With so many people working from home during the Covid-19 crisis, more people are learning about the benefits of working from home:
As most Americans continue to adjust to working from home during quarantine, the number of hours workers save on commuting hassles is being redistributed into their work.
Remote working certainly has some perks during the COVID-19 crisis. Social distancing and shelter-in-place are two of the best ways to help combat the virus since it encourages people to stay indoors and not head over to the office. But the additional free-time that comes with no commutes and standing in traffic for countless hours means US workdays are up by three hours since the rise in the coronavirus outbreak, according to a new analysis.
Of course, other productivity issues can arise with distractions at home, particularly if you have kids at home.
But the advantages of eliminating commuting time is real. This gives workers so much more time to work with during the day, and an 11-hour day feels like a normal 8-hour day.
It will be interesting to see how employers use this information. Having worked from home for years, this isn’t a surprise.
We all struggle with ways to become more productive. For example, some of us to well with to do lists, while others don’t get much from them. Naturally this depends a great deal on your own personality, your work situation and the type of work.
That said, it’s always great to hear other ideas and see what might work well for you and your situation.
This article provides examples of 6 tools that other than to-do lists that can be helpful for productivity. Check them out, but several stand out:
One involves distinguishing between low attention tasks and high attentions tasks. For example, some things like clearing out email are high attention tasks. When you have some energy with laser focus, you can knock many of these off your list. Then you can budget time for those tasks that require real concentration.
You can also benefit from scheduling s “power hour” each day. This should be a time when you can turn off distractions and get through some work that requires concentration without interruption. I’m thinking of ways to add this to my schedule, though I try to do this first thing in the morning.
Here’s an interesting clip of an interview with Bill Gates and Warren Buffett. They key takeaway here is that you don’t do yourself any favors by completely loading up your schedule. Don’t be so quick to block off your time, as it’s your most valuable asset. This is particularly good advice for busy CEOs and entrepreneurs. Reserving time to read and think is critical to success.
We’ve been hearing this for years, but Americans are working more these days, and many are taking fewer vacations days. This trend is disturbing as regular rest is critical for a work-life balance.
There are several issues to consider. In many cases, Americans are getting fewer vacation days as part of their benefits package.
In other cases, however, many Americans don’t take all the the vacation they have available. With career pressures and recent job market challenges, this is understandable. Workers are concerned about job security, and taking less vacation time is one way to make yourself seemingly more valuable to your employer.
But over the long term this can hurt your productivity. Getting away and recharging yourself is critical. Not just for enjoyment, but also to make you more productive.
So grab your bathing suit and get out to the beach, or frankly anywhere else you and your friends/family may enjoy.
There are may significant advantages for a company letting workers telecommute and work remotely. Productivity often increases as this flexibility makes workers happier. In today’s world, it’s important for a company to offer this option for some jobs.
Yet there are disadvantages when you don’t have workers together on a consistent basis. It’s impossible to replicate the casual environment of workers being together at lunch and around the office. Much gets done when people are together.
Every company needs to strike the right balance, and that’s what Marissa Mayer is trying to do at Yahoo!, but her recent announcement has sparked a backlash.
“To become the absolute best place to work, communication and collaboration will be important, so we need to be working side-by-side. That is why it is critical that we are all present in our offices. Some of the best decisions and insights come from hallway and cafeteria discussions, meeting new people, and impromptu team meetings. Speed and quality are often sacrificed when we work from home.”
Just reading this, it seems like this could have been handled better by bring up the issue and looking at specific jobs. As stated above, balance is best.
But I suspect the problem may have gotten out of control at Yahoo! and that has prompted Mayer to take a hard line. Workers can be very productive at home in terms of how much they work, but it’s harder to keep workers focused on what’s best for the company if they are always at home.
It will be fascinating to see how this story develops.
