I have been working from home for some time now and find it a fulfilling option. I take care though to follow some clear guidelines, which make my job all the easier.
So what are the guidelines to follow when you work from home? While there will be a lot of flexibility afforded to you, there will also be some unexpected pitfalls in the home setting. From planning and scheduling your work, to getting your workplace ready, and preparing your body and mind for the tasks at hand. Easy to follow guidelines are outlined below.
Step by step guidelines to work from home
Combat boredom
One of the aspects of working from home is certainly the tedium of working alone. A very long work day can kill enthusiasm even in the most dedicated worker. Prolonged stints of loneliness and depression are sure to affect your productivity and approach to work. This is not good, neither for you nor for the people you work with. Try these to remain productive.
- Schedule well. You have to reward yourself occasionally to bring out the best in you. Plan your day in a manner that your ‘to-do’ list includes a fun activity. Grab a coffee with a friend.
- Plan well. Work needs to be planned. At times the sheer monotony of work leads one to put off something again and again. This could very well eat into your family time or keep you up unnecessarily at nights.
- Move your work around. Do not sit around in the same place day in and day out. Change positions, go to another room or go outside to get a new feel ever so often.
- Make a routine. Working to a routine helps in planning out your work and mixing it up cleverly. A little work, a bit of break, and then back to work gets you rejuvenated. Sticking to a routine is very comforting especially on days when the workload is heavy.
- Break the routine. This does seem contradictory, coming right after telling you to make a routine. What we mean here is to get one up on that very clever mind of yours. The moment your mind knows it is expected to follow a fixed routine, and that there is a break coming up after exactly a certain period of work, it will begin to rebel. It is so easy to get bored. Trick your mind by doing something completely unexpected, and break the routine at times. It will be a rewarding change, as long as it does not become a habit or eat up into your work time.
- Household chores. Keep doing your chores in between work. This not only helps break the monotony of your work, but your chores also get done. It is inevitable that a ‘to do’ list builds up in a house over a day’s time. The more these are relegated to the back burner, the worse it is to catch up on the jobs due. Utilize these chores to break up the mundane nature of your work at times.
Workspace readiness
The place or space where you will spend a long part of each day needs to be chosen and designed with care and equipped well to help bring out the best in you. You need to feel a certain level of comfort when you think of going back to work every day.
- Look after ergonomics. Given the long hours that working from home can demand, you need to put in some thought into the comfort of your workspace. This is a space you will be spending a long time at. Make sure the ergonomics allow comfort and support. The room that you choose to work in should ideally be designed such that all that you need for work is easily accessible and within arm’s reach for you. It helps to have an airy and cheerful place.
- Check your connectivity. Depending on the nature of your work, it may require you to browse the internet at a certain speed, or you might need some extra attachments for your work. All your wires and connections and cables and routers need to be at hand for you to be able to access easily. These need to be systematically tied, labeled and sorted so that they become easily retrievable and repairable if needed.
- Software and hardware. Make sure your hardware and software are updated and in keeping with the needs of your work. This will save you the hassle of handling any kind of emergency that might show up with malfunctioning hardware or software. This is because when you are on your own in a home setting, technical support is lacking in the sense there is no real person around except yourself to handle and solve such situations.
- Share space. Working from home for long periods with no human interaction often leads to serious issues with loneliness. This can go to the extent of turning into a depression. We are social beings after all. Craving for a human presence is only natural for us. This is where social networking helps. Try and connect with other people in your area who might be working from home as well. It often happens that they too might be looking for someone to share space and resources with. Once you find a like-minded soul, you have not only the comfort of working from home but the ‘real’ presence of another person next to you.
Where Should I Put my Home Office Desk?
Look after yourself well
You will function at your best when you take care of yourself physically as well as mentally. There are many aspects to well being, and addressing those will only ensure that you remain in best condition.
- Take breaks – This is of utmost importance and vital to keeping yourself fit and fresh to work long hours. Set yourself a strict timer to physically get up and move away from your desk.
- Get exercise – How long can you sit? It is neither physically advisable nor desirable to sit for sustained periods of the day. Utilize one of your breaks to necessarily take a walk, stretch, and get all joints moving.
- Find peer groups – Use social media networking tools to get to know people locally who are also working from home. You can share with them the joys and challenges of working from home.
- Interact – Use various platforms of social media and maintain regular interaction with your supervisor and other people at work. This way you not only keep them updated on the progress of your work but also keep yourself relevant to them.
- Socialize – It is mandatory that you keep in touch with ‘real’ people and not only the virtual or online presences. This is for your own sanity and well being. Go out, get talking, laugh, share a meal, do shopping, or watch a movie. These interactions can be scheduled into a work week.
- Choose real people over virtual. Working from home generally means working online. So much of the day is spent virtually and having minimal human contact. Consciously seek out people, in or out of work, preferably the latter, with whom you can talk about different things and interests.
Why is an Exercise Routine Important when working from Home?
Do not shelve your hobbies or interests
Remember that everyone needs a life outside of work. The saying “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy” maybe clichéd but is very true. Work is what maintains you but your hobbies are what sustain you.
- Go out with your pet – If you have pets at home, make sure you spend time with them, not just as part of ‘duty’ but to enjoy their company. The way pets respond to love and care is very gratifying.
- Pursue the arts – The time spent indulging yourself in your favorite hobby is very therapeutic and a welcome change from your routine work. If you have not given this a thought earlier, now is the time. It is actually needed to have a life out of ‘work’ and do something that will be soul food. If that means dabbling with a paintbrush or a chisel and saw and creating something, anything, it is very rewarding.
- Sneak in a few pages of reading – In between work or after, take time out to catch up on some reading if that is something you like to do. You can also take a peek into the latest ‘must read’ lists while you are taking a break from work. Make a note of the most popular reads and then catch up on them in your ‘me’ time.
- Plan a trip, virtually or real-time – Indulge in your love for travel by planning a vacation. Whether you actually get down to taking a break or not is immaterial. The planning part of it is equally enjoyable. Plan it in detail online and then indulge once you are ready to take off of work.
- Music – The ultimate source of relaxation for many people, use music to feed the soul.Whether it is taking a break, or just as a habit, plug in those earphones or let your speakers blare, take a rejuvenating nap or dance away your stress. If you are so inclined, you must make time to learn to play some instrument too.
Looking at the bigger picture
Are workflow and timely payment assured?
Most established workplaces score high on this front and there are generally no complaints. However, with smaller establishments or start-ups, this could be an issue at times. It would be wrong to generalize anything at all, and you actually never know until you actually get down to doing it. It is always better to do your own bit of online investigation and going through reviews and interacting with real people before taking a final call. Although consumer grievance and redressal systems exist, that is not a desirable route to take. Instead, it is better to do a thorough background check and then commit.
What if you want to move back to an office setting?
After working a stint from home, it happens at times that one feels like going back to on-site work, craving the human interaction and the vibes. However, if you are home-bound for a long time, it can make the transition a bit tough. After all, an office setting requires certain formalities, not only in attire but also in attitude and carriage. Though not always easy or smooth, this is never impossible. All it takes is a bit of discipline and a strong will.
How well does work from home work out?
Working from home has its advantages for sure, which is why an increasing number of people are leaning towards this option in recent times. Flexibility is the keyword that is peddled the strongest when advocating its positives. This is basically its biggest USP, and truly so. However, like in an office setting, even working from home requires one to exercise a certain discipline in order to make the most of the situation. You need to be clear in your mind as to the bigger picture and take it all in.
- You get to be around for the house and family.
- You get to work in your pajamas (if you wish to)
- You can enjoy the flexibility of hours as long as you stick to turn around time.
- You can indulge in your hobbies and other leisure activities in between work.
- You can grab a coffee or snack whenever you feel like, even at the risk of going overboard.
Branching out with acquired skill sets
As you keep working online and gradually master the nuances of the job, you will pick up lots of related skills on the way. Be it directly related to work or branching out to utilizing more appropriate software to do the same job more effectively, or learning from management how ‘not to manage’ the team and hence polishing up your people skills, you will find yourself gaining from this experience. Often it is a matter of time and waiting for the right opportunity to come about to go to this next level. It is always advisable therefore to go into every job with an open mind and to keep learning. The social circle that you build up during this time will come in handy for networking purposes if indeed you have the skills to begin some new venture of your own.
Work from home can lead to tedium and extreme loneliness at times. Use these guidelines to lift yourself when you begin to feel the blues. The possibilities are endless. One only needs to look at the positives and work one’s way around the cons. And then, you can always consider going back on-site.