The current COVID 19 pandemic has been keeping people in their homes for almost 6 months now. Companies have drafted and implemented their remote work policies with a major chunk of their workforce working from home. Remote work is no longer the future of work, but the present work scenario. It is the new normal with no clear end in sight for millions of professionals around the globe. It is easy to imagine that remote work is easy and fun. You may think that working remotely is easier than working in offices. But for first-timers, by now the novelty of working from homes is definitely wearing off. Maintaining a remote work routine can be hard. So, in this article, we are going to go through some awesome tips on how you can switch up your remote work routine for a perfect work-life balance.
Why Is It Important To Switch Up Your Remote Work Routine?
The current times are pretty challenging and full of uncertainties. If you’re working from home or even going into work as the world unlocks, you might definitely have felt fear, anxiety, or stress about the current situation. So, being a happy and productive employee seems harder than before. Working remotely definitely has its perks with the assurance of safety, but here, loneliness and disconnectivity kick in. The data from Buffer’s The 2020 State Of Remote Work shows this clearly. According to this report communication and loneliness are the most common challenges faced by remote workers. So, clearly managing mental health has become a major issue for remote employees from all over the world.
Working remotely seems sweet but it has its own challenges. Apart from deteriorating mental health, maintaining a work-life balance is a challenge too. You may have your kids, your attention-seeking pets, or even your noisy neighbors keeping you from working.
Working from home is going to be the new normal for a couple of months. But, the same daily work from home can be monotonous and boring. It can cause a lack of focus, and eventually low productivity. So, it becomes extremely critical to maintain a balance and switch up your remote work routine to keep up. We have put together some awesome tips for you to rock your remote working experience.
Create A Dedicated Office Space
While working remotely, you may think that you can sit anywhere in your home and work. You may not have a dedicated space in your house for working. But you’ll be committing a huge mistake if you take creating your workspace lightly. You need to ensure that you have created a functional workspace within your home where you’re comfortable and happy. Invest your time and money in decorating your home office space and make it inspiring to work in. Tweak it with simple add-ins like a comfortable chair, better lighting, an office plant maybe. These small changes will make your remote work experience more enjoyable and productive.
Get An Early Start
This crisis has taught us one thing and that is the old way of living is the best. It’s time to go back to the ‘early to bed, early to rise’ lifestyle. Waking up in the morning and inhaling some fresh morning air brings a lot of positivity to the whole day. Wake up early, meditate, do some yoga, grab a cup of coffee, and plan your whole day. It’s definitely going to be tough for a few days, but once it sinks in, it’s going to be great.
Schedule Hours For Deep Work
When working from home you have a lot of fluidity to your work hours. You are going to have more freedom, but also more responsibilities. So you need to figure out the best hours in a day, the ones in which you are most productive. Identify which parts of the day you’re not feeling like to work and which parts you feel like working. Set a schedule, incorporate a particular number of hours when you’ll work, and only work. Stick to your plans and it will boost your productivity.
Set Boundaries
One of the major drawbacks of working from home is the fact that you’ll be working from your home. You’ll be having your family, kids, pets, helpers, neighbors, and every other distraction that you can think of around. So, you need to set some ground rules and boundaries with the people you share your home office workspace with. If you have children, give strict instructions to them to not disturb you while you’re working. Assign the responsibility of taking care of your pet to someone else while you’re working. Set a space in your house that is quiet and uninterrupted.
Take Breaks
Another major drawback of remote work is that your whole work-life balance is disrupted. They say, ‘never bring your work home’. But what are you supposed to do when you have to work from your home itself? While thinking about remote work, you may create a perfect picture of a perfect work-life balance you’re going to have. However, that’s not how it is. Even if you’re at home, you’ll be receiving constant calls, emails, and get tasks assigned. So, in your day to day schedule, prioritize including short breaks. You can use the 50/10 rule. That is, work for 50 minutes, then take a 10 min break. This technique will give you a good 50 minutes of work, and a 10 minutes short break to freshen up your mind.
Focus On Your Health
Unfortunately, it’s been 6+ months since the outbreak, but still, there’s no vaccine or proven cure for COVID 19. So, the most effective way to save ourselves is to take care of our health and boost our immunity. Adopt a healthy lifestyle with good eating habits to boost your immunity. Also, you can take out time in your schedule to exercise, do yoga to keep up your health. This pandemic has taken a toll on everyone’s mental health. Be conscious of your feelings and emotions and acknowledge them. Add meditation to your daily schedule to clear your mind. Also, you can try bullet journaling. Journaling can be therapeutic and can help you stay content and purposeful. A healthy mind and body is extremely crucial for you during this time to be productive.