|
You’ve been working from home for a few months now, enjoying the calm and serenity of your bedroom, not worrying about getting up on time, and generally indulging in the flexibility of your new home/work life. Now, your company is giving you the opportunity to work remotely for good. Exciting, right? Not if you’ve fallen into these seven habits.
These habits can not only affect your productivity, but will slowly turn your dream of working remotely into a nightmare. Whether it’s smoking, slacking off, having no designated workspace, or poor sleep habits, these seven habits can derail your work-from-home plans entirely. It’s time to ditch them altogether!
1. Smoking
Yes, smoking is affecting your work-from-home routine. You probably didn’t even realize how much time you spent smoking at work; a smoke break here, a quick puff there. But time has a way of adding up and smoking can eat into the day’s productivity, severely limiting what you can get done. Next thing you know, it’s 5 pm and those proposals are still not done.
You’ll want to leave smoking behind for more than just productivity’s sake, however. It’s also bad for your health (but you knew that, right?), makes your house smell (and lowers its overall value), and puts a serious damper on your finances.
Quitting is easier than ever with Black Buffalo tobaccoless chew, nicotine patches and gum, and even CBD oils.
2. Bad Sleep Habits
Not getting enough sleep? It’s probably a bit more difficult to maintain a good sleep schedule when you don’t have to worry about your boss calling to ask why you aren’t at the office. The problem is that those late nights spent gaming, binge-watching Netflix, or lounging around are costing you big-time the next day. Sure, you can sleep in, but what happens when you’ve missed half the morning?
Maintaining a sleep schedule is an absolute must if you want to work remotely permanently. Go to bed at the same time and wake up at the same time every day. Retrain your body to perform with its natural rhythm, and you’ll feel much more motivated and energized.
3. Not Exercising
You’ve neglected your physical health for far too long, and it’s starting to catch up to you since you’ve been sitting for the last three months. Sure, that office chair had a 5-star rating on Amazon and is as comfy as a recliner, but it’s slowly killing you. Too much time sitting can increase your risk of heart disease and obesity, among other things.
It’s time to get up and move your body. Start an exercise routine at home and stick to it so you don’t become overweight and develop health complications. This also applies to what you’re eating while you work from home; avoid snacking too much, and be more mindful of what you eat on a daily basis.
4. Designated Work Space
That working from your bed routine you’ve adopted absolutely must go. Not only does sitting in bed all day zap your energy, but it can also make you feel depressed, lonely, and isolated. A dedicated work space is much more conducive to productivity and can help mimic an office setting.
Dedicate a nice quiet area for your work, especially if you live with others. Kids are notoriously good at breaking concentration and causing distractions...that’s what doors are for!
5. Not Following A Work Schedule
If you’ve adopted the “I work whenever I feel like it” attitude at home, you’re probably falling behind on projects, deadlines, and personal growth. There’s a reason that a good schedule is so important. It helps keep you focused, motivated, and requires a certain level of responsibility and discipline.
A good schedule can also help you from losing your mind as you spend your days waiting to come out of quarantine. A sense of normalcy is crucial in times of crisis, and you can’t exactly achieve that if you’re stuck in bed with your laptop and coffee maker.
6. Slacking Off/Getting Distracted
Another good reason to have a dedicated space is so that you can minimize distractions. Have you ever been working at home and suddenly have an urge to play a round of Call of Duty? After all, the Xbox is right there, and it’ll only take a half-hour or so…
The key to a successful workday is to minimize all distractions. Your work area should contain only what you need to do the job. You’ll probably need a computer, but be mindful of what you do on it. Don’t spend your days browsing Facebook or Amazon, or you won’t accomplish anything.
7. Not Taking Breaks
Some remote workers don’t take any breaks so they can get done quicker. If you just work through your lunch and both 15-minute breaks, you can be done an hour earlier, right? The problem with this is that no breaks means you’re likely staring at a screen for 6-8 hours in a row, and that’s enough to drive anyone crazy.
Take your breaks. You’ll actually be more productive if you take a break now and then, giving your brain a chance to rest and recover before hitting the grindstone again.
|
