6 tips to be productive while working from home

When you work from home, a lot of temptations are at your fingertips and it is not always easy to concentrate... Discover tips and tricks to be efficient and productive while working from home!

While teleworking has many advantages, working from home still presents a number of temptations: the call of bed, television, or household chores...

Remember, however, that few of us succumb to these temptations since, on average, remote workers are more productive than in the office. A study by the Sapiens Institute (March 2021) thus tells us that teleworking increases productivity by 22%.

So, for those of us who lower the average and have trouble staying focused and motivated while working from home, here are some valuable tips that will help you be efficient and productive!

Create a real workspace

To be successful in being productive, you need to have a workspace that is conducive to concentration. Whether you can devote an entire room to your work area, or just a table or desk, the important thing is to have an organized, bright and comfortable space:

• With adequate and functional storage, you will be operational quickly in the morning.
• Position your desk near a natural light source, but not with your back to a window to avoid reflections. Light affects the ability to focus, mood, and intellectual alertness.
• Plan a comfortable seat and work with your screen at eye level: a good installation can make a big difference in attention and efficiency. It also helps to avoid back and neck pain.

To note: Are you feeble? You can provide peripheral islands for teleworking. If the configuration of your home allows it, you can definitely work for 1 hour on your terrace, take a professional call at the bar in your kitchen, etc. Remember to check that the installation is feasible before wasting an hour looking for an extender, a suitable chair, etc. Sometimes, changing the air to work allows you to give yourself a little boost so do not hesitate to try to vary the work spaces from time to time. https://www.qualisocial.com/wp-01_-_Productivite_teletravail_mujbwu-scaled.jpg

Establish fixed work schedules

When working from home, the hours worked can sometimes extend without us really realizing it. You can also be tempted to procrastinate: since you are not really going to leave your workplace, at worst you can finish this file later finally... To avoid falling into these pitfalls, Set specific work schedules and respect them (even if it means setting up reminders in your agenda so as not to forget). A bit as if you were really in the office.So, obviously, you are not within 15 minutes and you can be flexible according to the days and your personal and professional constraints, but formalizing “working” hours will speed up your days and will certainly make you more productive. It will also prevent you from working long days.

Plan your day

Organizing your work day is essential to ensure that it will be productive. You can:

• Set yourself a list of goals for the day, with details of the tasks to be completed in order to reach them. Be sure to set realistic goals: there's no need to be discouraged!
• Prioritize your tasks of the day, and identify which ones require the most concentration: schedule these tasks to be completed at the time of day when you are most productive. Tasks that require less attention can be done at the end of the day for example.

If you have the visibility to do so, you can of course plan your week, or even your month. But doing the exercise every morning to set the main lines of the day, to materialize them (for example on a sheet, a spreadsheet, a whiteboard, etc.) and to monitor their progress, will allow you to pace your day and motivate yourself.

Communicate with your team

Communication in the context of remote work can quickly become a real challenge: informal exchanges are becoming rarer, some are less comfortable than in direct face-to-face, etc.These new pitfalls that are often unavoidable in teleworking can have a real impact on productivity: poor understanding, lack of information, etc. can have tangible consequences. Get in the habit of ask more questions, to show yourself present on instant informal exchange platforms (such as chats), to listen more attentively and to have the information given orally confirmed more often. If this is not already the case, Prefer the telephone rather than emails to clarify specific points: there's nothing like synchronous communication to quickly remove doubts or resolve misunderstandings.

• Do you know the terms and conditions of your synchronization points? (format, frequency, etc.)
• Do you know which communication methods should be preferred depending on this or that subject, its degree of urgency, etc.?
• Do you know what your hierarchy expects when it comes to reporting your activity?
• Do you have a tool or agenda to know when members of your team can be reached?

To be sure that communication with your team will be good, make sure that how it works is clear to you

• Do you know the terms and conditions of your synchronization points? (format, frequency, etc.)
• Do you know which communication methods should be preferred depending on this or that subject, its degree of urgency, etc.?
• Do you know what your hierarchy expects when it comes to reporting your activity?
• Do you have a tool or agenda to know when members of your team can be reached?

Do not neglect the breaks

It might seem like a contradiction, but taking breaks promotes productivity. Working tirelessly, you end up losing concentration and the risk of error increases. To be truly beneficial, breaks:

• should not be taken in front of a screen: walking away for a few minutes will allow you to rest your eyes;
• should allow you to move: stretch, change position, take a few steps.

Microcuts would be the most recommended: after a long break, it is not always easy to get back in the bath. The National Institute for Research and Security (INRS) therefore recommends dividing up these break times:

• If you work intensively: Take a 5-minute break per hour.
• In conventional working conditions: Take a 15-minute break every 2 hours.

Set a few rules with those around you

Many of us work from home from a home where we don't live alone. As soon as you share your living space (with a spouse, children, roommates, parents, etc.), it is good to establish a few rules. This will avoid a lot of misunderstandings and frustrations, on everyone's part. So you can:

• Share your work schedules, as well as your moments of availability: in this way, you reduce the risk of being interrupted all the time while you work.
• You can clarify the signs that you should only be disturbed in an extreme emergency: office door closed, headphones over your ears, etc.
• If your Internet connection leaves something to be desired: Remember to warn that any downloading or streaming, for personal purposes, is impossible on your working hours.

And because you can also set a few rules for yourself: To limit social media distractions, think of site blockers on your computer, and mute notifications on your phone.