How to Ensure Productivity while Working Remotely - Khushboo Jain

Amidst COVID-19 pandemic, corporate offices have shut down asking their employees to work remotely from home. Getting accustomed to working from home will be a task for which employees will need to prepare themselves.

We talked with Khushaboo Jain, Co-Founder and COO at ImpactGuru.com about how to ensure productivity while working remotely. Here are 8 tips given by her to ensuring productivity while working remotely:

1) Creating A Workspace

The easiest thing to do, in order to get into a working mode, is to ensure that there is a designated workspace in your house. This may be a separate room dedicated for the sole purpose of being a home workstation, &/or a pre-existing space that can be turned into a work environment.

Either way, the work area should be clean and free from any clutter, and comfortable enough to not cause fatigue while working. Apart from this, you should ensure that the internet connection is stable and fast enough to allow for swift communication. If your work involves a lot of video calls/conferences, then you should also have decent lighting. Make sure that your background is clear and free from all clutter.

2) Having The Right Tools

After having the workspace set up, the next focus should be on ensuring that one has all the tools necessary to have a productive day. In terms of hardware, most companies are willing to provide laptops to their employees working from home. Any additional requirements such as a mouse or a communication headphone should be readily available. It is important to have all the required

software’s/programs/applications for your work and seamless communication pre-installed in your device.

3) Communication

The primary means of communication during this period will be emails, phone calls, video calls/conferences, and instant messaging. You will need to know how to use these mediums effectively, and also which one is most likely to get a quick response.

4) Know What is The Expected Outcome From You

Get a clear idea as to what the end objective of your task should be. This will let you work more effectively, and reduce the chances of errors that will require revisions later.

5) Setting Timelines

If you are to collaborate with someone for a project, make sure that both have set aside time to communicate and update the other. You are accountable, so ensure that your timeline is set in such a way that you can achieve your objectives for the day, while also having time to make any quick revisions.

6) Avoiding Distractions

Your family, friends, pets and household chores will all be distractions you are not been prepared for. In these situations, you will have to know how to set up boundaries and let everyone know, that even though you are at home, it doesn’t mean you are available.

7) Know When To Unplug

Likewise, it is also important to let your company know when you are available and when you are not. Have a specific time after which you can stop concentrating on work and can get back to your home mentally. Ideally, it can be the same as your punch-out. This will also help you stick to the timeline more effectively.

8) Take Care Of Your Health

Now, more than ever, it is essential for you to take care of your health, both physical and mental. If you feel fatigued at your regular workplace, the options to unwind are limited, but at home, you have more and better options. You could take some time off to exercise, relax or cook.As long as it doesn’t affect your timeline, you are good to go.

For employees working from home now, accountability will be the most important factor when it comes to them being as efficient as they can. With most of one’s travel time cut down, an accountable employee can prepare himself/herself better for work, with respect to health and skills.

Also Read:

• 8 Tips to Stay Productive while Working Remotely
• Effect of Coronavirus Crisis on Employment

About ImpactGuru.com:

ImpactGuru.com is India’s leading healthcare financing platform for patients, raises money online for medical expenses via crowdfunding. It aggregates a large number of online payments to allow any individual requiring financial assistance to raise funds for medical expenses - be it cancer, transplant, accident, or any medical emergency.

About Khushboo Jain:

Khushboo Jain co-founded crowdfunding platform ImpactGuru.com in July 2014 and has served as the company’s Chief Operating Officer. In addition, she heads ImpactGuru’s Communications, Design and Brand teams. Khushboo Jain is actively involved in the company’s marketing and communications strategies, community building activities, the ImpactGuru product users’ experience, and with ImpactGuru’s work with non-profits.

Khushboo was recently featured amongst the Top 15 winning women entrepreneurs at NITI Aayog & United Nations, 2019 Women Transforming India Awards. Khushboo Jain began an entrepreneurial career and co-founded ImpactGuru.com with a mission to help India’s people find crowdfunding solutions for patients struggling to fund critical illnesses.