The biggest challenges of working from home and solutions to overcome them

Working from home is an ideal way to work-life-balance and comes with a great many advantages. However, doing so does not mean the challenges that we will have to face as a remote professional. Just as working in an office has a unique set of challenges, some of them as a remote employee can also pop up.

Remote working sounds like business revolution which we will need but it`s not something that can be switch to and hope for the best. Despite all perks remote workers enjoy, many challenges arise from it. To demonstrate it in this article, I`ll show common remote work challenges and how to solve them.

The blurred line between personal and professional life

When we work from home, there is no longer have a clear geographic division between workspace and personal space. Ideally, your home is a place of relaxation, safety, and security. It’s a place where you subconsciously slip into a calm, easygoing state of mind, putting the stresses of the workday behind you.

Working from home punches a hole right through that neat mental division. Many remote workers complain they feel like they’re never off the job. They always feel a compulsion to check email or get “just one last thing done.”

How to solve it

You must set aside a physical space for working, separate from the rest of your home.

For many, that means a home office. I maintain a home office with a door that locks and a huge warning sign never to interrupt me when the door’s closed. It took a while, but my family eventually learned to respect the rules. Also, I know people who invested in a pair of outstanding noise-canceling headphones that block out family noise and keep him entrenched in his job.

Finally, I would say the clearer the boundaries you draw — both in space and time — between your work life and personal life, the better you can keep the two comfortably distinct.

Maximizing Productivity 

Poor productivity is the worst thing for remote workers and also one of the most difficult challenges to overcome.

The longer it takes to complete tasks, the more they eat into your personal life and the less effective you become as a team member.

If you’re am unproductive remote worker, things quickly start to fall apart, and working from home (or anywhere else) feels more like a curse than a perk.

How to solve it

Here’s a simple three-step plan to maximizing productivity from my point of view:

1.Avoid multitasking: Set a single goal for each day and focus on achieving that target.

2.Work in short bursts: To keep focus at a higher level and increase motivation with multiple short deadlines.

3.Remove distractions: Stop unnecessary distractions from killing your productivity, especially text messaging or instant communication application.

Maintaining engagements and focus

Working from home is a wonderful arrangement for those who want to escape the daily commute and wasted time on the road or be home for their kids when they hop off the bus. However, being away from a day-to-day office comes with the challenge that you may, at times, wane in your engagement and focus.

How to solve it

Considering starting your day off with practicing your favorite sport or a yoga session to promote focus and mental engagement. Services such as Headspace provide readily available options to start your day with meditation, which can help with mental clarity and stress release.

Overcoming Distraction

Even if you decide on a set schedule and have a dedicated space to work, staying productive during your working hours can prove challenging if you’re working from home.

Surrounded by your personal belongings and reminders of chores, it’s hard to focus. Distractions like your TV, books, and the laundry start calling to you. Despite planning to work until 12:30 before breaking for lunch, you find an excuse to break early. If your spouse or children also happen to be home, they don’t hesitate to interrupt you at every opportunity.

How to solve it

Physically removing yourself into a separate home office helps. But also make sure you remove distractions from your work area. With no TV or books around, you succumb to the less easily.

Noise-canceling headphones can help you avoid auditory distractions, such as your kids playing or your spouse watching your favorite show.

Set rules with your family not to disturb you while you’re working. Tell them to behave as though you were at the office.

Overworking or Unplugging after work

Although a remote job offers more flexibility, some people tend to spend much more time on work than is required. Rest deprivation, exhaustion, lack of private time are just a few of the adverse effects.

How to solve it

To prevent overworking, find below some tips which may help you out:

• Tracking work time, with the use of software, a remote worker can determine how many hours are spent on work and limit the time to the most useful 8 hours per day or so.
• Prioritizing tasks, checking the daily tasks, and working on those with accurate descriptions and due dates, really important.
• Organizing day implies taking breaks and setting the alarm clock for when it’s time to complete the work.

Finally, telecommuting comes with a slew of benefits, from ditching the daily commute to a more flexible work schedule to being able to live and work anywhere in the world. But don’t believe the hype — it still requires work, and with every benefit comes a challenge.

By Adriano Novaes, Senior Cybersecurity Consultant
Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil