As technology improves and costs of office space increase, a growing percentage of the workforce is working from home. Many of these employees work full time from home and have everything they need to do so productively. But what about those employees who only work from home occasionally? These are employees who work in the office primarily but might work from home a half day here and there. When working from home is not an everyday thing, it can be difficult to be productive. Here are some tips to make your brief time working from home as productive as possible.
1. Create an office. Not everyone has an extra bedroom to devote to a home office. I would argue that most people don’t have this luxury, but you should still make every effort to create a dedicated space to be your office for the time spent working at home. It could be a dining room table or the bar in the kitchen, just make sure you have enough room to spread out and don’t forget to find a comfortable chair! Try to recreate your office aura in your working space at home to promote productivity.
2. No TV!! This may seem obvious, but plenty of employees make the mistake of turning the TV on “for just a minute” or for some background noise. Even if you’re not watching the TV, having it on in the other room will certainly slow you down (especially if something good is on!).
3. No chores either. Fight the temptation to throw some laundry in, or clean up a bit. It might feel like you can get a couple things done quickly, but this often leads to other quick chores and certainly takes away from the time you have to get some work done.
4. Resist using Social Media. Social Media can prove to be a big distraction when you’re in the office. When you’re home, you have enough other potential distractions to worry about without adding in Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn etc…
5. Set goals. Home for four hours? Set a couple realistic goals to accomplish in that short time and hold yourself accountable, even if it means working a little extra. You’ll be thankful when you’re back in the office and have a few things checked off your to-do list.
Working from home can be great, but if it’s not something you do regularly you can easily get distracted and get little, if anything done. Make the most of your time away from the office. You and your employer will be better for it.
For more information on working from home productively, please reach out to Genesis HR Solutions at AskUs@genesishrsolutions.com or 800-367-8367.
Genesis HR Solutions is the premier PEO provider for Massachusetts based businesses.
