Work From Home Tips For Small Businesses – A Guide

1. Create your workspace

Most likely, the whole idea of working from home is completely new to you. So, you may have never bothered to create a dedicated workspace at home. But now you have to. Creating a home office isn’t as difficult as some people think. All you need is a laptop or desktop stand, wireless headphones a comfortable chair, WiFi connectivity and good lighting. If there’s any unused space in your house, you can very well put these things together in there. Try finding a space that’s free of distraction.

2. Use a planner

For most people working from home, their work has pretty much remained the same. You still need to make sure everything gets done on time and in the right way. One extremely useful way to do is by using a planner. It allows you to list down all the important tasks that you have to accomplish throughout the day and check out each item once done. This allows you to stick to deadlines and not miss out anything urgent. There are many planners available online that lets you plan your day on the go through your mobile phone. You can consider downloading one of them.

3. Know your limitations

Just because you are working from home and you don’t have to commute to work does not mean you spend your time just being stuck to your laptop. If your usual working hours were from 9am to 5pm, then you should make it slightly flexible for yourself. You can set a few hours in the morning and a few hours in the evening to work and slip in some exercise and family time in between that. This will help you break the monotony yet be productive at the same time.

4. Collaborate more often

The new norm of working from home has certainly brought about a physical division between teammates. Now, instead of physical meeting rooms, things have moved online. Everyone is stuck at home but the need to maintain a proper flow of communication between teams is crucial. You need to invest in the best collaboration tool for your small business if you are working from home. Invest in a tool that allows you to chat, share screens and make conference calls. These tools will surely help you stay connected with the rest of the team. The best part, they also have a mobile app version that makes things all the more convenient.

5. Care for yourself

The best part about working from home is that you will be able to rely less on takeaways and office deliveries. During normal working days, you may have surely felt how badly your eating schedule used to go haywire. Endless meetings, calls and excel sheets can completely take over your eating time, thereby causing you to rely on something convenient like getting unhealthy snacks and junk foods to your office. But as you work from home, you can take out time to care for yourself by eating on time and eating the right thing.

6. Reward yourself

Of course, working from home without having social interaction can cause stress and loneliness and your motivation level to plummet. But as a small business owner, you cannot give yourself to stress and anxiety. In these times, you have to first be with yourself. The more self-motivated you are, the better you can motivate your employees to contribute their best. To stay motivated, you need to create a reward system for yourself. Treat yourself with something nice or give yourself some extra hours a day to read or pursue an activity if you accomplish your daily targets. This will give you the confidence that you are doing well so far, and you can do it further.

The above are just some of the many tips to follow while working from home. It’s true that the pandemic has ushered in some certain times for small businesses but the key to overcoming this lies in staying strong and together. Be patient with yourself and keep your team motivated to do well. You will surely be able to sail through this phase.

References:

Business2Community, April 6, 2020, 12 Tips for Working From Home, Avl at: https://www.business2community.com/strategy/12-tips-for-working-from-home-02298814

Nextiva Blog, Posted on March 15,2020, Author: Gaetano Dinardo, 32 Working from Home Tips You Can Do Right Now (Updated), Avl at: https://www.nextiva.com/blog/working-from-home-tips.html

Biz2Credit, Posted on Macrh, 16, 2020, Author: Tim Kelly, Working From Home – Top Tips for Small Business Owners and Employees, Avl at: https://www.biz2credit.com/blog/2020/03/16/working-from-home-small-businesses-top-tips/

Small Business Trends, Last Updated: May 28, 2020, Author: Annie Pilon, How to Work from Home, Avl at: https://smallbiztrends.com/2020/03/how-to-work-from-home.html