Remote working has surely come with numerous benefits such as the flexibility with working hours and the added advantage of working closely with family; this is especially true for working parents. However, productivity (among other obstacles) remains a huge challenge. Businesswoman Annette Umurerwa says at first she was excited about working from home as she was going to spend most of her time working around her loved ones and was glad she wasn’t going to deal with traffic jams on the way. But this change was only beneficial for a while, she says. She found it hard to stay productive and realised that her employees were facing a similar challenge, something that caused losses for her business. “The initial excitement of working from home was only productive for a while but after a few weeks, motivation became hard. At this point many of the employees have given up on their lifestyle and so have I,” she says. According to Joseph N. Mugenzi, a graphic designer, working from home because of a pandemic isn’t the same as doing so under normal circumstances. You might have children or other people at home who cause distraction. “I often get upset with all the disturbances that come along with remote working. Sometimes you end up sleeping in front of the laptop due to spending many hours in meetings and work,” he says. Tips to stay productive: Set a daily schedule It is important to set a daily schedule. When you go into office every day, you typically adhere to a routine with fairly consistent start and end times. Those lines are blurred when you work from home. No one is paying attention to your arrival or departure times, so there’s less accountability. “It is vital to set your daily routine, always try to give your day a good start. Make sure you set the time for breakfast, wellness, and meetings and make sure you communicate with your colleagues so that they are aware of the right time to reach out to you,” Umurerwa says. Stay connected Depending on your line of work, you may stay connected through conference calls and virtual team meetings. But even if you’re independent and don’t join as many of those, try to find excuses to have regular, virtual check-ins with colleagues. Consider starting your calls chatting with them about what’s going on in their lives or big projects they are working on. This helps to make up for some of the conversations everyone misses out on when working from home, and staying connected helps maintain some aspect of the remote work culture. “I acknowledged that meetings may need to be cancelled or rescheduled on short notice, and I used to work with the team to keep lines of communication open. I also considered taking time to discuss with friends, as this creates a feeling of effortless productivity,” Mugenzi says. Design an official home workspace Just as you don’t want to roll out of bed and start working in your pyjamas, it’s also not a great idea to roll over in bed and grab your laptop from your bedside table. Having an established workspace will help you maintain boundaries between home and work life. “While we would all love a large home office with grand windows that let in plenty of natural light, space may be a luxury, especially if you’re not the only one in your household working from home. Ideally, you want to position your desk in a low-traffic area with minimal distractions. While sitting posture is also essential to help you when we work from home,” says Ernest Mugisha a communication specialist. “At the same time, having a set schedule and a designated workspace can help create and maintain work boundaries so you can limit unnecessary distractions,” he adds.
