How to Work from Home

Working from home every once in a while is a luxury in which most of us thrive. But during an unexpected period of a pandemic like the current COVID outbreak, working from home may prove to be a rather tiring and lethargic activity. To your own surprise, you may start craving the comforts of your workplace again! Here are some tips for you to get the most out of the time you have at hand when working from home.

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Convince your brain that you're working from the office

When you are working in an office, the usual commute in the morning would let your brain know that it's time for work. It wouldn't be the case when you're working from home. The transition from the comforts of your bed to your working space can be annoyingly difficult and your brain would simply refuse to follow your orders. However, there are ways that you can trick your brain into believing that it's a usual workday by adhering to some practices. Changing out of your PJs the first thing in the morning and gulping down that essential morning tea can do wonders on anyone's brain. Soon after that you should dive into a project and focus on finishing that. It can be that much-needed dose of motivation to stay active throughout the day. If you wait until you finish your breakfast, then you'd just keep procrastinating until half the day has gone by. When you are working from home, you are your manager. Without that bustling work atmosphere, it's only natural that you should lose focus or burn out. To avoid this, you can segment your day by breaking your workload into small achievable chunks, and plan by which time you are planning to finish each task. You can create reminders that would notify you when the time allocated for a particular task is up and ask you to move on to the next.

Stay away from distractions and shoot for the moon

Social media is designed in an alluring way that makes it difficult for the average person to stay away from them. When working from home, this can prove quite detrimental to your productivity. Therefore make sure that you either log out from each account or use an app that lets you run a timer blocking access to selected apps until you finish a task. This would guarantee that you'd be kept away from taking too many social breaks during your productive time. Just as you overestimate the time you'd have to spend on one project, it is necessary to have high expectations on the number of tasks you hope to finish by the end of the day. Even if you don't reach the estimated number, you'd still have accomplished a lot during the day. As the famous saying goes, "Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you'll land among the stars!" Nobody can sprint through their targeted workload for a day at a stretch. It's only human to experience ebbs and flows throughout the day. You should identify your most productive times early on so that you can plan your most time-consuming work around that time.

Work according to a plan

Spending time outlining the tasks you'd do on a particular day can take a significant portion of your productive time away. It's important to adjust your daily schedule if you need to, but it's equally important to get the outlined work done as well. Therefore, you can take upon solidifying your schedule for the next day each night before you sleep so you can have a fresh start on work the next day. Although you may be working from home, you might still have company – roommates, parents, siblings, dogs, you name it. Make sure that you communicate your expectations about needing your workspace with them – and have your dog out of your way who can be the biggest distraction of them all.

Take clear breaks and have a definitive working duration

Don't let the guilt wash over you if you need to take a break from your hectic work schedule. A quick five-minute break can significantly improve your efficiency at work, rather than working for longer periods without a break. You can use this time to do something you love. For instance, if you are crazy about shopping you can go on websites such as My Singapore Travel and read through articles that would let you know about the best places to shop in Singapore. However, make sure that you go off screen-time at some point to focus on your natural surroundings or have a chat with your loved ones instead.