Bhavin Turakhia, Founder & CEO, Flock shares seven tips to enhance your work from home

Here are a few timely tips to help you cope with this extended work-from-home phase
Work from home
Work from home

With the lockdown to continue till May 3, work from home might start to get a bit depressing at times. Some may also find working from home extremely distracting and end up missing vital deadlines. Keeping that in mind, Bhavin Turakhia, Founder & CEO, Flock and CEO & Co-founder, Zeta talks about how one can make use of a few tricks to make working from home as productive as possible.

Here are a few seven essential tips:

Prepare for multiple distractions

Working from home does not mean fewer distractions—just different ones. If you’re working from home for the first time, here’s a quick list: family, kids, OTT platforms, neighbours and other such things. You can’t avoid all distractions. Therefore, be prepared for distractions and set common-sense boundaries. Set aside major chunks of your day for work, and explain your family members about why it’s important that you stay focussed. Keep your phone on silent and far away—unless that’s your work device.

Start your day early

Beat the rush of distractions later in the day by starting work as early as you can. If you’re used to a long commute that helps you organise yourself for the day ahead, working from home can take a little getting used to. Being prepared for distractions helps, but you’ll find an early start to be your best bet to get your majority of work done.

Simply getting started on a task in the morning keeps motivation levels high and helps you stay focussed almost throughout the day.

Be in office mode

In the office, our actions are sometimes motivated by bosses or colleagues looking over our shoulders. At home, it’s easier to lose focus. Pretending to be in the office helps you start or continue productive habits, like daily to-dos, and keeps you focused. Set dedicated hours for work, connect with teammates on collaborative platforms, schedule and conduct video calls, do everything you do in the office—as much as you can. 

Plan your day

A lot of us probably do this already, but planning your day is all the more important when you work from home. Even the most focussed of us can find a new working environment a little challenging. You might start strong, but as distractions crop up, it’s very easy to lose focus.

And don’t forget to check things off that to-do list every time you finish a task, because that keeps you going!

<em>Bhavin Turakhia</em>
Bhavin Turakhia

Take multiple breaks

It seems easy to keep working for hours when you’re lying on the couch. That’s probably alright, once in a while, but you want to take regular breaks to get up, stretch those fatigued muscles, and hydrate and nourish yourself.

Set an alarm to eat on time, get a cup of coffee, or just stretch your legs, so you can stay active throughout the day. Set reminders to take a short break every hour. 

Save meetings for mid-day

Early mornings should be saved for your best work. Setting up meetings towards the middle of the day means you can continue being productive for the rest of the day. Remote teams will want to find an overlap of hours to discuss work. Post a series of meetings, give yourself a small break to refresh and recharge before you get back to your tasks.

Also, when you take meetings in the middle of the day, you can take a power nap immediately afterwards—in your own bed. Naps are a superpower, and working from home means you can get more of it every day.

Make time for video calls

Unfortunately, working from home also means missing office banter and post-work parties, or your water cooler conversations with your favourite co-worker. Over time, the lack of in-person collaboration when working remotely can foster a feeling of isolation and loneliness.  Simply connecting over a quick video call with a teammate (or two) every day to talk about your respective days and shoot the breeze can be a big help.

Bonus tip: Bring out your most loved playlist!

Right now, when everyone is working at home also means, the entire family is home. Your spouse is working from home, no school / colleges for kids. So there is usually quite a bit of background noise throughout the day. Listening to music can help you cut through the noise and focus on work, but your mileage may vary.

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