The growing trend of contractual, work-from-home, and freelancer individuals has been evident for the past several years. Modern technological advances have paved the way of small-time and multinational businesses to hire people outside the four corners of their company.
Many employees prefer work-from-home jobs since it has several benefits. Ned Hallowell, the author of Driven to Distraction at Work, stated the apparent advantages of working from home, which include independence, flexible schedule, and comfortable workspace. A study from Stanford University also proved that the productivity of home employees is 13% greater than office-based workers.
One of the most significant reminder to boost your work life is to make progress on your work. Listed below are some ways to attain a new level of productivity with working from home.
Measure your outputs, not your time.
Work-from-home employees often focus on the time it takes to complete a specific job rather than what they have accomplished on that day. For instance, your client assigned a 2000-word article post, and you feel drained that it almost took a day for you to complete the task. However, on a different point of view, if you divided the task into four 500-word sections— added headings, corrected writing issues, and insert images, you may recognize that you have achieved a lot in that timeframe.
One research from the Behance team reported that giving importance on the time duration and presence rather than actions and results cause inefficiency and anxiety during work hours. You can measure your productivity with your outputs by generating a “Done List” and logging every works you have completed in a day.
Setup your Equipment
Before working on your first client, you have to ensure that you have your pieces of equipment available – home computer, laptop, internet service provider, telephone headset, printer or scanner, and webcam. If your laptop or desktop computer performs processes slowly, it is necessary to improve and invest in top-of-the-market devices to produce high-quality results. For your internet connection, most clients do not demand a particular internet service provider, but they recommend a connection speed of 3 to 5 Mbps to ensure that you comply with their daily business operations.
Another essential home equipment to set up before working is the large-scale printing devices or laser inkjet printers with scanning functionalities. Although you would not use printers and scanners on a daily basis, these items are essential for signing contracts and forms. You can purchase printers in the market or on copier rentals like from Copier Minneapolis specialists. The Copier Minneapolis rental/leasing and repair services centers provide its consumers 100% reliable and low-cost printing devices.
Stick to a Specific Routine
One useful tool to utilize to create and stick to a specific routine is through calendar management application or software. Setting a schedule motivates the employees and provides the fundamental structure of work in a day. According to Hallowell, since no one supervises work-from-home employees, they tend to slack off during work hours. To maintain a regular schedule, you should start the day similar to office-based employees: get up early, prepare for work, get your business clothes, and avoid online distractions like online shopping or social media platforms.
Take Regular Breaks
Experts suggested that you should set realistic expectations and goals on a daily basis, but do not forget to give yourself a free time then compensate for it later. Based on time-tracking and productivity app DeskTime, researchers found that the most productive people work for 52 minutes and take breaks for 17 minutes. These breaks can be reading newspapers, sipping coffee, updating your social media, staring outside the window, and other activities that can take your mind off from your work.
