Many business organizations have given work from home to their employees due to the coronavirus pandemic. Due to the mass adoption of work from home worldwide, it seems to be the new age working model in contingency.
However, it has some pros and cons. For the ones who are already into work from home, it is easier to cope with it. but the ones facing this situation for the first time can find it a little challenging.
If you are one of them who is working from home for the first time, here are some common challenges that you should beware of and the ways to cope with them.
Challenges while Working from Home and How to Overcome Them
1. Creating a Schedule and Sticking to it
When it comes to working from home, it is nothing less than a luxury. You might be happy looking at the freedom that comes along with it as there is no sitting in the cubicle and no rush of going to the office. However, creating and maintaining a working schedule is quite difficult at home as there are numerous tasks at home and distractions that act as obstacles in maintaining productive working hours at home.
How to avoid this situation
Try to work during your productive hours, which means that you work when you feel highly energetic. However, your office colleagues and your boss may require you to be present at certain times, but that’s ok. You can ask for flexibility in terms of working hours. Create a schedule that doesn’t keep you from having your breakfast and hamper other important activities of the day.
2. Maintaining a Balance Between Your Personal & Professional Life
At one time, work from home feels luxurious, but on the other hand, it is difficult to draw a line between personal and professional life. And, this incapability of not differentiating between the two hampers your productivity eventually.
How to distinguish between work life and personal life
When you are working from home, you are with your family all the time, and it is difficult to draw a line between personal responsibilities and work life. Still, you can maintain productive working hours by separating yourself physically. Make sure you keep a separate working space to avoid any distractions. This way, you will be able to completely focus on your work.
3.Lack of Supervision and Direction
When you are at the office, your bosses can give you the needed direction to move ahead with the tasks. But, when you work from home, you are working in an unstructured environment void of any direct supervision.
Moreover, the question is not about what you learn or what you did, but the question is that what all you did was effective enough or not. If you are doing tasks without any direct supervision, chances are you may fall short on the effectiveness of the tasks done.
How to streamline your work in the absence of your boss
When you work, start with setting up daily/weekly goals. Stay connected with your boss, try to keep proper communication with them. Also, discuss the challenges that you face and the ideas you have to execute a specific task. You can also talk about your progress with your boss. Keeping your boss in the loop of everything would help them to determine your productivity, and then they can give better feedback and direction on your tasks.
4.Maintaining Proper Communication & Coordination
When you are in the office, it’s easy to conduct an in-person meeting and move ahead with a task. But, when you are at home, maintaining proper communication with your office colleagues is slightly difficult.
You can’t keep everything in mail and put up everything in words. Remember the time when someone might have misinterpreted your email. There are high chances of miscommunication and misinterpretation taking place.
How to avoid miscommunication
Switch to video conferencing other than emails to maintain proper communication. If you are a boss, let your subordinate know their priorities and tasks. However, even if you take conference calls, there are chances of miscommunication on the part of deliverables and other responsibilities, so make sure that you verify everything.
5. Maintaining a Dress Code is a Big Challenge
Maintaining a dress code is impossible when you work from home. Your dressing sense influences your mood and shapes our thought process. And dressing up in comfy pajamas will only let you feel as if you are here to sleep and relax. However, when you are at home, you don’t feel the need to dress up as you do for office, but it somehow hampers your productivity because you can’t sit with the thought of relaxing full day.
How to avoid dress code doom
When it comes to working from home, nobody can tolerate sitting in a suit all day, but it is recommended to keep formal clothing in your wardrobe. You can stick to a color theme to wear certain clothes on specific days. This way, you don’t need to panic about what to wear and when.
6. Maintaining an Apt Posture to Keep Up the Health
When we work from, the another challenge that we face is maintaining the posture. It is tempting for you to work while sitting at a normal chair, but it is not the thing that we would recommend to you. Moreover, it can have some long-term health complications such as back pain.
How to overcome issues of bad posture
Focus on how you are sitting? Is it the right posture to sit on a desk and chair? Make sure you maintain good posture while you work from home. It is the biggest challenge attached to sitting for prolonged periods. It can be a significant cause of back pain; it causes increased stress of the back, neck, arms, and legs. You can use seat cushions that compliment your body shape. It evenly distributes body weight and helps you to maintain a good posture.
There are many seat cushions available in the market; one of the best is from the Bael Wellness. It is known to relieve back pain. Also, it mitigates the risk of developing back pain due to sitting for long hours.
