Working from home (WFH) may seem like a good idea, but there are plenty of drawbacks too. Whether you are a remote worker or self-employed, you must keep yourself productive. Perhaps even more productive than those working in an office. You can eat whenever you want, but poor eating habits could affect your health, and you will have a lot of freedom, but might feel lonely as a result. The challenges that you face every day can lead to you making some pretty disastrous blunders.
With that in mind, here are 10 major mistakes that you don’t want to make when working from home.
1. Keeping Your Pajamas On
You may not have a dress code anymore, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t dress for your job. As tempting as it can be on a cold and miserable morning, you can’t head to work wearing your pajamas. No one is going to know if you do, but your productivity will take a hit. After all, most people only wear their pajamas to bed. If you try to work in this attire, you’ll struggle to get into a professional headspace. You needn’t wear a suit and tie, but you should put on real clothes.
2. Starting The Day Unprepared
Employees and employers alike don’t walk into an office for the day with no itinerary or plan. Whether you are a remote worker or business owner, therefore, you must have some sort of schedule. If you need a typed or handwritten list to remind you of everything that you need to do, then do it. Don’t waste precious minutes every morning trying to remember what you have on your plate for that day. To make the most of your work hours, you should already know this.
3. Lounging On The Couch
Working from home is much more difficult than most people initially expect. Although you know that you should be working, most others around you will struggle to grasp this concept. Your neighbors will pop round for a coffee, your children will want attention, and your friends will call to chat. This is why you need a dedicated workspace. When you are in a home office, it is much easier to establish boundaries and get some peace compared to working from the couch.
4. Taking Too Many Breaks
The first thing that most people realize when they begin to work from home is that they are at home. When you are working in your own space, you have a lot of freedom. Those not used to this will likely see their productivity drop. This is because they slack off and take more breaks than they should do. Working from home doesn’t mean working less. In fact, whether you are an employer or an employee, you have to put in a full day of work and sometimes even more.
5. Ignoring Signs Of Stress
Employee stress can be a huge problem in workplaces. This is why most employers keep an eye for it. When you work alone, you have to monitor your own stress levels and realize when there is a problem. If you can do this, then you will be able to find ways to reduce it. Some people like exercise and meditation, while others use a coloring book. Signs of stress include headaches, insomnia, and low energy, so constantly look out for those issues.
6. Letting Your Inbox Overflow
Your email inbox may not seem particularly important, but it is crucial in productivity. Not only will an overflowing inbox result in stress, but it could also cause you to put off or forget to carry out vital tasks. This is why you should make more of an effort to keep your inbox clean. Start by deleting all of the unimportant emails and then archive those that you have to save. To keep your box from becoming cluttered again, you should unsubscribe from any emails you don’t read.
7. Eating Way Too Much
Working from the comfort of your own house certainly has its perks. The coffee is made the way you like it, the bathroom is close by, and there are plenty of tasty treats to snack on. That being said, grazing all day on snack foods isn’t the best idea. Not only could it harm your waistline, but it isn’t good for your health. Rather than heading to the kitchen for food every five minutes, you should keep a few healthy snacks in the office. This will limit the amount you want to eat.
8. Having No Backup Wifi
When you spend the entire day working on your computer, the very worst thing that could happen is the internet cutting off. Whether it be from a power outage or a modem problem, you can’t afford for internet troubles to stop you from working. To prevent this, you must have a backup plan. If you can’t work at home, then you should head to an internet café or local library. You might even have a friend or relative’s house where you could head for the day. Sit in the parking lot if you have to for a Wi-Fi connection even if the public location is closed!
9. Staying In The House
There is absolutely no need to leave the house when you work from home. However, that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t. Humans are social creatures, which means that we need to spend time around people to be happy. For this reason, you should make an effort to leave the house at least once every day. Even a short walk around the neighborhood will allow you to get some fresh air and interact with people other than those you live with.
10. Working At The Weekend
As important as it may be to put the effort in, you shouldn’t work all day every day, even when you work from home. You need a break to refresh and recharge. If you work nonstop for weeks, you will only burn yourself out, making you more unproductive than ever before. Always take two days off work each week, regardless of your workload. When Saturday and Sunday aren’t possible, you can pick different days. Just remember to disconnect yourself completely from work.
If you work from home, try not to make the huge mistakes listed above. Working from home should be an asset and not a liability! Eliminate these errors to improve your WFH experience exponentially.
