Setting Up Your Remote Workspace for Productivity
Since more employees work from home during the COVID-19 pandemic, remote work productivity must be enhanced by providing dedicated workspaces and reducing distractions while offering easy-to-use collaborative tools.
GitLab and Herman Miller collaborated to produce a Work-From-Home Field Guide. Check it out here!
1. Designate a Workspace
Professionals working from home may need to focus more on family, television shows, or social media. By designating a space within their home as an office or workspace, it may be easier to focus on work - something constructive if they have children or pets at home; closing doors or wearing noise-canceling headphones can create this effective workspace solution.
Virtual workplaces can provide remote employees with a powerful resource to promote productivity. Tools like Kanban boards and collaborative applications make it easy for all project employees to stay updated; eliminating documents back and forth makes collaboration much more straightforward for everyone involved.
Companies offering remote workspaces are more likely to attract and retain talent, expand globally, generate profits, and generate more sales leads. Although there may still be doubters regarding its advantages, this form of remote working can prove highly productive with the proper setup and tools.
2. Reduce Distractions
An ideal workspace should be dedicated solely to work and uninhibited by distractions or interruptions from outside sources, like children or roommates in the home. When working remotely from home with kids or roommates present, consider creating your workspace in an out-of-the-way corner of the house, such as away from common areas like the kitchen or living rooms - this will also reduce noise and visual distractions as well as create a clear signal that you are unavailable for questions or interruptions during working hours.
Setting and sticking to a schedule is an effective way to combat distractions while working from home. Making a list of tasks to complete each week and deadlines and setting daily goals that must be reached before bedtime can help keep you focused and increase motivation, providing a clear pathway toward success when working from home.
Loneliness is one of the most significant difficulties associated with working from home. To combat this, it's essential to schedule regular meetings with others - be it coworkers who also work from home, friends looking for coffee dates, etc. Engaging with real people regularly can also make you more productive when working from home and gives you something exciting and tangible to look forward to!
3. Set a Schedule
Whether or not you plan on working from home, your workspace must be set up in an area that helps keep you on task without distractions. For example, if a TV is in your workspace, try positioning it somewhere where it's flashing screen or noise won't interrupt work, similar to phones, tablets, and more electronics.
Once you begin working from home, creating a schedule can help you stay on task and meet your goals. For instance, an introvert who tends to lose energy throughout the day might benefit from scheduling meetings and calls earlier or at the end of their workday when less demanding tasks await them.
At the same time, leaving enough wiggle room in your schedule for unexpected obligations such as appointments, meals, or just taking a short walk to stretch your legs is wise. Also, aim for 10-15 minutes of human contact every day by connecting with coworkers or video calling with friends - even simple messages on Slack will do.
4. Have a Comfortable Environment
Working from home requires creating an ideal working environment. Dedicating yourself to a workspace will allow you to remain focused and productive while distinguishing between work and home life. Furthermore, having an ergonomic setup reduces injury risks.
Your workspace must be well-lit and spacious to be productive and prevent drowsiness. Use natural lighting and height-adjustable desks for the correct ergonomic position. Lastly, ensure you choose an ergonomic chair that correctly supports your back.
One way to increase comfort is through investing in a headset. An investment-grade headset can effectively block background noise and enhance audio quality while at the same time relieving fatigued ears improving focus and productivity.
Make sure to invest in a remote-work technology solution to enhance team members' communication, create more flexible work schedules, and offer improved work-life balance for employees - this can increase employee retention and overall productivity in your business.
5. Use Multiple Monitors
Remote workers require appropriate workspace equipment to maximize productivity. While various gadgets may help increase output, multiple monitors have proven particularly effective.
Multiple monitors allow you to see more of your work at once, saving time by not needing to switch windows and tabs frequently. Furthermore, having dual monitors makes collaborating with teammates much more straightforward, as you can easily show documents or video calls simultaneously working on one screen.
As more and more people transition into working remotely, their workspace must be optimized for productivity. While working from a couch or kitchen table might be tempting, these environments don't offer the optimal conditions to get work done efficiently.
By following these tips, you can create a more productive remote workspace and stay on task to complete tasks on time. For an even more significant productivity boost, check out FileCenter - our document management system, which makes uploading and sharing files from any location simple and effortless! To discover more, reach out today!
6. Keep Your Devices Organized
Remote employees frequently rely on collaborative tools for work, making the organization of these devices essential. Doing so helps increase productivity while decreasing the chance of losing important files or forgetting passwords.
Clutter on your computer, digital files, or apps can make concentrating hard. Without an effective organizational plan, the digital mess can quickly accumulate, leading to lost or misplaced files, overflowing inboxes, and a disorganized browser experience.
With video meetings, interviews, and other forms of online communication, remote workers must keep their virtual workspace clean and orderly. A disorganized desk could reflect poorly on you during video calls and create tension or mental fatigue for both participants.
The first step to effective remote working is securing a dedicated space that only gets used for work - this could be as small as setting aside one corner of your kitchen table or bed - that gets used exclusively during scheduled working hours. Communicate with family members that this time needs to be uninterrupted for work purposes; creating productive workspaces will allow remote workers to separate home life and working life more easily and feel more motivated about completing their tasks successfully.
7. Create a Schedule
As a remote worker, it's essential that you can maintain focus without becoming distracted. Setting an effective schedule and sticking with it are both important components. Your employer may expect you to log on at certain hours; in such instances, create a workspace that facilitates working during these specific times.
Make sure that you set aside time each day reserved solely for non-work tasks, like obligations and personal errands, in which no emails should be answered during these periods. As your concentration wanes during the day, include time after completing all high-priority tasks dedicated to performing lower-level duties.
One of the critical challenges of remote workers is having an informal way to communicate with their coworkers - this could involve Zoom meetings, text chats, or video conferencing tools like Zoom. With in-person interactions and distractions from collaboration systems such as Zoom meetings and text chats, remote workers can become unlimited. To prevent these problems, invest in tools that offer optimal remote collaboration experiences for your employees.