Working from home can be a big benefit to employees, offering them flexibility and freedom to take charge of their own time.
However, it is not easy to transition from working in an office to becoming a remote worker. There are challenges that perhaps don’t seem obvious at first glance.
Our article entitled ‘Work From Home – Seven Simple Steps to Ensure Success’ explains tips on how to successfully work from home, but how do you arrive comfortably as a remote worker to take that advice?
We’ve put together some top tips to consider during the transition to remote working, tips which will remain relevant if you’re to thrive away from the office.
Stay Active
Smash Your To Do List rates inactivity as one of the biggest drawbacks when working from home. Without a commute and having an office or desk in your home, you can lose thousands of steps per day.
It’s important to make sure you add activities into your day. Walking a dog is a good start, or even buying a watch to track your steps and hitting a daily target. Make sure you take plenty of breaks from your desk and maybe even schedule a post-work workout as well.
Have a Working Space
As a remote worker, you won’t be able to just sit on your couch all day replying to emails; you need to separate the working space from the living space as much as possible. One of the secrets to being productive when you work from home is having a dedicated workspace.
Make it somewhere away from the main house if possible, in a room that can be closed off at the end of the day. A danger of remote working is a tendency to not shut off, something a dedicated working space can help to manage.
Work Out of Home Periodically
Coworking spaces have blown up around the globe recently, with flexible workers still looking to enter spaces with other people to do their jobs. Queensland Uncovered recently demonstrated their popularity with a list of 10 on the Gold Coast, but they’re becoming popular across not only Australia but the whole world.
Case in point: Industrious notes how even in big cities like Chicago, businesses are turning to the flexibility and convenience of coworking spaces to meet their needs. Lisbon, Portugal is becoming something of a coworking mecca too, with digital nomads setting up home there due to its reputation as a coworking hotspot. Find a space near you and make sure you’re there every so often to help make remote working more social and varied.
Establish a Routine
It is tempting to keep the flexibility remote working offers you at the core of your working day, but in order to be most effective, it is advisable to set yourself a routine.
It will help you with time management and ensure that being at home isn’t a distraction. It is easy, in weaker moments, to turn away from the office and into your home for a few moments, but in having a set routine to stick to you can increase your productivity.
Make sure you have a morning routine too, much like leaving the house for a commute. It will help establish boundaries for you to work within.
Never Take it for Granted
There are many things that contribute to becoming a successful work-from-home employee. The transition is not always easy, but – over time – the benefits can far outweigh any initial challenges.
As more companies accommodate employees who wish to forego the hassles of working in a typical office environment, remote work has become an easy and viable option.
If you work from home, then you have reason to be grateful. Sometimes, the greatest benefits of working-from-home come from the small, precious respites you get from time to time. There is also the ability to be flexible for family and loved ones.
That’s saying a lot.
