In the COVID-19 era, the percent of people working remotely five or more days a week has increased 27%! That’s a lot more home office hours, and new ways to communicate!
The good news is that we’ve considered what problems you might be facing while working from home and have gathered some solutions! In this post we’ll cover:
- Tips to increase your productivity
- Technology that can help you solve work from home problems
- The benefits of TapeACall
We Know that Remote Work is Difficult
Working from home means that your attention is pulled in a million different directions. It means that on top of your job, your kids need to be homeschooled or kept entertained, your pet wants attention, and there’s a host of chores that need to get done. It means that, unsurprisingly, distractions were ranked as the biggest challenge people face when working remotely.
Even if you love certain aspects of working from home — no one is lamenting the loss of a long commute, after all — the distractions that come with the loss of a controlled office environment are incredibly stressful. And quite frankly, no one needs more stress these days.
Working from home, however, is not going away anytime soon. 74% of companies plan to continue remote work in some form even after COVID-19. This means that it is imperative to find productivity practices and a work-life balance that work for you.
A few simple tips on increasing productivity:
- Try to designate a space in your home that’s only for work. As tempting as it is to use remote working as an opportunity to lounge on your couch all day, this blurs the line between your professional life and your home life. By creating a specific work area, not only are you more likely to increase your productivity while sitting there, but you are also more likely to separate yourself from your work at the end of the day.
- Keep your schedule consistent from day to day. Humans are creatures of habit, so by working at the same time every day you’re more likely to focus on the task at hand. Even something as simple as waking up at the same time every day and following an early morning routine can prepare you for work much like your commute used to.
- Take breaks! Without a bustling office environment it’s easy to get wrapped up in the task at hand and forget to take a break, which can quickly lead to burnout. Some people like to schedule breaks using methods like the Pomodoro Technique where people work for 25 minutes and then break for 5 minutes. Whether you prefer spontaneous or scheduled downtime, use it in whatever way will help you recharge. This might mean just taking some time to yourself, or it could mean hanging out with your family. Think of them as your new water cooler buddies!
Sometimes More Concrete Solutions Are Necessary
While the above tips are absolutely helpful to a certain degree, you might be thinking right about now that they sound a little too good to be true. Sadly, you’d be right. These tips are a great starting point, but if you’re looking for solutions to more specific work from home problems I unfortunately have to remind you of the saying “you get what you pay for”.
So on that note, here is a list of technologies that can help you with some of your other remote work struggles:
- Grammatica — Like the name suggests, this program checks your writing for any grammar mistakes and gives suggestions on awkward phrasing. Using it means less time focusing on editing your work, and more time getting something else done!
- Scanner App — Now that you’re no longer in an office environment, you’ve probably found yourself needing to send people more documents. This app easily scans documents and converts them to easily shareable PDFs or JPEGs.
- Notarize — Depending on what you do for a living, you might need access to a notary. With this app that lets you set up a video chat with a notary, you’re able to get your work done and maintain social distancing guidelines!
Finally, you’re probably wondering what can help with the aforementioned distraction problem. Thankfully, there is a very effective answer….
TapeACall Can Help Record Your Business Calls
Using 3-way conference call technology, the app — which is available on iOS and Android — is an incredibly easy and effective way to record your phone calls. With TapeACall, it won’t matter if your neighbor’s car alarm goes off right when your boss is telling you something important. You can simply listen to the recording or use the handy transcription feature to look up the part of the call you missed.
There are also a number of other features that ensure the app can assist you in any situation. Here are just a few:
- You can start recording a call with the push of a button at any point during the conversation. This can be very helpful if something unexpected comes up and starts to distract you, or in states where you need permission to record someone.
- Finally, TapeACall has unlimited cloud storage, so regardless of how many meetings you have and phone calls you record, they will always be available for you to reference.
- Since taking notes during a meeting can be a challenge while actively participating in it, the recording and transcription can also be easily shared with coworkers via apps like Google Drive, Dropbox, or even your work’s internal communications system . It is important to be careful with this feature, however, as you might find yourself being invited to everyone’s meetings from now on!
Why is TapeACall Worth Downloading?
When considering everything going on in the world, easy-to-use technology for remote work is needed now more than ever.
You shouldn’t have to worry about remembering every detail of a professional phone call. By operating as a subscription service, TapeACall can be as flexible as your work schedule. In fact, TapeACall recordings have actually increased since COVID-19 began, proving that it has helped people adjust and manage their remote work!
TapeACall is not here to solve all of your problems, but it is a simple and practical way to take away the stress of distractions. TapeACall can provide an easy way to look back at details you might have missed. Download it here and let your work productivity feel superhuman.