do not lie on the bed. Consider a separate part of the home as your office and just work inside it. Go outside to relax and unwind. Make sure others do not interfere with your work hours and do not call you as much as possible.
Do not scroll through social media while working.
You might think that a glance at social media is not harmful. But you may see an important message or anything else that wastes your time. When you come to your senses, you see that you have lost a lot of time and have not yet worked with high productivity.
Furthermore:
- Postpone your personal calls out of your working hours.
- Have specific and calculated rest periods and do not get up from work unnecessarily and repeatedly.
- Avoid turning on the TV, radio, and the like when working.
Tips for managers to increase teleworkers’ productivity
Managers play an essential role in increasing remote workers’ productivity.
One of the most important things to do here is to provide clear and comprehensive work criteria. These procedure rules are like a bylaw that takes into account the various details of the work.
Read more:
Among the details that should be mentioned in these working rules are the following:
Setting time for providing outputs
Teleworking usually means not only flexibility in the workplace but also flexibility in working hours. But setting specific working hours (for employees in the same time zone) can have a significant impact on the organization of tasks. This does not necessarily mean that you have to fix an exact start and end time, but a time can be set to provide the final output each day. However, some telecommuting jobs, such as customer support, have particular working hours that all remote workers have to fix their time with.
A daily reporting schedule
A daily reporting schedule can play an important role in getting things done. In this regard, managers can provide special reporting formats to the forces according to their work type.
However, depending on their type of work, some jobs may set specific start and end times and, in addition to the final job report, they may have a step-by-step, or gradual job report.
Determining infrastructure issues
Determining infrastructure issues also plays a vital role in increasing productivity while telecommuting. Some organizations may provide special equipment such as PCs or laptops, headphones, and modems for the telecommuting team.
The remote worker may also pay for the internet and equipment and provide the prices as an invoice. However, defining these mechanisms contributes to higher work efficiency.
Determining software tools
Determining software tools is another critical issue that organization managers should consider. Identifying project management tools, communications, attendance systems, and other items and, of course, the rules for using them will help to increase order and thus productivity while telecommuting.
Express demand transparently
The manager should clearly describe the organization’s demands and needs. Lack of face-to-face communication may cause the employer to fail to articulate precise demands, conditions, and explanations. Therefore, it is strongly recommended that the employer and related managers make their expectations written along with detailed work schedules.
Develop a detailed communication protocol
Developing a precise communication protocol is essential for the internal and external interactions of the telework force. Determining hardware and software tools, user accounts, when and how to respond, and other items significantly impact forces’ productivity and increase the parties’ job satisfaction.
Identify specific solutions to articulate problems and challenges.
Determining specific solutions to articulate problems and challenges is one of the most critical issues that can increase work productivity.
One of the issues that telecommuters often complain about is the terse and orderly relationship with the employer.
However, like those in the office, telecommuters need to have two-way interactions with the employer and be able to talk about their problems, challenges, and needs. Having a close and two-way relationship will help improve working relationships and increase productivity.
Hiring capable employees
Employers should be aware that telecommuting does not mean hiring cheap labor. Therefore, to get quality output at the right time, a capable workforce must be employed. However, cooperating with such people is not cheap.
Hiring remote workers, in turn, eliminates some costs from the organization and makes the organization capable to provide a better financial offer to skilled and capable workers.
Hiring cheap workers and not taking telecommuting seriously will ultimately lead to employer dissatisfaction. You should not forget that the tasks entrusted to remote workers are not necessarily banal.
Today, telecommuters are one of the most critical players incorporating projects. The removal of a capable telecommuter from the project or the presence of a disabled telecommuter in a project may lead to the entire project’s failure.
SOJECTS helps you hire the most capable employees you need for your project. Contact us through the site.
