4 ways to increase productivity when working at home

Avery Blank, a lawyer, and business strategist, recently published for Forbes magazine, the 4 ways to increase productivity when working from home, taking into account the current situation of the pandemic.

According to a recent survey published by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), 83% of office workers want to work from home at least once a week after the pandemic has ended. They also ask for help to create limits in working life to improve their productivity while working from home.

Although being at home working has shown great benefits because it optimizes time in commuting, meetings, and other activities that diverted the moments of intense productivity, having home office “can invade the personal life of the workers and increase the number of hours of work".

To make the most of your work time at home, Blank recommends four practical aspects that help improve productivity.

1. Update your technology and equipment

If you find that the hardware or software you are using at home is cumbersome or slow, try updating your programs or devices. Ask your manager if they have a budget to upgrade their home workstation. While this may mean spending some money, a decrease in your productivity could be more costly for your manager and organization. It may be worth updating your technology and equipment so that you have the tools to do your best work and be the best at what you do.

2. Create designated work hours and communicate them to colleagues and household members.

Identify your organization's operating hours and use this time frame as a guide for your working hours. Any personal tasks should be done outside of business hours.

Multitasking and the change between your professional and personal life can affect your productivity, losing up to 40% if you do other activities during your working hours. Research shows that trying to do two things at the same time can make each activity longer to complete, which can add unnecessary hours and fatigue to your workday.

It is not enough for you to know your working hours. You must tell others to respect that schedule that you have set. It is important for those who live at home to know your hours so that they can contact you right after the end of their workday, explains Avery Blank.

You may also read: How to deal with your emotions during the pandemic?

3. Maintain discipline with your video meetings.

It is important to have meetings, especially when working from home. Their meetings in virtual rooms become one of the main contacts with their colleagues.

The increase in the number of video meetings has brought a new problem and that is Zoom's fatigue, but not all meetings have to be video conferences, Blank recommends. "Picking up the phone and talking to someone is also an excellent option." "Save video meetings for weekly registration with your manager, your team, or important clients and find other forms of communication in emails or calls."

4. Acknowledge when you are tired and stop working

Some people experience exhaustion while working from home because their jobs go beyond their traditional hours. That, together with having to attend to chores at home and demonstrate that you are productive working from home.

“Participating in something when you're tired is unlikely to produce optimal results. If you are exhausted, it is difficult to have energy or enthusiasm to carry out your tasks, you can make more mistakes and be unproductive as a result of tiredness ”explains Avery Blank.

Listen to your body. Observe its behavior and give yourself permission to walk away from work and return to it when you are rested and recharged. If you are tired, you will spend more energy trying to overcome your tiredness."

The expert ends by summarizing the most important points to be productive working from home. “If you want to reap the benefits of working from home, be sure to stay productive. Improve your technology, outline and communicate work hours, be prudent with meetings, and take time off work when you start to feel less productive.”