The aura of excitement soon vanished when an unspoken expectation started to play. We were expected to be available at a call’s notice. The privilege of having a laptop was soon replaced by this sense of stress at some level, to be available, to be connected and to respond urgent requests. Thus began my experience of working from home. The boundary between work hours and personal life began to disappear. This followed by a phase of focusing on work life balance. Ah the irony.
Before Covid made it the norm, WFH was not very popular and opted for mainly by men and women who needed the flexibility in order to manage work and home. Post Covid, it’s become the only way to work for many.The fast-changing technology of mobile devices is now enabling more and more people to be flexible and thus work from home is a more common thing now. Love it or hate it, you can’t ignore it any more.
If you were happy initially that you no longer needed to commute and could work in pajamas, it was not long before you missed the hustle bustle of the office that came with its own set of charms like coffee breaks with colleagues, stormy meetings and afterhours catching up with friends. That was replaced by the same work room, noises at home, monotonous atmosphere and no one to interact with, all the while maintaining your peak productivity.
Below is my list of tricks that I use to have a productive work from home experience:
- Forgetting that you’re working from home is the key to be comfortable. Once you realize it is home and not office, you tend to take things lightly. That’s why it’s important to set up your work cove in some dedicated space. Your bedroom is the best place if there are kids and elderly people at home because they need the living room.
- You cannot make-do with available furniture and technical set up for the long run. Invest in a good set of table and chair that is ergonomically comfortable.
- Keep laptop at eye-level to prevent stress on your neck and shoulders.
- If possible, put up your company logo, posters and the like around you to give you a real office feel.
- Dress up formally even if no one is watching you. That way, you don’t get a casual feel at any time. Buy some formal wear that you can use at home that can come in handy during video calls. You don’t need a formal suit or tie (unless specified) but some good pieces can add to your look and feel of a professional. Read more....
