By David Bailey, PPS Editor —
What have we learned after over a year of lockdowns, office closures, and working from home? That working from home has its share of problems. Different from the office but no less, and often more, of a problem. Many people struggled to make the transition from working in the office to working from home. And are still struggling. The following are four ways to boost productivity while working from home.
Bandwidth
Video conferencing, remote connectivity, email and chat, productivity software: working from home necessitates a certain level of internet connectivity. When the lockdown started last year, many people soon realized that the slowness of their home systems was directly related to their internet speeds, which can negatively impact work performance. And if there are three other people in the home, either working from home, remote learning, or just streaming video, this also slows down internet speeds. So how much internet speed do you need? According to Rebecca Lee Armstrong on highspeedinternet.com, each person working from home needs at least 10 Mbps download speed and 1 Mbps upload speed. You can check internet speeds at speedtest.com.
Office Space
Working from home has a lot of distractions. Daily house chores, family, entertainment media, neighbors, and so on. Declaring an area of the home The Office can help manage these distractions. This could be a spare bedroom, the kitchen, back porch, basement, or wherever you can go to close a mental (or physical) door from the rest of the home.
You also need to make the rest of the family understand that when you are in The Office you should not be disturbed unless it is important. Everyone has a different definition of “important,” but it will at least make family members think twice before disturbing you.
You also need a place to put your office stuff. This is normally a desk or table and should be a height that is comfortable for you, so you don’t lean over too much while working. It should also have enough space for all of your stuff so you don’t feel cramped while working. And bonus if it has a few drawers to put away items you only occasionally need.
Maintain a Work Schedule
When working from home, maintain a consistent schedule for the workweek. Think of it as grown-up “Let’s Pretend”: Let’s pretend we’re going to the office. What would you do? Get up at the same time every day, eat a normal breakfast, dress in work clothing (okay, it doesn’t have to be your best work outfit, but put on something besides your comfy robe and jammies), go to The Office, take a normal lunch break, and end the workday around the same time. Keeping a consistent work schedule can help you focus and understand the difference between work and leisure when at home.
A Good Chair
For many people, last year was the first time they worked at home, and many didn’t have an office chair. Some used folding chairs, dining room chairs, sofa, whatever was available. The problem with these options is they aren’t designed to be sat in for long hours, day after day. This can lead to back pain, discomfort, and a distracted employee.
A good solution is a modern, ergonomic office chair that is designed with proper lower back support and to keep the user in an upright position with comfort for several hours each day. Several blogs note that ergonomic chairs boost productivity but don’t actually indicate where they get the statistical data to back up this statement, so they aren’t linked here. I can tell you from personal experience that a good ergonomic office chair makes me feel more productive and helps make my home The Office.