With the way 2020 and 21 have panned out, ‘work-from-office’ is no longer the norm. The pandemic took us for a toss and as much as most people have acclimated themselves to work-from-home, it still is tricky to get right.
One would imagine that working from home is a stress-free and easy option when compared to the daily battle we wage with rush hour traffic and sitting at a desk for 8 hours straight. However, this was not the case for many. According to a recent survey, most office workers have called 2020 their most stressful work year. These tips listed below will make work-from-home very productive and also maintain your work-life balance.
Essential tips for remote working
1. Maintain regular working hours
Schedule your work timings and stick to them. Ad hoc work timings and meetings will have a negative impact on your work-life balance.
2. Create a morning routine
Mornings are the most productive time of the day. Plan it in such a way that you do the most important work in the mornings.
3. Take breaks
If you are working from home, it doesn’t mean that you should work without breaks. Schedule your breaks as usual. Half-hour lunch and two 15-minute breaks should be ideal.
4. Step out
Your body needs movement, fresh air and natural light for better blood circulation. Stepping out for at least a short while before, during, and after your working hours will make you more productive and stress-free.
5. Do not hesitate to ask for what you need
If you’re working from home, you will need certain minimum hardware, software and other infrastructure. Don’t hesitate to ask your employer if you need any help on any of these.
6. Keep a dedicated office space
Even though you are working from home, you should have a dedicated workspace where nobody will disturb you.
7. Have a separate phone number
It is always a good idea to have separate personal and work numbers. It can be a VoIP service, such as Google Voice or Skype.
8. Use a VPN
Connecting through a VPN is a safe and secure way to access your official network. You don’t have to worry much about malware, phishing, spyware and virus attacks
9. Socialize with colleagues
During these times of pandemic, loneliness, disconnect, and isolation are some of the common problems. Companies must offer ways for their employees to socialize.
10. Take sick leave
When you’re not well, take time off to visit a doctor and get the right treatment.
11. Invest in a workspace
It is not enough if you just have a separate workspace. You must also invest in certain infrastructure like table, chair, desktop cameras, adequate lightings, headsets, uninterrupted wi-fi connections etc.
12. Stay off social media
Social media is a great productivity drainer. You have to be careful about how much time you are spending on social media.
Use a good work app to stay connected
COVID-19 has initiated ‘the world’s largest work from home project’ and companies are doing everything in their capacity to maintain the same level of efficiency and productivity during this difficult phase. Companies are turning to SaaS tools to collaborate with their remote teams, get more organized and multi-task at work. Let’s take a look at some of the SaaS-based productivity tools that can help remote teams to collaborate better.
1. Clariti
Clariti is a simpler and cost-effective solution for small businesses to organize all their communications in one place. Clariti uses TopicFolders to automatically connect all your related conversations no matter which medium was used. For example, from TopicFolders you can start chats, emails, documents, and even to-do alerts. All related interactions regarding that topic will be automatically stored in that TopicFolder. Later, when you want to refer to a conversation that you have had on a particular topic, you don’t have to search for the information in different places like your email inbox, chat app, or your social feeds separately. All you have to do is remember the context and look inside the relevant TopicFolder for all your communication history. So, TopicFolders are an inbuilt mechanism to organize all your communication as it happens, without any effort on your part.
2. Bit.Ai
Bit is an end-to-end document collaboration solution. Bit is built for teams and individuals to create, collaborate, and organize all their work in one place from anywhere in the world. Bit can be used to create fast dynamic notes, documents, wikis, knowledge bases, projects, client deliverables, training guides, and client portals.
3. ProofHub
It is one of the best tools for project management and team collaboration. ProofHub is packed with all the features your teams need to plan, collaborate, organize, and deliver projects on time. It helps your teams to work together in the easiest, fastest, and smartest way with all the right tools put under one roof.
4. Insightly
It is one of the best modern customer relationship platforms. It promises to help you grow your business faster by building lasting relationships with your customers, through every step of the customer journey. Using Insightly, all your marketing, sales, and project delivery teams can work from a unified customer data platform. This tool can help you to quickly build a crystal-clear picture of your customers, their personal details, their needs, and their preferences.
5. Dropbox
Dropbox Business promises to be more than just secure file storage. It helps your teams, tools, and content come together. It is used for creating, storing, and sharing cloud content from Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides, Microsoft Office files, and Dropbox Paper alongside traditional files in Dropbox. Dropbox Spaces brings your files and cloud content together so that your PowerPoints can live next to your Google Docs, Trello boards, and whatever tools your team wants to use.
By signing up for these SaaS-based tools discussed above, you can multitask and collaborate seamlessly with your remote team.
Choosing the best work-from-home tool
The pandemic has completely disrupted the normal ways we’re used to getting things done within our businesses. Having the most effective collaboration tools for businesses is key. These 10 Clariti features are key to ensuring maximum productivity and ease during this difficult time.
1. TopicFolder automatically organizes all your communication
Clariti automatically organizes all related communications within your team – emails, chats, calls, to-do lists, and documents – and organizes them into specific topics in TopicFolders. This is done without requiring any effort from you.
2. Complete Integration of all your business team’s communication
Wasting time switching between multiple apps, searching for information across different platforms, and relying on memory to figure out who said what, when and why can make the difference in your business’s success or failure. By bringing all apps to one place, Clariti saves time, supercharges productivity, and makes for all-around better communication and business continuity.
3. Linked to-dos
Having to-do’s easily accessible right within your communication interface keeps everyone on track. Clariti’s to-do lists have a convenient calendar view, alerts with snooze, and naturally linked to email, chats, and social media feeds from where they emanated.
4. Integrated calendar
Clariti’s calendar is easy to use so you can schedule events, view to-dos and never miss an important meeting or let things fall through the cracks.
5. Cloud storage integration
Having seamless access to your cloud storage platform is key to saving precious time when going about your virtual business day. Clariti supports Dropbox, G Drive, OneDrive, DropBox, pCloud, and Mega.
6. Chat with people outside the team
Using Clariti’s OrbitChat you can easily chat beyond just your company with anyone with an email address.
7. Unified search function
Clariti’s search function is system-wide and preserves context with each search. You can search across emails, chats, to-dos and even call notes and find related information. However, since Clariti automatically stores related information in named TopicFolders there is virtually no need to search.
8. Secure and safe communication
As we shift more and more to working online, the need for tough cybersecurity is imperative. Clariti is hosted in Amazon Web Services with 256-bit SHA encrypted data storage, communications, and OAuth logins ensuring your data and privacy are in safe hands.
9. Twitter-integrated work interface
Social media is key to maximizing your business’ reach. Clariti seamlessly integrates Twitter feeds so you can harness the full power of the platform to supercharge your business success and enhance your communication with potential customers.
10. Ease of use
Clariti is a SaaS tool that does not require any software download and installation. It works right off the browser and is accessible from any place where there is an internet connection. It has an intuitive user interface making communicating efficiently with your team and clients a breeze.
If you find yourself in a position where you will now be performing flexible remote work long-term, it’s important to consider all of the above elements to ensure success in your business and career. Working-from-home doesn’t have to be challenging. Just ensure that you’re following best practices and you’ll be good to go!
Recent Articles
Recent Blogs
Recent Posts
Team collaboration transformed: Chat and file sharing for enhanced productivity and workflows
Why integrating calendar and chat software would be a good option
Why messaging without full email support is incomplete
Why you should not separate email from chat
How embedding emails in chat facilitates sharing of context with all chat participants
