Working from home offers some amazing opportunities, the biggest advantage of all might seem to be the potential flexibility in the workday. Wouldn't it be amazing to be able to start and stop working at any time, rather than following the normal 9-to-5 routine? Maybe one day you'd rather play with your kids than get started working right after breakfast. Wouldn't taking advantage of such opportunities be great?
The reality, however, is quite different. Structure and discipline are vital to productivity and happiness when working at home. While working from home offers some fantastic opportunities, it features significant distractions as well. The temptation to not follow a set daily schedule is one of the biggest distractions.
Shifting to virtual work amid the pandemic has also affected the workforce in Saudi Arabia. A report made by PwC states that the Kingdom has advanced in many initiatives, including doctors offering online consultations, teachers giving online classes, and more. Public and private sector employees may also use the country’s comprehensive internet coverage to work remotely whenever possible.
Sometimes, when you are working from home, there is no clear divide between work and rest. When you must go to the office every day, it's absolutely clear when the workday begins and ends. At home, no such division naturally exists. It's easy to fall into bad habits such as answering emails late into the evening or working ten-hour days. Such habits will increase stress and can lead to anxiety and unhappiness.
On the flip side, you may have the opposite problem. Adopting a professional mindset in the place where you normally rest and relax can be a major challenge. Severe procrastination or working too few hours may be the result. It can be easy to allow distractions, whether from people, pets, or household duties to overwhelm your attempts to be productive.
But the worst aspect of this problem is that often both rest and work time may suffer. Work and rest can bleed into one another, leading to the detriment of both. If you allow your concentration to constantly be broken by household distractions, you will never achieve deep focus and your productivity will decrease. You may also have to work long hours to compensate. As a result, you may feel overworked, stressed, and perform your job with less satisfaction.
The only solution is to reconstruct the division that normally exists between work hours and rest time. Since heading into the office isn't an option, you will have to impose discipline on yourself instead. One suggestion is to follow a set routine every workday. You can choose an appropriate starting and ending time, and you could treat those times as firm rules you must stick to except during extreme circumstances. You can start and stop immediately when the ending time arrives. Self-control is key.
Working from home is something you need to get right. In an attempt to do so, you would need to be disciplined and should not deviate from the schedule you had set. Remember, you'll be happier and more successful on the job if you maintain a solid barrier between your rest time and your working hours.
