Downsides of Working from Home

We all love freedom. Everyone loves freedom. One of the perks of working from home is freedom to do as you please. Working from home gives you the flexibility to work with your own rules and your own time. It saves you the hassles of daily commute and its attendant costs. In addition, it allows you quality time for your family and loved ones. Inspite of all these perks, it is always a struggle to remain organized while working from home.

Here are some of the downsides.

Man by nature is a social animal. He thrives very well through social connectivity and emotional support from other persons. By working from home in social isolation, he is deprived of all these. This can at times affect productivity.
While in isolation and without other persons to interact with, the only way to be motivated to work is by way of self-motivation. If you are incapable of motivating yourself to work, you become less productive. 


 
Working in isolation can be easily stressful because of the social deprivation. "Stress is the experience that happens when the demands in front of us outweigh the resources.” This is easily aggravated in isolation because there are no ready resources outside yourself alone to draw from more so when you are unable to self-motivate. This is one dreadful downside of working in isolation.

The freedom and flexibility of working from home in isolation can be a cost. Excessive freedom is easily abused and it becomes a downside to working in isolation. Just imagine if there is no fixed time for you to report to work and there are no bosses to worry about being late to work. In this kind of scenario, there is a tendency to sleep more and to laze around more without worrying your head about consequences. This affects productivity.

By nature many human beings don’t get to do anything unless they have to. That chips off from self-discipline. Many of us don't do things until we have to. The absolute flexibility that comes with Work From Home culture could hit your discipline. You are more likely to procrastinate by leaving things you can do now for later and it affects your productivity.

You go around these downsides and still remain productive.
 
The first step is to practice self-discipline. You can make your own strict schedule then practice self-discipline by sticking with it till your work is done. That is one great way to be your own effective commander by strictly following your own rules. That is how to avoid unwarranted anxiety, work-related stress and undue self-criticism. You can take care of your stress-induced mental health better by practicing meditation and resilience in some quiet moments of your isolation. If not, negative stress can psychologically hamper your productivity.


 

Tips on How to Work at Home to Get Results

Are you working at home? Do you intend to work at home? If yes, just read this very carefully. Experts say, millions of people are now working at home to earn a living. They also say the main attraction is really the flexibility and informality involved in working at home. Working at home no doubt has many challenges but these here 5 tips can help you to overcome these challenges.

01. Deliberately prepare for work. Part of this preparation is to plan your work for each day well in advance and to determine how long you will be working for that day. When the day arrives, take deliberate steps, including dressing up to get ready for work as you will normally do in a formal work environment.  When you dress up for work, it is easier to take yourself more seriously and to maintain a workplace attitude while at work. You must work only in your designated work space within the house by going there each day with a mindset to work.

 

02. Be organized. Even if you work at home, experts advise that you must have a work plan and you must make efforts to work this plan. The informality involved in working at home should not be an excuse for you not to plan your work for each day. The number of hours must be known and all the work you will do to fit into those hours must be in your work plan before you commence work for the day. A to-do list can help you to be more organized and less tempted to slack off or multi-task. That way, you can guarantee efficiency and effectiveness even though you are working informally.

03. Avoid distractions. Yes, no doubt, working at home can have a lot of distractions. These distractions could emanate from your TV set, visitors, spouses, kids and even pets. Doing some pressing household chores also constitute a major distraction. You must be professional enough to know how to keep all these distractions away when you settle down to work.

04. Take short breaks at intervals. Taking short breaks at regular intervals to stroll around or to grab a cup of tea/coffee is one great way to fight fatigue. Short breaks also help you to take in some fresh air, relax your eyes, stretch aching muscles and gather your thoughts. On getting back to work after each short break, you are usually more focused, more efficient and more productive.

05. Be focused. When the day’s work begins, you must do everything possible to remain focused totally on the work to be done while taking all necessary actions to get the work done as scheduled. You must avoid doing personal and unproductive things during your work period. You should endeavor to follow your to-do list one item at a time until you fully tick off everything you have scheduled to be done in each period.