Work from home: Staying productive

The COVID-19 pandemic led to many companies implementing a complete or partial “lockdown”. However, many governments are starting to ease up on this lockdown and with social distancing measures still a top priority, it's become necessary for employees to work from home and be productive.

Communication technology (ICT) is helping to maintain daily business activities at local and international levels during COVID-19 by offering virtual exchange between employers, employees and customers.

Now that the majority of businesses are working from home (WFH) as a whole, the main concern is keeping up productivity with so many distractions at home. But are you taking good use of the flexible work hours and tools available to improve your efficiency? Here are different ways you can get more done effectively and spend less time doing it.

Your workspace

It’s most likely that you're working with space and budget limitations and can’t particularly set up the perfect home office you wish to have. But to make things a little bit easier, it’s best to have a specific spot within your home where you can do business. It can be a separate room or a permanent desk in a room you use for different purposes.

By doing so, you’ll save time every day because you won't have to set up your area before beginning your workday. Continuously moving files and office supplies or plugging in chargers requires you to spend several minutes getting set up instead of sitting down to do the work that needs to be done.

Minimize distractions

Working from home, you'd often have to deal with more distractions than you would if you were back at the office. It might be a child playing or wanting your attention, a cute dog or cat giving you the “cuddle with me” stare or social media on your phone.

There's always something to distract you if you let it which is why you need to put limits in place so you don’t lose focus on work. Setting up your workspace far away from the TV or place where your kids play video games can be very helpful in keeping you focused on achieving your company's OKRs.

If you know yourself and find it necessary, you could also drown out noises that keep you distracted from working efficiently. They make a mobile app for that, too.

Tech for your home office

Do you love your internet service provider—let’s say, as much as you love the series you’re binge-watching on Netflix? If your answer was no, it’s time to find a new one.

You need a service that is reliable and makes your job easier, not complicated. The best internet service providers (ISPs) create value, not constant stress or frustrations.

Even though we all want to control our monthly expenses, internet service isn’t something you should cut back on. It’s the main reason you can work from home.

When searching and comparing ISPs, observe the difference between download speeds and upload speeds. If you send a high volume of large files then the upload speed can turn out to be very important for your type of work. Also, if you didn’t already know, your uploading speed can directly affect your downloading speed. Data caps are another feature you should consider carefully when choosing a plan, especially if you’re sharing that internet connection with other members from your home.

Forgot your password?

Having trouble remembering your password for x, y or z online account? You are not the only one. The average person has approximately 70 and 80 passwords to remember and it’s no surprise that business workers tend to have a lot more.

A one time-saving security technology you’ll probably want to do some research on is a password manager. Password managers store hundreds of passwords so you only have to worry about one for every digital device you use or online site you visit. Now think about all the time you’ve had to look at that tiny notebook with all your passwords written down (not safely placed) or how many times you’ve had to reset your passwords.

Enter the password manager; exit all that hassle. And enter much greater cybersecurity, as well. It’s necessary to protect all the information you send, receive, and are responsible for. Your company is counting on you to keep everything secure.

Check-in with yourself

Now that we are at home, employers and employees need to take an extra step to focus on staying in top health, both physically and mentally.

It’s tempting to not disconnect from work having it in front of you 24/7, but the “fact” is you need to take better care of yourself (in every aspect) to be able to perform effectively and efficiently during your working hours.

We recommend you keep your medical appointments. Beat WFH burnout, do at least twenty minutes of exercise. Get enough sleep, that means at least 7-8 hours. Make them a priority, they should be as important as meeting your monthly goals and will get you to accomplish anything your work requires.