Working from home and not die trying – DEFINITIVE GUIDE
Teleworking has exploded. While we understand why it is a necessity, it is not always easy. So here’s some working from home tips to better manage the situation and avoid many pitfalls.
Working from home – What is it?
Working from home tips: WFH (Working From Home) is a flexible way of organizing work. In other words, it is the performance of the professional activity of a worker without the need for physical presence in the company’s own offices or facilities.
In this case, the activity implies the use of new information and communication technologies that allow them to carry out their usual work from any location.
This modality can increase satisfaction and productivity, but it does not work in the same way for everyone. Therefore, it is important to give workers the option of choosing the modality of teleworking or face-to-face work.
But what is the current problem?
Measures to contain COVID-19 require working from home without prior notice and without drills. So it is important to follow a series of guidelines to maintain productivity and above all, maintain sanity.
Perhaps many of you are used to working this way, especially in the translation sector, this work methodology is very common. But even so, for many this situation is completely new and they do not know how to deal with it.
Working from home tips – Benefits for the Employee
Flexible schedule
The management of work and rest time according to your productivity levels allows you to organize yourself as you want to obtain a better work performance.
Geographic flexibility
Teleworking allows you to improve your workspace and choose the most suitable one for you. In this sense, there are many people who work better from home, or simply work from a different city. What is the important? Get to know yourself to know where you are most productive, have a computer and an Internet connection.
Saving time and money
We know that to work we have to move and in most cases this is a significant waste of time, time that we could dedicate to other aspects of our lives.
These trips, obviously, require an investment of money that we can save whether we use public transport as a private vehicle. The important thing is that your pocket, your health and the environment will thank you.
Work and family conciliation
With the aforementioned time savings, you can afford to spend that time in your family environment.
Greater autonomy
It is probably the most obvious advantage, since the autonomy and participation of workers in decision-making drive innovation, empowerment and work performance.
Working from home tips – Benefits for the Company
Increased productivity
If you implement work from home in conjunction with a new goal-tracking policy, surely workers will meet them in a much more efficient way. They are the ones who manage their time and know when they are most productive.
Saving Money
For the company, this type of work allows savings in costs, space and furniture.
Increased satisfaction
It is clear that working from home has many benefits for employees that reinforce their motivation and commitment. This is a great reason why the degree of satisfaction of the contractual conditions increases, while improving the commitment and valuation of the company.
Reduction in Absenteeism
It is logical that even if you work from home, you have to meet objectives, so teleworking allows you to regulate your time and as it gives you that flexibility.
Technological innovation
Unfortunately, not all companies or sectors can afford working from home either by investment or by the type of activity they carry out.
To implement it, it is important that the company adopts technological innovations. Good communication channels with the rest of the team, equipment and Internet connection are necessary.
Greater Reach to Professionals
Have greater access to professionals who, initially for personal or work reasons, cannot travel to their office but can work from home. This option offers the Human Resources Department a greater range of professionals within reach.
Working from home tips – Keys to Approach Teleworking and Not Die Trying
Overnight telecommuting has become a challenge for many of us. But what is the real challenge?
The ideal place for working from home is a special room in your house. You can use an outdoor office with natural light, a desk with all the organized and necessary material and an ergonomic chair that protects your back.
You might think that your home does not have a room that enables to work from home when you can adapt to this situation.
Your goal will be to scratch square metres from anywhere, be it a terrace or a hallway. The question is to prepare a place of approximately two metres by two metres, the ideal and standard measure necessary for teleworking.
What are the determining factors when choosing your workspace?
The lighting will be the determining factor while a challenge because in most cases it is difficult to find a space with natural light.
The natural light favours productivity. The recommendation is that the space must be oriented north to have a balanced light and thus avoid reflections.
As for the furniture, you have to be just as strict. In the end, you will spend eight hours in a chair so it is important to take care of your back and your cervical.
Choose an approved ergonomic chair that allows certain regulations to adapt to your height and inclination. You have no such chair? Don’t worry. The first days you can settle for any chair that is available in your home, but it won’t take long for you to have muscle aches. So, you can already anticipate these ailments and order a suitable chair for this situation.
No less important is the work table, which is recommended to have a height of approximately 80 centimetres and a length depending on the space and the use you give it.
You like glass tables, right? It is also an incredible decorative element for us, but for working from home it is not good since shiny materials reflect and can cause unnecessary glare.
Some of you will believe that you have already finished conditioning your workspace but you are missing some key elements that are not usually taken into account. Customizing your workplace is important to feel that you are part of it and to give it a touch of warmth, but how?
A simple plant, photo frame or a board with memories placed in a strategic place that does not get in the way and that provides a bit of freedom and warmth will make your workday a little more bearable.
The order of everything that makes up your space can help you overcome all those psychological effects of confinement. It is more than proven that disorder negatively influences performance and mood with which we face work.
An orderly workspace is an orderly mind.
Now if you have an incredible workspace to telecommute!
Maintaining productivity without going to the office or production centre cannot be improvized. It sounds like a cliché, but if we don’t establish a routine we won’t know how to organize our time.
Many of you believe that you can telecommute without first establishing a clear and concise routine. It may be somewhat easier for those who already have experience working from home but the inexperienced or newbie will have the feeling of being on vacation or on a day off. Error!
Since there is no one to “watch”, for many, time management can be a difficult task to control, so the important thing is to set strict schedules and habits just as you would in the office.
It is clear that the flexibility that working from home offers you is much greater and there is no fixed pattern to follow to establish a routine and schedules since it depends on the type of work, personalities and circumstances of each one.
Growing up is establishing routine as a healthy habit.
The ideal is to start studying the spaces of time:
- Schedule to start and end the working day. Working from home does not mean being available 24 hours a day.
- The hours in which you will have more silence and solitude to be able to carry out those tasks that require more concentration.
- The most productive moment of the day adapted to the normal schedule of the company.
- The ideal times for videoconferences or virtual meetings.
- The hours that we will dedicate to more dynamic tasks such as answering calls or answering emails.
- The pause times to take breaks.
In order to make the established routine a healthy habit, you should set daily and weekly goals according to the project you are currently on. Remember that the achievement of these objectives and the achievement of success depends on your work being properly executed.
Another one of those working from home tips: Let’s be honest, we know that the biggest benefit of working from home is that we can do it in our pyjamas. It is difficult to get rid of this comfortable garment while at home so we have to take advantage of these circumstances to put on more formal and comfortable clothes.
According to experts, if you are able to follow the routine of taking a shower, having breakfast and putting on comfortable clothes, you will feel much more agile and receptive to approach the workday successfully.
Be careful, it is not about dressing in tight jeans, a suit jacket or a dress to work from home. It consists of choosing a style to adapt it every day, that is, if in the end you choose a very comfortable and elegant set such as a sweatshirt and leggings, do not make it your work uniform because not every day is the same, and the way in which we dress can help us approach the day with energy and positivity.
Face the day by telling your mind and body that you are working.
Dressing professionally makes us adopt a different mental state to feel more present and increase our level of dedication and commitment.
- Look for comfortable looks
The ‘comfy’ sets are in fashion so do not hesitate to use these wonderful garments combining them with other more sophisticated garments to have a total office look.
- Footwear is important
You’re at home, why wear shoes? You might think you can put any type of shoe if you are going to be at home. It turns out that if you only use specific shoes (sleepers!), they will take over you in such a way that, you will constantly have the feeling of ‘being thrown’ even if you are properly groomed and dressed.
- Comb your hair
Are you one of those who don’t even look in the mirror when they telecommute?
Indeed there is a multitude of quick hairstyles with which you look favoured without falling into the trap of neglecting this aspect with the crazy hair of just raised.
- Get dressed up for meetings
If you do not leave home, what better way to take advantage of virtual meetings or conferences to fix them a little more and thus, embroider it.
Video hookups are proven to help form relationships, and if you’re not dressed appropriately, you could be sending the wrong message.
- Brings a little colour
There are many days when you wake up with discouragement and negativity, so a good colourful garment will make you see the day from another perspective.
- Care for your skin
It is useless if we take care of our entire appearance if we do not take into account our skin. Many of us do not have terraces or balconies so that the sun can give us a little vitamin D, so it is important to take care of your skin from day one.
Establish a facial care routine if you haven’t done it before, or improve it if you already did. For those women who use makeup, it may be time to let your skin breathe and use only a basic and fluid makeup.
- Forget about the fridge!
The gastronomic offer at home is too wide so, stop there! Establish schedules to get up to peck and not run the risk of constantly losing focus. Along the same lines, your daily meal schedule must be the same to know how to organize and plan your workday based on the fixed breaks that you have established.
- Be responsible and do your daily work!
The current pandemic situation forces French companies to implement working from home. Thanks to broadband connections and new technologies, teleworking has become a common practice in many companies. But many people cannot do this type of work due to the high investment it entails or due to the type of activity. Discipline, discipline!
Make technological resources become your greatest ally.
The point is that not all existing companies are prepared nor are many. This depends on your business culture.
Beyond the usual telephone and email resources, those instant messaging and videoconferencing services in practice are very useful to establish daily or weekly meetings as if they were face-to-face.
What are the aspects to take into account?
Technological means
Without a device available on which to carry out your professional activity, working from home will not make sense. In no case, this situation will force employees to have to put the necessary technological resources out of their own pockets.
If employees do not have the necessary technological means, it should be the company that offers solutions.
Connected to a network
Working from home tips: Teleworking implies carrying out your work activity via an Internet connection. Therefore, cybersecurity is a crucial element. It is clear that cybercriminals will take advantage of this high volume situation of connected people to steal confidential information and impersonate identities.
Large companies that are used to this way of working know the protocols and encrypt their connections to avoid these events.
It is not a question of large, medium or small companies, but a global question that each and every businessperson must apply to ensure that all information is protected.
If you are reading this, it is surely your case and you want some indications to help you cope.
The harsh reality is that you have to arm yourself with patience, be organized and enhance the capacity for abstraction because you will have many moments of great frustration, anxiety and overwhelm.
Working from home tips: Working with your little ones
Sleeping hours
Another one of those working from home tips: It is important that the company you work for knows what your working conditions are, so the threshold of demand for your work activity be adapted to your situation.
We know that there are so many very repetitive tips on how to work from home that perhaps with little monsters hanging around the house are not feasible. Therefore, we know that there are no infallible solutions or correct answers that will help you better cope with this situation, but you can adapt these working from home tips to optimize your time and entertain your children.
Planning the workday and establishing a work routine seems like an easy task when you are not in charge of children who need constant attention.
When you have these little ones hanging around all the corners of the house and wanting to capture your attention, you understand that they are the ones who will set your schedules. Therefore, the best way to be productive and advance at work is to take advantage of those hours of the day when the little ones are relaxed. When we talk about these moments, we refer to the first hours of the day, at noon and at night because they coincide with their hours of sleep.
Perform physical exercise
Your main mission will be to tire them and an infallible way, knowing that children have tireless vitality and energy, is physical exercise.
Establish a routine adapted to the age of your children in which the whole family is involved to unite and make you disconnect. Physical exercise will compensate for passive entertainment to control the characteristic agitation of children.
Develop long-lasting activities
If you have children, you will know how intense they are because they demand constant attention and this, on many occasions, is a complicated task.
One of the solutions that works the most is to put your creativity and imagination to work to send your children long-lasting activities that they can do individually.
In this sense, there are many interactive games, online courses and others that help improve your children’s skills and help you get extra time to dedicate to your workday.
Do homework together
One of the things schools have done well is to put a significant burden of homework on children.
Homework time is a time that requires silence and attention, so while doing school work, we can take care of those professional tasks that do not require great concentration.
You will wonder why it is better to perform professional tasks that do not require great attention and the answer is that although they have tasks that they must carry out on their own, they have many doubts and you should try to solve them at the moment.
Assign them responsibilities
How many times have we told our parents that we are bored and they made us clean our room?
You might think that it is a way to exploit them and that they carry out your own tasks, but for them it will be a way to feel useful and combat boredom with it.
Assigning them daily household chores like cleaning, cooking or tidying the house will make them feel older and responsible. It is not only about developing general tasks, but about learning to be independent and for them to start making their bed, making breakfast, getting dressed, etc.
Working from home tips – Conclusion
With the explosion of the information superhighways and the Internet, and the COVID situation, working from home has become a full-fledged job, highly appreciated by companies as well as employees or self-employed workers. Overall, teleworking presents a positive result, because if we look at it objectively, many of the advantages are major points for each of the stakeholders concerned. For the organization, the fact of increasing productivity is a direction to focus on. For the employee, the arguments are also strong. In fact, it is by establishing its objectives and priorities that the organization can determine whether teleworking is beneficial or not. Same for the employee!
