🏡 Remote working from home tips

The quarantine has forced many employees to work remotely or from home.For some, it may be even better than before. For some, it may be worse.

Whatever which side you are on, here are five tips on working remotely.

#1 One area for work

The environment is important. Think about when you go to the gym. You go train cause that is the place to do it. When you go to the kitchen, you prepare food or get something to drink. When you go to bed cause that is the place to sleep.

When you can create an area where you can focus on work, you will be productive and complete your tasks. Also, when you leave the area, you are really going 'offline'.

Create an area where you get into the zone for work.

#2 Show your work

It's easier to get recognition when you are in the office. You can immediately show your work to the people in your vicinity. However, the barrier is higher when working remotely.

Still show it though. Your work is important and valuable. Whether those are new features, bug fixes, clients, documentation, roadmaps, proposals, or anything else. Show them! If they weren't important you probably shouldn't even do them. So show the progress.

You can ask your manager (lead, boss whatever) to set up certain channels to do that. For example, if you use Slack you can make certain channels like #progress, #achievements, #celebrations, #success, or whatever.

Show your work and get recognition.

#3 Take breaks

Yes, you read it correctly. You can take breaks when you are working. When you complete tasks or work for several consecutive hours, take a break. In the office, it is usually easier. You can just go chat with a co-worker, or go to the coffee machine. Working from home makes those things harder. Still, you have to take a break and move away from the action.

What benefit would it gives the company if you work non-stop and then burnout? Remember, the most important thing is to be consistent without decreasing your mental and physical health.

Go take a walk, prepare food, do some exercises, stretch, clean, or anything else. Just take a break!

#4 Keep your work and personal life clear

The line between work and personal is smaller when working remotely. In order to go truly offline from work, separate your digital environment.

What does this mean? For example, have a work phone and computer. The company doesn't provide those? Disable notifications on your phone. Use separate browsers, one for work and one for personal. Don't want to install other browsers? Use extensions like Workona or Simple Tab Groups.

Whatever your solutions are, keep the line between work and personal life clear.

#5 Talk with your family, friends or colleagues

In the office, you talk with your colleagues because they are the closest verbal contact available. While you are working from home, you may have a family in your home. Talk with them to keep the human interaction that you need.

Living alone? Well, we live in an age of digital communication. Use it. Call your family, friends, and your colleagues if you need to. Just because you are working remotely, doesn't mean you are or need to be alone.

If you need a verbal conversation, go get it!

Thank you for reading and hope these tips may help you improve your productivity and work life. 👨‍💻