Smart Work from Home - Tools and Tips

Telecommuting is a common practice used by many companies to offer flexibility to their employees or to keep staff in touch at remote locations. For this reason, "Smart Work", as it is also known, is something that many people already practice on a daily basis.

With the recent covid-19 crisis, many people have been forced to work from home without having to go through an adaptation period, which represents something completely different from the routine in the office, and there are certain things that we must take into account. In this article, we will try to review some key aspects.

Select a specific workplace 

It is very tempting to place the computer and start working from wherever you are: the bed or the sofa, however, it is advisable to assign a workspace in which you can focus your thoughts and ideas and that your brain recognizes as the place to be laboriously productive. In the same way, it is advisable to establish the rest area, where you can disconnect and relax despite the fact that the workload is at home with you. 

Use Hangouts Meet like an expert

In previous publications, we mentioned some tips to improve the quality of your video calls, specifically for Google Hangouts Meet. Some of these tips are worth remembering: 

If you have restrictions on your internet connection or suddenly it becomes very slow, you can decrease the quality of the video of the call to keep the conversation active. 

Can't connect to the call from your computer? You can join the meeting by calling the number and pin that you will find in the calendar event. 

If you want to talk to your colleagues, simply send a spontaneous invitation to those who want or have time to talk, or even ... to have a virtual coffee! 

Use the practice of "One tab working"

If you don't have a computer with a big screen or even a dual monitor, it's even more important to focus and get the job done in every open tab of your browser. Likewise, if you are in a video call, minimize all the windows or tabs so that you can focus on the conversation, it is the same thing you do when you turn off the phone or close the laptop when you get to a meeting. 

Don't lose your routine

Avoid staying in home attire all day. When you get up, continue your daily work routine: grooming, dressing, eating breakfast and heading to your work area. 

Find the perfect combination between your schedule and your energy

One of the best things about teleworking is not having to commute to and from the office every day. This allows you to play around with business hours. If you are an early riser or have children, try to get up early, if on the contrary, you are more nocturnal, use the afternoon as your usual schedule, leaving the mornings only for those tasks of interaction with your team or clients. Productivity is not only about what you do, but also how and when you do it. 

Working from home doesn't mean you work all-day

Setting limits when your home becomes your office can be difficult. Keep your computer in your work area, take your rest breaks and set your work hours in your Calendar, so that your colleagues or clients can verify when you are available. 

Create your to-do list the day before

To keep ideas from escaping, or from being forgotten, you can make to-do lists throughout the day and organize them into your work schedule for the next day. So, at the beginning of the day, you already have most of your activities scheduled. For this, you can use Calendar, Keep or Tasks within your account.

Finish those things that you have pending for a long time

When you are at home, there are always gaps that you can use to finish those things that you started and never finished or even long ago, that you want to do. Make a list of these projects or tasks in Keep and create a periodic task to review from time to time.

Be more flexible and be considerate of the situation of others

Some people live in small apartments and others have the whole family or pets at home. The connection may become slower, you will hear children screaming or dogs barking in the background, just remember that everyone is adapting to telecommuting and trying their best to make it work in the best possible way and within their particular circumstances.

As in Infiflex, our company infrastructure was always modernized and up to date. Making home the new office to handle the crisis, has worked to our advantage. Thanks to our frontline team members for making it possible. We are conducting seminars in coordination with Google to enable our clients to work seamlessly from home. Connect with us for any assistance.