Working from home requires a lot of self-discipline — from the bed, TV, shower to just taking a quick break to run errands. It can feel like there are endless distractions. While working from home, you have enough flexibility to do your job. But this luxury can often turn into a missed opportunity if not planned accordingly.
Today, the number of remote employees is higher than it has ever been and due to recent circumstances, such as COVID-19, more employees are shifting to virtual work. In a recent study by Ipsos, one of the largest market research company in the world, 65% of Malaysians are claiming to be working from home.
With the work from home trend set to continue, it is more important than ever before to stay productive and manage your well-being effectively. Whether you work from home every day, a couple of times per week, or even if you are just working from home while you recover from an illness, these tips can help you get the most out of your remote work hours.
Work from Home Mistakes to Avoid
Set Time Limits
Learning to work from home is about setting limits on your time. Without the commute, you will most certainly never be late to work. In the same way, without having to leave the office, you can also get stuck working in your home office till past dark. To avoid burnout while working from home, put a defined time on your clock or your calendar when work should be done, so that you can work on the ideal remote work and life balance.
Avoid Becoming Lazy
No one likes a lazy employee, co-worker or client. Despite being physically far away from the rest of your team, it can be quite obvious when someone is being lazy on the job. Before becoming a lazy person, put your job first, your priorities first and your goals first.
Find Time to Exercise
One of the biggest problems from working at home is inactivity. Our main reaction to a busy workload is to sit for as long as possible until the task is done. Before you know it, hours have gone by and you have not moved from your chair. Excessive sitting can affect your metabolism, increase blood pressure, blood sugar and cholesterol and lead to weight gain. Remaining in one posture for hours at a time can also affect the muscles.
Just as you organise your workload and meetings, you should find time to exercise. Treat exercise with the same priority as a phone call with a client. Play around with different times in the day to find what suits you. Some people like exercising in the mornings, while others may prefer a workout session in the evening.