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Throughout the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, many members of the workforce came to discover the advantages of working from home. Not having to deal with congested commutes, complex office politics and other undesirable aspects of the workplace experience proved to be a breath of fresh air for millions of workers. In fact, some of us would sooner quit our jobs than return to traditional workplaces. While working remotely certainly has its fair share of benefits, it can also be a big adjustment for people who have grown accustomed to the structure of regular offices. If this describes your situation, the following tips can help ensure your success while operating from home.
Give Yourself Set Work Hours
Although some business owners are afraid that working from home will hinder productivity, the opposite is often true. Instead of taking it easy, many people tend to work harder when operating remotely. Since the lines between work time and leisure time can become blurred. When your residence is also your workplace, it’s important that you learn to balance both. Despite the many cumbersome aspects of working in a traditional office. Some of us thrive on the structure found in such environments.
In the absence of said structure, people tend to overwork themselves. To nip this in the bud, you’ll need to create your own sense of structure. For one thing, this entails giving yourself set work hours. Outside of rare exceptions, the average workday should begin at a certain time and end at a certain time. This will make it easier to distinguish between work hours and personal time. And help prevent you from succumbing to burnout.
Create a Designated Workspace
Another way to draw a clear line between work time and leisure time is the creation of a designated workspace. Spending your work hours inhabiting this space can be a great way to simulate the traditional workplace experience. Albeit it on a much smaller scale. If you already have a functional home office, you’re all set. However, if you lack the space for one, you may need to get a bit creative.
For example, if there are any areas of your home that are used sparingly, consider utilizing them for work purposes. Large closets, guest rooms and wide-open hallway spaces are just a few potential locations for a makeshift home office.
Seek to Minimize Distractions
When working from home, you’re liable to encounter a fair number of distractions. For example, engaging in leisurely activities like online shopping or social media browsing is liable to land you in trouble at the office. However, indulging in such distractions from the comfort of home is consequence-free. While you may not receive a reprimand from your boss, constantly giving in to distractions stands to hamper productivity and make the workday last even longer.
With this in mind, you should seek to minimize distractions in your workspace. Among other things, this means facing your desk away from any nearby televisions, imposing browser limitations on yourself, and limiting the types of personal calls and texts you respond to. Granted, if you’re not someone who’s easily distracted, some of these measures may not be necessary.
Tend to Your Mental Health
Regardless of whether you’re working at the office or from the comfort of home, staying on top of mental health issues should be among your foremost priorities. Even when done remotely, working can be a deeply stressful experience, so if you regularly find yourself consumed by job-related stress, don’t hesitate to reach out to a highly-rated therapist, counselor, or other mental health professional.
Just as you can work from home, so too can you attend therapy sessions. For example, people who reside in the Big Apple can easily find online therapy in New York.
There’s little wonder as to why so many members of the workforce prefer working remotely to reporting to an office. After all, a significant portion of work-related stress can be directly attributed to workplaces themselves. Although a sizable number of companies used to balk at the idea of remote work, the COVID-19 pandemic helped bring many of them around on the subject. Whether you’ve been operating from home for the last year or have only recently started working remotely, the tips discussed above can help make this endeavor a successful one.
