5 tips for working from home effectively
Due to the difficult and exceptional situation in which we find ourselves regarding the Covid-19 virus, Teleworking has become the norm. All the Knowliah employees are already working from home. Tricky? Not at all! We would like to share with you tips to work just as productively from home.
1. Create a dedicated and professional workspace at home
By teleworking, you need a quiet space at home of your own that’s comfortable, properly equipped, and only used for work. Which place in house do you choose currently as your work spot? A corner in the bedroom isn’t the best idea, because your brain will associate that space with work, and you may find it harder to sleep at night. Better options are for example: your own desk space, a comfortable place in the living room (if there is no distraction),a basement area or an area of your dining room that isn’t used much.
If you do a lot of video conferencing you can turn your desk, so your background is just a wall. Make sure that your background will look professional when you’re talking to prospects.
2. Stay in touch with your colleagues, time to overcommunicate.
Even when you’re working from home, you are still not working alone. Don’t hesitate to think in terms of overcommunicating. There are enough tools like Microsoft Teams, Skype for Business, Zoom, Slack and E-mail to stay in touch with your colleagues.
Inform your colleagues about what you are doing and what you specifically need from them. To feel less isolated and better connected, you can always use video during meetings.
3. Rely on tools, platforms or software which facilitates the collaboration
High-speed internet and reliable phone service are the basics to work from home. Does the company provide the possibility to work remotely in shared drives? Use a VPN whenever you’re connected to your network at home.
Are you struggling to find the right document or e-mail? Or do you feel that you don’t have a 360° view on all your information (documents, knowledge, matters or cases, issues, customers, etc.)?
Just find the right and relevant information, when and where needed, with Knowliah!
Knowliah develops and markets a software solution for knowledge workers, legal counsel and lawyers to boost productivity and reduce costs. Discover more about our legal solutions:
3. Minimize several distractions at home
Try to work at home in the same environment as you are used to in the office. Avoid all possible distractions or jammers:
- If you have music or TV sounds in the background and this distracts you, just turn it off. Some people are just more productive because of some background music, so it’s up to you to decide if this works for you or not.
- If you have children at home, you’re going to get interrupted and it’s going to be a struggle to stay focused. Make good arrangements, so that the children know when they may and may not bother you.
- Do you have friends and family who are currently technically unemployed, and do they call you regularly? Make it clear that you are still at work and need to work certain hours. Schedule such Whatsapp calls after your working hours.
4. Don’t forget to take a break
For the moment, we have only focused most of this article on how to stay productive while working from home. But don’t forget to take breaks between all the work that you’ve done. When you’re in the office, you also don’t work non-stop. You take a short 5-minute break once in a while, you have lunch right on time, and you have a cup of coffee or tea when needed. Keep these habits and give yourself a break at home as well.
