How to Work From Home Effectively
Remote workers have great gigs. They get to work from home at their own pace, they’re saving time on commutes, which means more time for them or their job depending on who you speak with and it saves companies money on office space. I consider it a win-win situation. However, has anyone ever asked a remote worker what their working environment looks like?
Maybe you are one of the lucky ones who has a great home office and has been at this for years, we envy you. However, for the selected few who are new at this a work from home environment has multiple purposes and may not yet be conducive for working comfort and productivity. For example, people never plan to work off of their couches all day however if you just sat down to drink your cup of coffee in the morning and quickly read an email and now its lunch time, it happens! It helps to ask how can we help the remote staff from falling into bad habits before they begin?
Routine
Helping employees become aware of routine changes before they start may help set employees up for the reality of working from home. Working from home is unregimented and the lines between what you do at home begin to blur with how you conduct yourself during work. Just because you regularly check personal emails on a hammock on your patio doesn’t mean you can successfully do the same for work. It takes time for people to establish a functional productive work life routine. Making employees aware of this process can help them anticipate the change and can help them plan their work from home schedule.
Habits
Forming good work home habits will take time and a lot of trial and error. For instance, certain habits you have to engage in before leaving your home to enter an office may not seem important when working from home but are still necessary. For example, many of us toss our shoes off to the side when entering our home so why should we bother putting them on when we do not leave the house to enter an office? Think about this, for a lot of us wearing shoes allows us to feel like active participants of the outside world and it may be good to continue this one habit during your home office hours. Everyone is different and particular about their personal habits and I encourage people to explore those and find the ones that keep them connected to their teams and work life.
Set Up
This one combines both routines and habits. Having the correct setup will facilitate your adherence to the other 2 you have set for yourself. Having a setup that works for your body and prevents fatigue is the most ideal. However, sometimes people do not have the space for what they believe is ideal but I am here to tell you it’s not always about the newest desk and expensive chair. As long as you are aware of what your body is doing while you’re working then you can create a space that works for you. These are a few questions you can ask yourself to determine what nook is right for you:
Begin by choosing a surface, can I place my laptop, tablet or any other necessary devices on this surface? Avoid an unstable surface to place items on. These kinds of surfaces will cause your body to work in an awkward position which can cause injury over time. Make sure you have enough surface space to keep your items within arm's distance.
Can I reach the surface? It's so common to see people reaching up past or below their elbow height to reach their laptop and tablets. Doing this can cause compression in soft tissues along the forearms that later can lead to injury of nerves. You want to find a surface that is at your elbow height. If your kitchen table is too high, think about using an external keyboard you can place on your lap or better yet find a clip on the keyboard tray you can attach to your table during your working hours. I know they’re not the prettiest but your hands and forearms will thank you.
Do I have a comfortable place to sit? This is the trickiest of them all. Not everyone has a space to place a desk and a nice comfortable chair. If you happen to be a person with a nice chair or are in the look out for one, I suggest you find one with lower back support. A chair is difficult to shop for online and since everyone is built differently I suggest you find one at a local store and just try it out, old school style. Now for the others who work on stools and soft surfaces, always make sure your back is straight!! Keep an eye on your neck and back, is the neck pushed forward and your back rounded? Look for another surface. You want your ears to sit over your shoulders and shoulders over your hips.
Lastly, is my monitor too low? This is one anyone experiencing neck and shoulder pain should ask themselves. Staring at a screen that requires you look down all day long will cause the neck and shoulder muscles to pull and cause tightness and hopefully not pain. This problem has an easy solution and it involves either using an external monitor while you use your laptop as a keyboard or elevate your laptop while you use an external keyboard. You can elevate a laptop by using a laptop riser, books, boxes, anything stable. Monitor should be at eye level.
Working from home is a great perk employers offer and employees enjoy. It's important for workers to know what to anticipate and how they can prepare themselves. Fatigue and pain can cause hours of unproductive time and can even lead to serious injury. SO set yourself up right from the get go!!!