We all have been told innumerable times how fascinating working remotely is. For someone who is stuck in a 9-6, working from home may seem like a really amazing opportunity they are deprived of. But ask someone who is working from home and they will tell you how many issues they face, the list is endless. The reason behind these issues is the work from homes mistakes people end up making without realising.
Here are 6 very common work from home mistakes that people working from home or remotely make. These work from home mistakes can affect their productivity.
Not Having a Routine
This had to be the first on our list of common work from home mistakes, don’t you think? If you have ever worked from home, you will relate to this. You wake up in the morning and you immediately switch on your computer and start working. Or maybe the most you do is get out of bed, brush your teeth, and start working.
Believe it or not, most people working from home don’t even get out of bed before logging in for the day. Now, explain, how you expect yourself to be productive when you are working with puffy eyes half opened, yawning, and a breath that smells, well you know how it smells.
Even if you are working from home you need to have a routine. In fact, especially when you are working from home, you need a routine.
Here’s how you can start your day on a better note while working from home to ensure that you have a productive day:
- Wake up early
- Make your bed
- Get ready for work (yes you need to change your night dress)
- Have your breakfast
- Make yourself a nice cup of tea or coffee
- Write your goals and intentions for the day
- Set up your workstation and start working for the day.
Not Investing in a Home Office Set Up
Another millennial mistake. You will see two types of work from home people. One who works from bed and one who has an unnecessarily fancy home office set-up that they rarely use. Well, both types of people are not using the resources properly. You have to be the third type to efficiently work from home. One of the most common work from home mistakes is to not invest in the work from home setup.
You need a basic home office setup that includes a table, a comfortable chair, and a few table accessories and stationery items that you absolutely need. These accessories may vary from person to person depending on the work.
Why do you need it? Here’s a list of reasons:
- To let your subconscious mind know that it’s time to work.
- To make sure your posture is correct and you are not hurting yourself.
- To avoid feeling lazy.
- To concentrate your attention towards work and not on distractions.
- And finally, to let people in your house know that you are working.
Believing Working Remote Means Strictly From Home
Okay, this isn’t intentional and people don’t really aim to do this. When someone starts working remotely, they imagine working from mountains and beaches, coffee shops and hotel rooms. But all this ends up getting locked in that little imagination box. Yes, this is a mistake people are making.
Why is it a mistake? Because you are not stepping out of your house and obviously it is going to affect your physical as well as mental health, which in turn will affect your work, productivity, quality of your work and life.
What you can do here, to increase your productivity while working remotely or at home, is:
- Divide days between working from home and coffee shops.
- Consider working from home in the morning and then going to someplace in the evening.
- Plan staycations in hotels and villas nearby or in cities you would like to visit.
Mixing Up Work and Life, No Balance
When you work from the office, it is comparatively easy to draw a line between work and home but working from home makes it a little difficult initially. However, considering the necessity of a balance, you need to realise this mistake in the initial stages and correct it.
Maintaining a work-life balance is extremely important and there are times when you don’t even realise you are sabotaging the balance.
Here’s how you can fix this:
- Have fixed working hours.
- Don’t skip meals because of work.
- Take breaks.
- Avoid working after working hours.
- Don’t do household chores during working hours.
- Don’t try to multitask.
Getting Distracted During Work Hours
Are you guilty of using your phone while working? A lot of Indian organisations have this rule of getting personal phones submitted during office hours for this one reason that employees don’t waste their time using personal phones. Even though this is extreme, I believe this is something someone working from home can implement. Because it is one of the most common mistakes people make while working from home. And this is one of the biggest reasons why their productivity is compromised.
What you can do to avoid this mistake is:
- Keep your phone away from your work table.
- Avoid logging in to social media from your work computer.
- Ask your family to not interrupt when you are working.
- Work from a coffee shop if you have extreme distractions at home.
- Remove everything from your surroundings that seems like a distraction.
- Play some music that helps you concentrate better.
Not Setting Work Schedule and Goals
This is definitely not the last mistake but yes, last on my list. A lot of people working from home, ESPECIALLY FREELANCERS, fail miserably because they don’t set up a work schedule. They don’t have a to-do list, a list of weekly goals, and what they are supposed to complete by the end of the day. Even if they do have a to-do list, they don’t take it seriously.
Not only does it affect their productivity, but their business as well. And trust me this is one of the major reasons why people who start their online business and work as freelancers are unable to continue it.
What you can do to avoid making this mistake to excel in your online business is:
- Set an intention for the day.
- Use time and work management tools.
- Assign tasks according to days and time instead of writing everything down as a list.
- Set realistic goals.
- Make sure you complete the assigned task by EOD.
Parting Words
Working from home seems difficult primarily because there is no one to supervise you. When you are your own boss, you don’t take yourself seriously and get easily distracted by the distractions available around you. Which isn’t the case when you know you are supposed to submit the report to your senior before the deadline.
This whole mistake thing comes down to one point, you don’t take yourself seriously as your own boss. To change this, what you have to do is be a little more strict with yourself, create that fear, and consider yourself, as your boss, some other person you’re answerable to.
If we all find the secret potion to stay productive while working from home, I firmly believe starting our own business and growing it would become tremendously easy. But hey, if you still need guidance on starting a business or becoming a freelancer, you should consider taking this How to Start Your Online Business course by Hustlepost Academy. This is an ultimate step by step guide to becoming a successful, six figure entrepreneur in 2022.
