How to work from home with efficiency and balance

We know, the headline sounds a bit funny now that you must have been working from home for a while right? Will another article of lists and guidelines really give real tips or does it just repeat what the HR director or your boss already said in that one Zoom meeting? Well, we tried our best to be inspirational and helpful while also staying at home like you cause we’re all on the same boat here.

What we will begin with though, before giving you any directions and solutions whatsoever, is give you a virtual pat in the back. You should be proud of yourself for having gone through these tough times with constant changes and fears and still manage to carry out your work successfully. Regardless of what position or title you hold in your company, whether you’re an executive or just an intern, these remote days are not easy for anyone and you are still persevering through it. Give yourself a pat in the back and take a moment of recognition for yourself.

Now that the moment is over, here are a few ways you can follow to help you work from home more efficiently.

Table of Contents

Plan your day

Getting organized with your work plan not only provides structure to the day but also helps you stay motivated and focused without feeling overwhelmed. Create a morning routine to get you started everyday — from waking up, taking a shower, making your favorite breakfast to having your regular cup of coffee. Then plan your workflow with agendas, goals and priorities by writing down on a planner. You will feel so satisfied to just cross things off after finishing with a task. Maintain a regular schedule just like when you are at the office and stick to it.

In your planning, consider the following:

Do the highest priority tasks first
Plan your day around your own natural cycles — do the hardest work when you have the most energy throughout the day
Plan rewards and breaks throughout the day

On the topic of breaks, make sure you get up from your desk during those breaks — get some fresh air, grab a healthy snack, stay hydrated, and talk with another human being if at all possible. All of these activities will help you reset, get your blood flowing, and make sure you’re ready to tackle the next chunk of tasks. If you have trouble sticking to a time limit for your breaks, set an alarm to remind you to get back to work.

Keep regular work hours

Consistency is very important when working from home as It’s tempting to give yourself total flexibility as to when you get started, take breaks, and call it a day. However, you’re doing yourself a disservice if you don’t keep your schedule consistent. Setting yourself regular hours keeps you accountable to yourself and to your boss. It makes you more likely to get all your work done, and it makes it easier for people to get in touch with you.

Here are the important factors to consider when you’re setting an at-home work schedule:

When your boss needs you to be available
Communication with your coworkers and customers
Time of day when you are most productive

This doesn’t mean that you need to work 9–5 every day. You should work when you’re most productive. However, it’s a good idea to find out when your boss really needs you to be at work.

Dress to impress … yourself!

Even if you won’t be interacting with another person all day, it’s important to dress for success. Sweatpants and a T-shirt might be more comfortable, but you may also feel sluggish, sleepy, or unmotivated. It’s also a good opportunity to give a new outfit a test drive — risk free! If you have a hard time motivating yourself to get ready in the morning, try laying out your outfit the night before, or planning an outing during the day so that you have to get dressed.

Stay connected

Try to check in with your coworkers at least a couple of times per week, whether by email, phone, video call, social media, or even in person. Make sure you keep up on a personal level, as well as a professional level.

Working remotely requires that everyone over-communicate. Tell everyone who needs to know about your schedule and availability often. Don’t assume they’ll remember. When you finish a project or important task, say so. Over-communicating doesn’t necessarily mean you have to write a five-paragraph essay to explain your every move, but it does mean repeating yourself.

Set clear boundaries

One of the most important working from home tips is to keep your work life and personal life compartmentalized as it helps you stay productive while you’re at work, and it reduces stress when you aren’t. In the same way that you set your work hours, schedule, communicate, and plan when you will not be available to work.

In order to stay focused, you also need to set discipline guidelines for yourself. Stay out of the kitchen to avoid constant snacking that can break your working mode and lead you to other distractions. The same should be applied when it comes to hanging out with pets and family members, doing household tasks, watching TV and using social media: these activities are only allowed during breaks and not in your regular “office” hours.

Also remember to set ground rules with people you share the space with, whether it be your children, partners, roommates, etc. For example, if you have children who are learning at home or who come home from school while you’re still working, they need clear rules about what they can and cannot do during that time. If you share a space with another adult who’s working from home, you may have to negotiate quiet times, meeting times, and any shared equipment, like desks and chairs.

Create your own working station

Try to always work from a consistent room, desk, or chair to tell your brain that it’s time for work, not relaxation. When you do this, your brain will associate your bed with sleep, your couch with relaxation, and your desk with work, helping shift your energy levels accordingly. You are likely to feel more alert, more confident, and more organized if you work from a home office. Set yourself up with a comfy, supportive chair, a spacious desk, good Wi-Fi, and consistent workplace tools. Make sure to personalize your space. After all, you will be spending a lot of time there!

Keeping your home office clean helps you stay focused, get organized, and be productive. Even if you’re someone who isn’t bothered by a messy desk, keeping some semblance of order helps ensure that nothing important falls through the cracks (or gets lost in a stack of paper). However, this goes beyond just keeping your home office clean. Having a messy home could inspire you to procrastinate on work tasks in favor of cleaning, which is bad news for your productivity. Setting yourself a weekly cleaning schedule can help you keep on top of cleaning your home, so you won’t be tempted to clean during work hours.

Stay healthy and mentally well

When you are not feeling well, take a sick day leave just like how you would do it back in the days. Don’t try to overwork yourself even when you are not healthy, it will all pile up and leave you burnt out.

And as cliché as this sounds, try to always stay positive. It is not the most ideal scenario, but it is the best option in this worst of time. Spread the positive energy to those around you and “online” with you. A little bit of light at the end of the tunnel is what keeps us all going so try to be that light for yourself and for others.

Remember to celebrate your wins. Spend a moment or two acknowledging what you have been able to accomplish that day, rather than fixating on what you still need to do. The daily reminder of what you were able to finish will help create a virtuous cycle going forward.

As we are writing this to you from our desk at home, we all know and understand that it is no walk in the park both emotionally and physically for us all right now. Nevertheless, we hope these tips and advice can help your work from home experience be a bit more efficient and enjoyable.

The JobHopin team