With the advent of the pandemic, the remote also came up, and with it a new problem – how to work effectively from home. If earlier everything was clear – you came to work and work, but now, even after 8 months of quarantine, some have not been able to learn how to work effectively, or they do it not quite perfectly. After the end of the pandemic, office life will no longer be the same, because the managers themselves note that there are people who are very comfortable working from home and their efficiency has increased. Therefore, the remote will be on a par with the office. Everything will depend on the wishes of the employee himself or herself.
Let’s tackle the four horsemen of efficiency and break into a new quality work style!
- Triggers
YouTube, instant messengers (many messengers), phone calls. Eh, how difficult it is to give up “look with one eye” on YouTube after notification. The same applies to many instant messengers, which are constantly distracting and now you inadvertently correspond with a friend for half an hour. It’s interesting and fun, we agree, but then there is remorse and, as a result, overtime, meals in a hurry and a feeling of complete exhaustion after a working day. Constant distractions (even small ones, even “for a minute”) significantly affect your efficiency and your mood. Therefore, we advise you to set aside 2-3 hours from the entire working day when you turn off notifications on your smartphone and minimize all open windows with messengers on your PC. You can leave your working chats, but if this also bothers you, warn your colleagues that you will “drop out” for 2-3 hours. Gradually, you can increase the duration of such breaks from triggers and see how your efficiency changes, and just as importantly, your mood and level of cheerfulness after work.
- Plan Ahead
We have explained the methods and ways of scheduling tasks here. Now let’s figure out why planning ahead at all. Firstly, advance planning gives you the opportunity to immediately get into work and avoid prostration when you grab your head for the first hour or two in the beginning of the day and do not know what to do. Sounds familiar? Secondly, it is a good tool for self-motivation and tracking your goals and achievements. The “today for tomorrow” planning method works best. Yes, this is a short-term perspective, but it is it that relieves the feeling of “How to do it all?!”, that is, you break big tasks into many small ones.
- Sequence
This means adherence to a certain schedule and predictability. That is, you have certain daily responsibilities, we recommend that you perform them in the first place, then take on the things planned yesterday. This will help to avoid the feeling of being chased, because “I need to get it over with, because I still have to do routine things.” Thus, your brain gets used to a certain algorithm of actions and feels “safe”, your mood will stop fluctuating and become stable.
- Pomodoro Technique
This technique involves breaking up your work day into small breaks. So, you work 25 minutes – rest 5 minutes. Thanks to such interruptions from tasks for breaks, your brain will better think about the task itself, and besides, this is very good for your health, during these 5 minutes get up from your workplace and stretch your back. To do this, you can and should use time trackers, even in the phone, even in the kitchen. The disadvantage of this method is that it is difficult to use it if you have a need for constant communication with colleagues.
In general, methods of increasing efficiency work, the main thing is to find your own. But these methods work best in combination with each other. So try each of them and choose the best ones for yourself. Do not forget that efficiency is not a guarantee of happiness, but at least you will end and start your working day in a good mood, and you will have the energy for outside business affairs. We in our company develop a corporate culture of work/life balance, that is why we decided to raise this topic. If you are still looking for your ideal job, then go to vacancies and join!
