Mastering the Work from Home Paradigm

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woman with child adjusting to work at home paradigm

When you work from home, you have a certain freedom. However, despite the freedoms, there are more responsibilities that you have to take on. This work from home paradigm can be hard to master and challenging at first. But with some time and adjustment, you’ll be working more productively than ever.

Create an Inspiring Environment with the Home Paradigm

There are many benefits to a comfortable and professional working environment. When you are in an office setting, you can get in the mood for increased focus, which translates to more productivity. But you also need an inspiring place to work. Therefore, if you can see your backyard, getting outside with the push mower each weekend keeps the garden fresh and neat. This removes the temptation to procrastinate and mow the lawn when you should be working.

woman who mastered the work from home paradigm

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Work from Home without Distractions

Distractions are the most common obstacle with remote work. Up to 80% of people who work from home get distracted at some point. However, you can try a few things to reduce these:

  • Begin work when the children have gone to school and your partner is at work.
  • Turn off non-essential notifications such as social media alerts and personal emails.
  • Set up a working environment as close to a professional office as possible; no TV!

The kids can really get in the way, but you can work freely when they are gone! Alerts will take up your time and remove focus, but a professional environment encourages a strong work ethic.

Work to Goals for Larger Projects

If you have ever worked in any office setting, you will be aware of project management, even if you haven’t been a project lead. A flood of work coming in can be daunting, but you can make it easier on yourself by breaking it down into smaller goals. Even if you write reports that are a few pages long, a template with a skeleton for each section can make it much easier. Tackle one task at a time, and give yourself some time between each goal before continuing with more.

Gather the Software You Need

There is a lot of software that you will use when working from home. At the office, you generally don’t notice just how many apps you use. Mainly because you don’t pay for them! But when working from home, you will need a few essential apps. Office apps such as Google Apps and Microsoft Office are perfect examples. You may also need job-specific apps, such as Grammarly, to check your copy. However, an employer may also provide access to these.

Learn Remote Etiquette as You Work from Home 

When you work from home, you will still need to take calls and meetings using apps such as Teams. As simple as this sounds, there is some expected etiquette. Here are a few examples.

Stay alert and responsive

Just like regular office meetings, virtual meetings can be boring. Being at home, you are also more comfortable, and it can be easy to zone out and forget you are being observed by others!

Engage with others on the call

You are invited to a meeting because you need to be there. People will expect your input and value it. In return, you will also be expected to respond to questions from other callers.

Get familiar with remote apps

No one will appreciate having to wait for you to join a meeting because you aren’t set up properly. Get your camera and mic configured beforehand and learn how to use the call app.

Invest in Quality Hardware

Whether you are self-employed or work for a company, there is some hardware you need. For example, you will almost definitely need a good-quality desktop PC or laptop. These are essential for collaboration, reports and virtual meetings. Further to virtual meetings, you will also need at least an HD webcam with a built-in microphone. Yet, there may also be a need for a printer and any other job-specific hardware you need to get your work done properly for your work from home paradigm.

Plan Tasks Around Family

There is always one more task that needs to be done! But family can get in the way when trying to get everything completed. One solution is to plan your workday tasks around the needs of the family. This is one of the greatest freedoms you have as a remote worker. This kind of flexibility allows you to take care of family issues so they don’t interfere with your work. With the peace of mind of getting family tasks out of the way, you will find you will work much more productively.

Create a Work from Home Paradigm and Routine

It is estimated that over 36 million Americans will be working from home by the end of 2025, so there could be some competition. A routine will help you work much more efficiency from home:

  • Find your golden hours. These are the hours when you have the most focus and energy. 
  • Work to a schedule, plan your working day, and take breaks between tasks.
  • Try to start and end work at the same time to keep family disruptions to a minimum.

Most people have times when they are more energetic, and you can take advantage of this. A schedule helps you know what you need to do, and start and end times help with planning.

Be Your Own Boss

Yes, you are your own boss when you work from home! There are obvious perks to this. However, you should act like a boss. Before allowing yourself to slack off, become distracted or take an extended lunch break, ask yourself what your actual boss would do or say. No one’s saying you should work yourself too hard. But there is a lot of responsibility in remote work. You also don’t want to prove all the naysayers right when they state remote workers are lazy!

Summary

Creating a suitable and inspiring environment for yourself will help you work from home more efficiently. You can also avoid embarrassment by learning virtual meeting etiquette for the home paradigm. Of course, you can be kind to yourself when being your own boss but try not to be too kind!

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