How to be productive at home

Jun

For a growing number of Americans, this is the norm.

A 2019 survey by Airtasker says yes. Researchers polled 1,004 full-time employees throughout the U.S. about their productivity, their commutes, and other facets of their lives. Among that group were 505 people who worked remotely. It’s a win-win situation that workers relish for its flexibility – but often at the cost of their work-life balance.

However, researchers also found that working from home can be more stressful than working at the office. Approximately 29% of telecommuting respondents said they had a hard time maintaining a healthy work-life balance. Just 23% of office workers reported the same struggle.

Take breaks.

The most effective way for remote employees to stay productive, according to the Airtasker survey, was to take breaks (37%).

Many people find success using the Pomodoro Technique, which follows this method:

Choose a task.
Work on it for 25 minutes.
Put a check mark on a sheet of paper after the 25 minutes are up.
Take a five-minute break. (This marks the completion of one “Pomodoro” sprint.)
After every four Pomodoro sprints, take a longer break.
Continue this throughout the day until your workday is over.

This technique can help your employees decompress and come back more focused.

Follow a schedule.

The second most popular way employees stay productive at home is having set work hours (33%). Encourage employees to maintain the same schedule they did when they went into the office. Following a routine will help your workers feel more structured and efficient, and it will help keep their attention focused.

Keep a to-do list.

The Airtasker survey also revealed that 30% of remote employees reported that keeping a to-do list helped their productivity. Now that you and your team are working remotely, communication is critical.

Eliminate distractions.

Text messages, phone calls, social media ‒ all are forms of distractions. At home especially, employees will experience many disturbances throughout the day.

Benefits of working remotely

Commuting has led at least 1 in 4 respondents to quit a job, according to the Airtasker study. In fact, many workers said they would be willing to give up a lot of things to end their commute.

The average American’s commute is now nearly 30 minutes. According to researchers, the average remote worker saved more than $4,500 on yearly fuel costs.

Along with the cost savings, respondents said they noticed that they had more free time once their commutes were eliminated. On average, employees said they had an extra 17 days’ worth of free time as a result.

Some of that regained time has gone to building healthier exercise habits.

Additionally, sickness spreads quickly among co-workers sharing the same office space

Source:https://www.businessnewsdaily.com/