How to Be an Efficient Home Worker – Part One
According to a recent report by the Productivity Commission, the percentage of Australians working from home has jumped from 8% to about 40% over the past two years, staying high even when previous lockdowns have ended. And commission Chair Michael Brennan thinks the swift change in the way we are now working will remain a feature of our working life, even after the COVID-19 crisis is over. “I think it’s likely that working from home will continue at higher levels than we saw before the pandemic, maybe not so much at the levels we’ve seen at the height of lockdown, but somewhere in between,” he said.
Now, for most people, the opportunity of working at home sounds like a dream. Hopefully, for these people, there have been more and more careers in companies that allow their employees to work at home, often remotely. However, what may sound like a dream for some may turn out to be a nightmare for others, mostly if you are not ready for this sort of paradigm shift in working.
There are certain traits you either should have or learn to develop if you are going to successfully transition from a traditional office environment to the comparatively solitary life of the home worker. Self-motivation is perhaps the single most important trait employees will require to thrive in a home office environment. Working alone has its rewards, but external motivation is not one of them. Many successful at-home workers have an entrepreneurial spirit (this holds true for business owners as well as employees and contract workers): they are always producing new ideas, they thrive with minimal direction, and they happily take responsibility for the outcomes of their actions (and they hardly have any sick days!).
Resourcefulness is another feature you will either have or need to develop fast. When you work at home, the buck stops with you. There will be many times when you are faced with a problem or issue and need to solve it without input or advice from colleagues. Are you able to independently identify the root of a problem? Do you have great research skills? Are you a critical thinker? Do you feel confident handling the occasional crisis on your own? These are important traits when you work independently.
The inclination when working from home is to work every hour under the sun, simply because you can. But if ever the adage “Work smarter not harder” was true, it is true for the home worker. How does that work? Well, try to begin your day the same way. Maybe take a short walk before you go to your home office. Have a cup of coffee, walk the dog, or read or meditate before starting your work. An opening ritual will ease your mind, body and soul into the day. And at the end of the day (which you will make a set time that you should try your hardest to keep to), know when to stop working. Try to end each workday the same way. Straighten up your desk. Back up your computer. Make a list of what you need to do tomorrow.
Get used to carrying a notebook with you or keeping one close at hand – Thomas Edison did it. Virginia Woolf did it. And so did Charles Darwin. They toted a notebook with them everywhere and wrote down ideas that popped into their heads. Leaf through the notebook occasionally. Trust us: this is a fantastic way to spark ideas and weave creativity into the fabric of your life.
Respond to calls and e-mails quickly. Even if your response is. “I’ll get back to you,” try to get back to people within 24 hours or less. They will appreciate the courtesy. And more importantly, you will feel like you are (and actually will be) on top of things.
Finally, if you work Monday to Friday, take the Sunday night test. If you are like 99 per cent of the 40% of Australians currently working from home, you have experienced ‘Sunday Night Dread.’ This ailment begins creeping up your spine around 4:30 on Sunday arvo and reaches a crescendo around 11PM, as you realise you are going to have to go to work the following day. The worst thing you can do, by the way, is to go to your home office and try to get ahead of the curve. So, this Sunday night, when you go to sleep, ask yourself: “Am I suffering from Sunday night dread?” If so, you might be doing something wrong. But if you are not getting it – if you are lying there in bed thinking, “You know, I sort of like this. I am not dreading tomorrow. I’m actually looking forward to it” – then you’re probably on the right path.
In Part Two, we will look at how you can be an efficient home worker by getting your home office or homework space in peak condition.
