KATHMANDU, Jan 5: It's not an easy task to work from home. More often than not, you will find yourself day dreaming or wasting precious time because you are lazy or distracted. You might start out with the best intentions but two hours later, you will probably still be working on the same document. It's both a boon and a bane to be the master of your own time.
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So here are some of the most basic ways to prepare for a day of productive 'work from home' experience.
Have strict working hoursA big issue of trying to complete work from home is that we are often distracted by our family or friends. In order to deal with this, make sure they know not to disturb you during your working hours. Don't encourage friends to come over during your 'work from home' days. If you have children, drop them off to your relatives or hire someone to look after them in case your spouse is also busy. Clear any other schedules that you have.
Set up a working space with no distractions
Home is a place where we relax, and when we have to catch up on some work, we usually work on our laptops while lounging on the bed or the sofa. However, this can be too relaxing and we will probably end up being distracted from the task at hand. If working from home is something that you do frequently, it's best to set up an office or have a separate space where distractions can be kept to a minimum. This space should contain all the necessary items you need like your laptop, notebook, phone, pen, etc.
Log out of your social media accounts
It's a known fact that social media can be extremely distracting. If you close yourself off in your home office but have all your social media accounts in Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and others, open then distraction will not stop for you. You will be tempted to take a look and before you know it, you will be caught up in a funny conversation with your friend or be busy 'liking' your relative's holiday pictures. Therefore, simply log out of everything and just keep your email account open for important emails.
Learn to motivate yourself
Going to work means meeting your colleagues, which provides social interaction, and a boss who can supervise you. Having someone supervise us makes us more responsible toward our job. So when we decide to take our work home, it can be very hard to work without the social interaction and the supervision that we are so used to. So find some ways to motivate yourself. If your most productive times are in the morning then wake up as early as you can and get down to work. Make a goal to finish a certain amount of work before lunch time. Make a to-do list and when you begin crossing off tasks after they're done, you will feel accomplished.
You can still reward yourself
One of the advantages of working from home is that you can do whatever you want, whenever you want to. If you've really been looking forward to watching that football game all week then keep your work aside and watch the game. It's not a smart idea to deny yourself something you really want because you're sure to be very distracted and not productive at all. Instead, make sure that you have done your best to finish some of the work before reaching for the TV remote.
