More and more people are moving from the office to remote work mode. For some, the cause was the coronavirus pandemic, and some started working from home after February 24, when many Ukrainians found themselves in other cities and even countries. But not everyone is ready to work productively in such a schedule, because home is a place for rest. It is difficult to organize yourself when the fridge, sofa, TV and bathrobe distract you from work. We have collected some tips that we use ourselves, because the Cityhost team also works remotely - we administer the servers , help you register domains and fill this blog from home. You may already know some of these life hacks, but we hope you find our recommendations useful.
Fully prepare for the working day
The first trap that lies in wait for you at home is that you don't have to get to work, dress nicely, shave, do your hair or make-up. You can just get up from the sofa, make coffee, move to the table and start working. You do that too sometimes, don't you?
This is an important disorganizing factor that can turn work into chaos and an endless struggle with laziness.
Wake up 1-2 hours before the start of the working day, exercise, take a shower, have breakfast, dress in comfortable but decent clothes. You need to have such a look that you can just now go to the store and not blush.
In fact, the way you look has a significant impact on your mood at work. The very process of preparation and clothes create associations - if you are not washed and in a nightgown, the brain thinks that the working day has never started, you can rest further. If you hunker down and put yourself in working shape, the brain perks up and turns on the office mode.
One woman put on a bra before starting a remote work day, assuring her that it would discipline her.
Organize the workplace
Working while lying on the same couch you slept on is definitely not an option. The same as sticking a laptop somewhere between the cups, pushing the hundred-year-old piles of books, cords and pens on the table. The condition of the workplace also affects the quality of work. A mess on the table is a mess in the head. It is desirable that the desktop is intended only for this purpose and is considered a sacred place where you cannot eat and create chaos. If there is no such possibility, you need to remove everything extra each time, leaving only a laptop, a notebook and a pen.
Ideally, you should have an office in general, where you will enter at the beginning of the working day and leave in the evening in the relaxation space with the thought "I came home from work." Such zoning very quickly teaches to switch from a relaxed "home" state to active activity.
However, not everyone has this opportunity. But still, you should try to create a comfortable, orderly corner for yourself, which will be clearly associated with work, and work only there.
Invent pleasant rituals
Getting out of lazy bliss and diving into tasks, negotiations and deadlines is unpleasant, but what can you do. Sometimes we begin to delay this process, procrastinate, postpone work for later. This especially affects freelancers who have no external control over working hours. So you can make it to the night and start working when others go for a walk.
To soften the process of "coming to work", create pleasant rituals that will be associated with the beginning of the working day. Turn on cheerful background music, pour fragrant coffee into a beautiful cup, organize an aroma lamp, put a blooming violet on the table, choose a window with a beautiful view... Everything that causes you pleasant emotions will very soon "spill over" to work, and you will enter the mode with a positive
Do not forget about sports and physical activity
When working remotely, the only real need to leave the house is to go to the store. That is why freelancers sometimes do not leave their apartment for three days, moving around the triangle: laptop - bed - refrigerator.
If in office mode we at least go to and from the bus stop, then at home we risk turning into an employee with atrophied muscles who has grown into a chair. When working remotely, sports are a must. It is desirable that he was outside - fresh air and a change of environment is beneficial not only for the body, but also for the brain. Be it jogging, easy brisk walking, street exercise, cycling, yoga on the lawn or whatever you like. The main thing is that sports and an active lifestyle bring joy.
Do not mix work with home life
You need to go to the store, and you think - now I go, and in the evening I will work longer. Then you cook, clean, play with the cat (fill in the blank), hoping to make up for it later. And then at 11 in the evening you suffer over the documents. It was like that, admit it?
When you mix the work process with household chores, it is not possible to work effectively, and at the same time, the feeling that you are always at work haunts you. All this leads to rapid burnout, fatigue, because in fact nothing is done qualitatively.
Even if you earn on the freelance exchange and are not obliged to start the working day at a certain time, it is better to separate work from life with the help of a clear schedule. For example, from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. you only work, and you are not distracted by anything else, but in the evening it is strictly forbidden to open your laptop or receive calls about work matters.
Accustom all household members, customers, and partners to this. And never work on weekends. Such separation will help to work actively and have a full rest.
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How to accustom children to work schedule of parents?
This question worries everyone who works at home. You can explain to your partner or parents (and not always) that you cannot be distracted and that during working hours "I am not at home, forget about my existence." But it is not easy to explain it to children.
If there is a child in the family, then it is difficult for her to understand what mom or dad is - why can't you talk to them? Why can't you do it now, and then you can?
If there is such an opportunity, solve the issue with the help of a separate room and door. You need an office or some imitation of it, where you can close yourself. One of my acquaintances works on a glazed loggia, which with the help of simple manipulations turned into a microscopic office. It can be a kitchen, a bedroom or a hall, but in this case they must be closed to visitors during working hours.
In this case, you can explain to the child that when mom/dad is in the "office", it is better not to disturb them. The whole family should get used to this, because one's own example is the best way to instill rules in children.
However, not every family has a sufficiently spacious home in which you can find a separate room. Explain the situation to the baby using conventional signs. For example, my mother works in the hallway at the dining table. If the child sees a laptop and a pencil holder on the table, it means that he is busy. If these items are not available, the mother is already available for communication.
There is also an important point about telephone conversations. Many people can distance themselves from the chatter in the room or turn on the music in the headphones, but work calls require silence. Then you need to establish a rule: if dad is talking on the phone, everyone shuts up or leaves the room. Before that, it is better to warn the family that there will be a phone conversation.
With the help of such simple arrangements, it is possible to create more or less comfortable working conditions.
But still, as the practice of remote parents shows, 100% immersion in the work process still won't work — it's hard to deny a child attention. Therefore, whenever possible, parents of small children choose an office. If such a need arises, there is a more expensive co-working option, or a completely free one - the library. Many libraries have computer departments for visitors, and you can also arrange to be allowed to work in the reading room. Get a reader's card, take newspapers and magazines - this way you will help the librarians to carry out the plan, and they will always be happy for you.
Close your access to social networks
Social networks can imperceptibly steal a mountain of time. It seems that you are actively engaged in something, the brain is working... But half a day has passed, and the work has not progressed.
If you really suck, then just don't log into your Facebook or Instagram accounts on your work computer. Set up two-factor authentication - the login process will be longer, and you will have time to remember the ban on the social network.
It is better to put the phone away in mute mode. Friends and friends will wait until the evening. Do you have a lot of calls? Then do not put social network applications on the phone so that your fingers do not reach for the icons themselves.
What to do with work chats? It is better to use one messenger (Telegram or Viber) for work, and another for entertainment and friends.
If you do not have enough willpower at all, there are applications that limit the time you use the sites specified in the settings by blocking access.
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A few productivity secrets
And now - life hacks that really work (we checked).
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Use task managers , or as a last resort, write a list of tasks in a notebook. You need to have tasks in front of your eyes. Each note about the completed work evokes pleasant emotions and motivates for further activity.
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It is impossible to get involved in the process - use the "tomato method". Set the alarm for 25 minutes and all this time try to work quickly, quickly, without distraction. Then take a 10-minute break. You can actually do a lot in a day with such "jumps". There are many articles about this method on the net - if you're wondering why it's called that.
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If you have routine tasks of different types, then assign each one its own part of the day. For example, send letters to partners in the morning, make calls in the afternoon, and put documents in order at the end of the working day. Such structure teaches you that at a certain time you will be emotionally ready for this type of work, and things will go more easily. It also helps not to forget about tasks, because they automatically pop up in memory.
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There is such a method - "eat a frog in the morning", you have probably heard about it. You need to do the most unpleasant things in the morning, and then you will feel like a hero for the rest. Well, it doesn't always work. Sometimes the anticipation of difficult or unpleasant work makes you procrastinate the first working hours, and the frog turns into an elephant. It is better to start the day with small, simple tasks that will help you "swing" and get into a working rhythm. Good if you like these tasks.
Remote work is radically different from office work. That is why many of us were not immediately able to readjust and self-organize. But if you follow these rules, you will not feel like you will become a responsible and disciplined employee who performs all tasks efficiently.
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