How to work from home efficiently

Working from home is a trend that has been on the rise in recent years, and with the recent spread of the Coronavirus COVID-19, a large number of companies have indicated to their employees that they should continue with their work from home.

If this is your first time in this situation or if you want to improve the efficiency with which you work from home, we bring you some tips that can help you.

1. Identify the activities you must do during the day

When you work from home, distractions can be greater, especially if you have children who require your constant attention, which is why creating a list of things to do during the day and making sure to finish them before the end of your workday will help you keep up with work even if you are temporarily engaged in some other activity.

2. The cloud will be your best friend

There are many tools and applications that can help you keep your work pace even if you are not physically present in your office, Google Drive or Dropbox will allow you to upload files to the cloud and share them with your coworkers or access these files on any moment you need them. Trello is another interesting option to establish the activities that each team member must carry out and progress the projects as these specific activities are completed.

3. Structure your day as if you were going to the office

When working from home it can be helpful to pretend that you are still in your office, try setting an alarm to wake up at the same time as usual and do your routine as you normally would if you had to go to your office (take a bath, do breakfast or coffee, etc). Another aspect that can help you is clothing, if you dress formally to work from home, your mind will associate more easily that you are on a work schedule, this is why working in pajamas can sound like an excellent idea for the comfort aspect, but in reality this will make you less productive during your day.

4. Minimize distractions

Social networks can be a big problem when you are working from home and have easy access to your cell phone, there are several ways in which you could reduce the time you spend on them, the first and main thing you can do is to log out of all your accounts on your phone or computer. Another option if you don't want to sign out is to use productivity apps that limit your time in certain apps during the day. If none of this works for you you can choose to completely remove these applications while you are on business hours, and reinstall them when you are done with your work.

Another great distraction is the visit of people to your house, try as much as possible not to receive visits in your house while you work unless it is something extremely important. If you receive an unexpected visit, establish from the beginning that you are working and do not have the time to attend visits.

5. Take short breaks

If you feel that your concentration or creativity and the desire to work are decreasing, it is a good idea to take a short break of about 5-10 minutes, take a breath and clear your mind so that you can fully concentrate on your work.

6. Try to isolate yourself from the outside world

If you have a conference the best thing to do is to use headphones that mute outside sound to avoid distractions like ringing bells or outside noises from ambulances or firefighters, this total isolation from what goes on outside will help you focus on activities that you have to complete