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5 challenges to stay productive while working from home

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Work from home is excellent in many ways and challenging as well! When working from home, there is no formal dressing required, no one keeping an eye on you. You can also manage to do a lot of personal work at home. Then what’s the challenge? These same things

With the comfort of home and no one managing, it is easy to be less focused, less productive and not feeling accountable for your work

There are a lot of views surrounded by the concept of working from home. The most prominent being the thought that people choose to work from home when they want to take some break from work or have personal tasks to finish. Some believe working from home makes you less productive while some people believe, including me, that with some self-controlling habits you can be as productive as you want to be while working from home

While there is nothing right or wrong about the work from home concept, it is all about the necessity and the ability to change the mindset around it!

In the article, I’ll share the challenges I face while working at home and the solutions that help me stay on-track

#1. Working too much or too less

In the office environment, there is a set structure for the day with time for lunch, coffee breaks, and other breaks. The same is not applicable when working from home because of the flexibility that makes it hard to stick to a routine. Following are some of my excuses:

This flexibility may mislead us into either taking work too lightly with minimal progress made in the day or too seriously where we even forget to eat lunch. Both of these are not good for productivity!

Working from home requires a strategy — daily scheduling, to stay focused and productive

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These are some tips to plan your routine:

A tip: Learn to plan “The Unschedule” way, an efficient time-management technique

#2. Interruptions — family | phone calls | friends | pets | kids | social media | housework | doorbell and more

There is a temptation to watch episodes of your favorite show or procrastinate work or finish household work or connect with friends or take your pet for a stroll because you can’t resist that face! It becomes easy to get distracted being at home

Working from home needs you to be self-motivated

Unless you live alone, you have to plan your schedule and break around everyone in the house. Here are a few ways to minimize interruptions as there is no way you can get rid of it:

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Remember, to put your phone/tablet away from you to resist the temptation to check every notification

#3. Technical hiccups

With the recent crisis of COVID-19, almost all the companies are extending work from home facilities for their employees. When it’s your first time working this way, you would not want to be frustrated with a poor internet connection or lack of amenities at home to make things further difficult

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While there is no control on the technical issues, here is a checklist that can certainly help you:

A coffee maker to your rescue is always good

#4. Isolation and afternoon doziness

Working at home can get a bit boring if it goes on for a long span. It can gradually trigger a feeling of isolation and disconnection and procrastination at work. And how can we forget the struggle with “afternoon nap”!

Photo by Emma Matthews Digital Content Production on Unsplash

Here are a few tips to avoid loneliness:

Find the music that motivates you to see a difference in your ability to focus

And for that afternoon nap:

#5. Setting expectations right — explaining everyone (at home, office including your boss & colleagues) that you are not on a holiday!

My mom calls me any time of the day (as I am at home) and asks me to finish all household work or cook something special (as I have time). No matter how much I try to tell her that I am working, her end statement would be, “Yeah, but still, you are at home!”

If this is not enough, my manager keeps checking my online status on Skype or the no. of emails I responded during the day to ensure I am working

Photo by Emma Matthews Digital Content Production on Unsplash

What we can do best is to communicate better. That’s all!

The key to staying productive while working at home is to figure out what works best for you to stay motivated and focused

These tips will help get you to accomplish your goals, regardless of location. How do you stay productive when working from home?

This article was originally published by me on Medium

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