The global pandemic shook every aspect of our life. We were riding high until February 2020 and got locked in our houses by late March. Amidst the rising Covid19 cases and broken economy, a new form of work culture took over and is a widely adopted practice by companies worldwide today.
The remote working culture or Work from Home (WFH) was prevalent before the Covid-19 pandemic as well, however, it became the sought-after way of working when people were left with no other choice. Applications like Zoom and Microsoft Teams gained more downloads than ever and companies starting opting for more technically inclined methods of working.
Tech conglomerate CEOs like Jack Dorsey and Mark Zuckerberg claimed in their tweets that they could permanently adopt to the work from home practice as it is safer and the returns are also not hampered with efficient management.
President of the Google Workspace analytics Kate Lister revealed that 77% of the workforce prefers working from home. No soul-crushing traffic, no hours of commute, the comfort of your home, and proximity with your bed and refrigerator sure makes Work from home a convenient and enjoyable activity. But it comes with its challenges.
Let’s look at some common problems remote workers face and how to overcome them.
1. Prioritizing work- This is the biggest challenge any and every employee working from home can relate to! A comfortable bed, refrigerator full of snacks, and the release of new Netflix originals every other day are a whole lot of things to lure you away from your to-do list. It is ardent for you to prioritize your work.
To do that, you need to get rid of all the distractions. Freedom is an application that allows you to block any distracting websites or tabs. Similarly, Self-control and Stay Focused are consecutive applications for Mac and Chrome browser to align your focus in one direction.
2. Time management- Due to Flexible working hours it sometimes becomes difficult to manage time. You might find yourself awake and running at 3 am and dull as a doorknob at 9 in the morning. This creates difficulty in taking out time for yourself and tasks apart from your job.
How to do that? How? Manage, Organize, and Set a time limit to tasks. You can start this by something as small as tidying your desk and creating a clean and positive workspace. Your workspace affects your productivity more than you think! You can use applications like Trello and OneNote to organize your tasks.
3. Over-burdening yourself- Work can sometimes be overwhelming. With no office environment, one tends to forget to take breaks and thus over-exhausts. This hampers not just your health, but also the quality of your work in the long term.
How to avoid overworking? Set ‘Take a break’ and ‘Drink water’ reminders on your laptop. You can use traditional clock features or applications like Stretchy and Eyecare to ensure the well-being and increased productivity.
4.Lack of Social Interactions- As we all know, Humans are social creatures and although Work from home has its perks, you miss out on the Coffee machine conversations and after office discussions with your colleagues.
You overcome this barrier, try and take out some time for interaction with your team via video platforms like Google Meet and Zoom, instead of texts or just exchanging of task lists. If you live with your family, spend some time with them, maybe eat meals together. Solely being engaged in work with no social interactions can impede your wellness.
The Bottom Line
This new work culture imposed upon us by the world is still unsettling sometimes. To change an entire lifestyle of working is not easy, so don’t be harsh on yourself when you fail to achieve your to-dos of a day. Instead, take a deep breath and think about how can you better your productivity the next day. There are numerous new applications and software developed to help you through the process.
We hope you overcome the challenges of working from home and perform to the best of your potential!
