How To Work From Home Easily

Why is it essential to work from home now?

As soon as the coronavirus cases started to rise, countries all over the world went into severe lockdown. Companies had already got used to working from home easily when Coronavirus cases rose up until the third wave hit the world. 

Government regulators made it mandatory for the companies to roll out work from home policy and ensure that their workers are safe and do not contract COVID.

Google, PWC, Microsoft, Unilever, and many other companies are all taking preventive measures during the pandemic. Work from home is not a luxury but more of a need now. 

Schools, Universities, offices, and all academics having being closed brought families together in their homes. Although there are many benefits of being under the same roof, these have also given rise to a number of suicides, psychiatric consultations, psychological impacts, and a decrease in the productivity of individuals working from home.  

This is because human beings are designed to be socially active. We are made in a way in which we crave human presence physically. Until the coronavirus hit, we never cared and valued enough about the luxury of being socially and physically active.

Work from home switched from being a luxury to being emotionally challenging. This is mainly because children interrupt the parents during working hours, or the challenges of balancing the home and work life take a toll. 

But not anymore as we have compiled a few tips to work from home easily.

Tips for working from Home

Invest in great furniture

To work from home easily, we forget that we do not have the luxury of good furniture we are habitual of using in our offices. We should invest in Office chairs, desks, and other office furniture to be able to complete our work free of physical pains such as backache, headache, and foot aches.

You can also invest in standing furniture so that you may not lose your energy. Sitting all day in front of the screens working may cause medical damage. Using a standing desk can aid in decreasing the pains around the body due to bad postures while working from home. Although, this does not necessarily mean that a person may just stand the entire day. You can move around the house or just walk to a nearby store while on breaks.

Have a walk

When you are on a phone call that does not require you to sit in front of the computer, you can use your headphones or AirPods while you have a conversation. Moving around often is the best remedy not to feel tired. Also, it is the best exercise to keep the heart healthy and pumping while you work from home!

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Check out the new Airpods Max Apple just released!

Utilize your weekends to stock up on groceries and meal preps

We get so much caught up on our work while working from home that we forget our basic needs, such as filling our stomachs. This causes us to snack on unhealthy foods, ordering outside, or just stuffing ourselves with water. 

This is why it is best to go grocery shopping on the weekends. After you are done grocery shopping, make meal preps. Stock your fridge with fresh-cut vegetables and fruits, hard-boiled eggs, proteins such as chicken, fish, salmon, and whatever you may like to work from home easily. You can get amazing recipes to boost your brain productivity here.

Implement ROWE- Results in Only Work Environment

Many businesses have implemented the ROWE mindset, which stands for Results-Only Work Environment. This is a strategy that does not count on the working hours but rather is result-oriented.

Focusing on just results rather than working hours creates a friendly environment amongst the workers and the managers. This strategy also ensures that the majority of the concerns of the managers have been addressed regarding the productivity of employees. ROWE encourages employees to work from home easily. 

Go with the flow 

Companies and Training programs have been teaching employees to go with the flow while they work from home. Not every day will be extremely productive, and not every day will be a waste. You are forcing yourself to be productive when you cannot produce results. It is better to stay free of any stress while you know you cannot be productive. And whether it’s 3 in the morning or 2 in the afternoon, if you think you can deliver the best outcome in a short period of time, that’s when you should start working. 

Take Occasional breaks

When we work from home, we feel obliged to work continuously without breaks. But we forget that we get tired faster and more often when we do not take breaks. Small breaks increase productivity. A study was conducted on social media regarding employees who work from home. Their productivity was analyzed, and the employees who worked for 50 to 52 minutes and took 15 to 20 minutes break were found to be the most productive. 

While the employees were on a break, they did simple things such as going for a walk,  looking out the window, watering the plants, or reading a magazine. Anything that will boost your energy and kick starts your mind’s productivity again. 

Keep your work handy, especially if you are a writer!

Family members can change the schedule and activities more than you can realize. This is why, CEO of MIRO, a platform for collaborating teams, says that you should have multiple devices where your work is integrated into one. This allows you to be flexible while working. Such as a writer said, “When I am tired from writing and sitting all day in front of the computer, I simply open Google Docs on my Mobile phone and start writing while I lay in bed. My ideas are prompt, and I need to write them down to be able to keep them handy. And nothing suits me better than keeping my work handy!” 

Some of the apps that can be used while you work from home are

1. Evernote
2. Google Suite
3. Outlook
4. Miro 
5. Zoom/Google Meet
6. Hangouts

Have a friendly work environment

Having a friendly work environment while you work from home is crucial for human nature. Humans crave friends and families and especially amid CoronaVirus when everyone is asked to social distance to stay Virus-free. Creating a joyful environment allows you to be lucky to work with a team that is great, and you connect well that you become friends. Make sure to Joke around, send memes and create GIFs and Live chat/Video when you watch your favorite programs together. Create Clubs for the families too, such as book clubs, Video playdates, Employees with kids and without kids clubs. This will not only help you to not fall into depression during the lockdown but also create strong bonds.

Here’s how you can be positive at work 

Dress up for your work

Even when you know you will not be interacting with other people all day, it is still very important to dress up for success when you work from home. This means that you take a shower first thing in the morning and dress up. While you think sweatpants and a T-shirt will be better and you may feel comfortable, but you might also feel unmotivated and sleepy. 

It is a great opportunity to get a test drive to your new outfit- Risk-Free!

And if you can not motivate yourself to be ready in the morning. Try deciding what you’ll wear the night before.

Inspire yourself to be motivated

When you work from home, you are less likely to annoy your colleagues while you pump up the jams. And if this inspires you to be productive, don’t hesitate and turn the sound on ( but make sure your neighbors are not disturbed). You can play instruments or natural sounds such as birds chirping or rain sounds. 

You can even put on songs that play pure inspiration. And if you are not really in the mood, you can always keep the window open to breathe in the fresh air and hear the sounds of the outside world. 

You may also listen to audiobooks or podcasts that will keep you motivated.

Clean up your own mess

Apart from the workplace, there is no janitor to clean up after you, and this means that you should do it yourself. When you keep your office clean when you work from home, it allows you to remain centered, organized, and moreover, efficient. Even when you are not bothered by the dirty and cluttered desk, you should maintain your desk so that nothing gets lost under the pile of papers.
This not only applies to your home office but also to keep your house clean. A clean house encourages healthy habits and ticks off the to-do list. A clean house also increases your productivity because when our mind sees a mess, it messes up our productivity.

When you work from home, it provides you flexibility and the liberty to choose and adopt habits that are healthy while you remain productive.

Apps such as Zoom, Google Suite, Slack will help us continue to work as a team and be sure to keep us connected with our loved ones. We hope and pray that the Pandemic ends soon and we can all go back to our lives where we can meet and hug each other. And that work from home is an option but not a necessity.