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Ever since the pandemic, more than half of the world is on lockdown, and even in parts where stay-at-home orders aren't enforced, people are encouraged to stay indoors.
This isolation has compelled businesses to implement work-from-home (WFH) measures for an indefinite amount of time.
Furthermore, educational institutes have also transitioned towards online schools to cover their losses and keep students abreast with their studies.
If you are new to working from home or home school, you may have to alter certain habits to adapt.
Here are certain tips you should follow when working or studying from home:
Expert Tips To Follow When Working From Home
Everyone working remotely has to figure out certain things — from where to work and when to creating boundaries between personal and work life.
Furthermore, it would be best to think of career development, office equipment, building relationships with colleagues, and training opportunities.
When working remotely, especially in a WFH situation, entails figuring out these concerns and others. Here are tips for leading a more productive and better work-from-home life.
If you are forced to start WFH due to the pandemic and are having trouble managing it, here are five tips to help you ease into it:
1. Maintaining Regular Hours
You have to set a schedule for yourself and stick to it. Having guidelines with clarity on when to work and knowing when to call it a day will help you maintain a positive work-life balance.
Nonetheless, one of the main perks of working from home is flexibility.
There are days when you want to extend your day or start early to take the pressure off the coming day.
However, when you do that, remember to wrap it up early or sleep in some more the following day to make up for the extra hours.
2. Creating A Morning Routine
Creating a routine that gets you out of bed and onto your desk is the winning formula you need to achieve in WFH.
Find out what puts you in the mood to begin working; it could be a cup of coffee, a hot shower, or even brushing your teeth.
Learn what your mind and body associates with "work time" and use it to your advantage by taking control.
A routine is more potent than a clock to help you get started every day.
3. Setting Ground Rules At Home
Set ground rules with the people in your home or the ones sharing your space for work. If you have children, you need to define clear boundaries regarding your workspace.
Furthermore, just because you are present at home and can take care of pets does not mean the other family members should assume you will always do it.
If you say yes to the odd chore during work hours, the problem may snowball into you having to do the brunt of your house chores.
Studies showed that 82% of telecommuters had lower stress levels, and to maintain that you should focus on setting boundaries.
4. Ask For What You Need – Do Not Hesitate
If you are employed by an organization supporting a work-from-home (WFH) setup, immediately request the equipment you require as soon as you start.
You can also request access to additional equipment that you do not have at home, such as printers, modems, or scanners.
Your employer must understand that they have to provide you with the primary tools you need to execute the job. These include a computer system, monitor, mouse, keyboard, software, and so forth.
Due to the pandemic, you might be working from home for weeks, and you have to be comfortable.
However, asking for a new desk and office chair is going too far. Consider a keyboard, mouse, and a back-supporting cushion as the peak of your requests!
5. Setting Up A Dedicated Office Space
In a perfect world, WFH employees should have a dedicated office at home, equipped with two computers, one for personal use and one for work.
However, not everyone has the luxury of a separate office in their home. It is not always realistic to keep two computers simultaneously, either.
What you can do is dedicate a desk and buy some additional components only for work use.
Like when your laptop is hooked up to a monitor and an external keyboard, it is work time. When it is on your lap, that is personal time.
You can also go as far as partitioning your hard drive and create a different user account for work purposes.
Tips for Studying from Home
Studying from home can be quite a challenge. You might find yourself being distracted by your family members, pet, TV, roommates, fridge, and, most importantly, your bed.
Access to tools, technology, and software might also hinder effective online school learning. Students won't be as productive and motivated without them.
Some of you might also struggle with pandemic-related stress and anxiety on top of academic stress. Therefore, studying from home requires willpower to stay focused and adapt to new learning strategies.
Read on as we chronicle five tips you can apply when studying from home:
1. Establishing A Routine
Treat your home school as if you are attending a class or visiting a library. Set a schedule as you did before the pandemic. Decide a time for getting up, freshening up, getting dressed, and eating breakfast.
Having a time-honored routine will provide structure for your life and will signal to your brain that "it is time to get work done."
2. Having A Dedicated Study Area
A physical boundary between your relaxation area and your study area will help you stay focused.
Studying from home pulls us into an unprecedented comfort zone, decreasing our focus and attention. Our brain sees a bed and no teacher keep us awake; it goes into rest mode by default!
Dedicating different study and relaxation areas will make it easier for you to switch into study mode more easily.
It will also help contain your academic stress to the study space and not bring it back to the relaxation space.
3. Taking Notes From The Online Classes
It is vital that when you are in an online school, you pretend like you're actually at school.
Try to put away your phone, turn off notifications from social media and messages on your computer, and close all the irrelevant webpages for minimal distraction.
Taking notes is an excellent way to minimize distraction and keep your focus. It keeps your hands busy and helps in turning your attention back to the content of the class.
4. Keeping A Routine For Physical And Social Activity
You need to take breaks between study sessions, typically after every 45 minutes. Get up, move around, stretch your body, and recalibrate for learning.
You can also walk around the room, do a set of jumping jacks, and take a look at the view outside for a change of pace.
Remember to speak to people and take some time to socialize. It will help you stay focused and motivated towards studying.
You can set a time for yourself in which you can reach out to friends and family. Try to use video calls and phone apps to do so because isolation is still pretty important.
5. Creating A Study Plan
Write down the things you want to accomplish in the next 3 days. Break them down into smaller tasks you should aim to complete every day.
Breaking down a big task into smaller ones makes things less overwhelming, helping motivate you to get more done.
You can also share a study plan with your friends or study buddies to feel like you're not alone. And when you are done, you can try to play some online games with the same friends as a reward.
Designate the less productive time of your day to attend to some chores. Designing your schedule in a way that focuses on a single thing like studying, relaxing, chores, and exercising will help you be more focused.
Study From Home With a Private Tutor
If you find yourself demotivated or jaded by the new WFH or study from home guidelines, you may need a bit of motivation.
Contemplate hiring a private tutor through Superprof. Our trained instructors will keep you aligned with your schedule and motivate you to achieve your goals.
All you have to do is sign up, enter basic details, and choose a tutor that works according to your schedule and budget!
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