What May Be Causing Your Dip in Productivity

You can gain some significant benefits by working remotely. One of those most often referenced is the potential to boost your productivity. One recent study reported an overall productivity growth in 2020 of 47% that was driven by remote working practices. This is obviously an attractive prospect for both businesses and workers. But the reality is, efficiency when working from home is far from guaranteed.  

There is a range of factors you may find influencing your ability to stay productive. Indeed, the expectation of enhanced productivity now you’re working from home can put additional unhealthy pressure on you to perform. As such, it’s not unusual to find you’re dipping a little in your efficacy. The key to overcoming this is to identify the reasons behind your slump and implement measures to overcome them.

Let’s take a look at some of the common factors you may find contributing to your dip in productivity and some potential solutions. 

Experiencing Fatigue

Remote working is often considered to be a great way to get projects over the line. You may be more focused on your tasks and it’s not unusual to find you’re working longer hours as you’re not commuting to the office. Unfortunately, this can lead to various types of fatigue. When you’re under pressure and run down, this may be impacting your overall productivity. 

The irony here is your habit of working longer hours in consistent blocks can potentially be making you less able to produce high-quality work. Not only that, but you could be risking burnout or other serious mental and physical health conditions. As such, it is vital to start implementing measures to mitigate overwork. Set strict start and finish times for your working day. Make sure you communicate these to your boss or clients and make it clear you won’t be answering emails or calls outside of this. 

An important consideration for fatigue also surrounds the activities you perform during the day. Computer fatigue can occur when you spend uninterrupted periods working in front of your screen every day. You must implement short breaks away from your computer every half hour or so. It’s also important to make time to get some fresh air. Get out of the house in the morning and afternoon, take a hike during your lunch break. Attending to your nutrition — particularly staying hydrated — can also be a contributing factor in reducing fatigue.

Feeling Isolated

Remote working can enhance your independent operating practices. After all, there aren’t quite so many office distractions in your home. In many cases, you’ll also be able to adopt your preferred methodologies. However, even if you’re a naturally introverted person, the isolation you experience away from the office can have a negative impact. This hit to your mental and emotional wellness may well be detrimental to your productivity.

This isn’t an unusual experience for those who work remotely. Humans need a certain amount of human connection in their lives. When you’re operating solo, you need to implement methods to recognize and cope with this sense of loneliness. Familiarize yourself with the mood changes, lack of energy, or even sleep disturbance that could suggest you’re feeling too isolated. You should then prepare and adopt relevant measures. Join recreational clubs and open regular casual communication channels with colleagues.

You may find it helpful to occasionally replicate the atmosphere of the office environment. Davinci can help you connect with thousands of coworking spaces around the globe. Wherever you live there is likely to be a fully equipped space filled with like-minded remote workers. This gives you the ability to capitalize on your independence while also mitigating isolation.

Ineffective Collaboration

Solid teamwork is essential to the success of most companies. Unfortunately, close collaboration with colleagues isn’t always immediately practical in remote environments, particularly when everyone is new to the practice. Indeed, if you find you thrive most in a dynamic team situation, problems with achieving this remotely could be a cause of your dip in productivity.

There are some simple ways you can address this, though. Your first step is to reach out to your colleagues and manager to vocalize your concerns. These issues tend only to get worse if you don’t raise them early on. You can then work together to establish protocols to keep the team close, communicative, and productive. This could include having video meetings every week to catch up and talk about the challenges ahead. You may find it effective to adopt project management platforms to allow everyone to clearly see the team’s progress and roles in your projects. Virtual whiteboards can be effective in making sure everyone can contribute to brainstorming and ideation.

You may also want to suggest making arrangements for the team to meet in a physical space occasionally. This may be most appropriate if you all live in the same city or nearby. Davinci can help you locate a private and fully-serviced meeting room that you can reserve regularly. Even spending a couple of hours together to catch up on the project or perform collaborative activities can keep the team close, functional, and productive.

Conclusion

It is not unusual to experience a dip in productivity when you work from home. There could be a range of reasons for this, from experiencing fatigue to feeling isolated. You may also find you are no longer working in the easy collaborative environment you usually thrive in. It is important to recognize the root of your productivity lag and implement actions to mitigate their impact. Remote work is an opportunity to gain some enormous career and personal benefits, it’s worth making efforts to make the most of your experience.

About Adrian Johansen

Adrian Johansen lives, writes, and thrives in the Pacific Northwest, always seeking to learn new things and pass information on to others. You can find more of her writing on twitter @AdrianJohanse18.