Now that we are facing a global pandemic, a lot of people are working from home. We all know how challenging the shift from an office setting to home setting can be, especially that it all happened too fast–which brought us to the point that we ask ourselves if we are ready for it or if we have the means to do it.
As working from home becomes part of the “new normal”, the foundation of trust between managers and employees becomes stronger than ever. Employees are held accountable for their actions as it is harder to supervise workers with the work from home set up. However, the freedom that comes with work from home setting can cause workers to develop bad habits. Let’s take a look at some bad habits that you want to avoid:
-
Being too distracted while working
There are so many distractions when working from home–house chores, children or pets. It is hard to stay focused in the same environment where you relax. There are tendencies that those who are working from home might be less productive than working in the office.
-
Taking advantage of the privileges
Another bad habit you can develop is abusing the privileges of working from home. As working from home gives you the freedom to do anything you want during work hours, some people abuse it by working less. Reality is, some people tend to miss out on the little things without realizing the convenience of working from home, like not having to commute on hot days and being able to save more since you just spend most of your days at home.
-
Slacking off
Another bad habit is developing the mindset of “no one’s watching anyway”. Once you develop this mindset, you will start doing less and less until you don’t finish your work at all. Since you’re working from home, you might think that it’s okay to watch Netflix or that Korean drama you have been wanting to watch. But those are distractions that hinder you from being productive while working from home, and yes, it is considered as slacking off.
-
Communicating less
When working remotely, one major issue is the lack of face-to-face communication. It is important to let them know when you can’t attend virtual meetings, always keep them posted. Keep in mind that it is hard to supervise people that are working from home and that keeping in touch through social media platforms with your co-workers is the only way to show them that you’re still keeping the ball rolling.
As they say, bad habits are hard to break, but once these bad habits are recognized by you, you will take action on correcting them especially when it affects your overall performance when working. Always keep in mind that developing these bad habits only make working from home more challenging than it already is.