Due to the recent COVID-19 pandemic, more people are working from home than ever, either by choice or due to company rules. Even before the pandemic began, however, the trend of working from home was on the rise, with a lot of growth in remote work.

While some people find it easy to work from home, others may struggle. It can be a huge change, and some might discover they much prefer working in an office. Thankfully, there are a few things that can be done to make working from home a bit easier to manage.

So whether you are someone working from home, or managing a team of those who are working remotely, here are a few tips to improve the experience.

Know and Utilize the Available Online Tools

In the past, working from home simply wasn't possible, because much of the work required was dependent on equipment only available at the office. That is no longer the case. Nowadays, almost everything can be done from home. Much of the work is done on computers and with remote desktop access and technologies such as cloud computing, the office can be taken anywhere.

Of course, in order to achieve the best results, you need to know the right tools to use. This can be everything from collaborating on projects with programs such as Slack, to sending important faxes over the internet via eFax. 

By knowing the right tools to use, working from home can be just as effective as being in the office. More and more tools with incredibly useful features are always being released or updated, so keep your eyes for technologies that will help you work well remotely. 

Set Appropriate Boundaries

When you work in an office, it is very clear when your work day is over. However, when working from home, your personal and professional lives can sometimes blend into each other. This can lead to people to work more than they should, or need to. In order to combat this, be sure to do your best to have a set routine. While incorporating some flexibility is a good idea, you want to roughly start and end work at the same time, every day.

This can help you develop a routine and know when it's time for work, and when it's not. Once your work day is done, do your best to separate yourself from work. This can be anything from turning off your work-related notifications, or simply locking the door to your office and leaving it closed until the next day. Having these boundaries will stop you from overworking yourself and potentially burning out.

Maintain Effective Communication

Effective communication is very important in any business relationship. This is especially true when working from home. At the office, it's easy enough to quickly pop by a person's desk and have a chat, if needed. The same can't be said if one side of that conversation is working from home. Ensure that people on both sides make an effort to communicate and keep each other on the same page.

Also, some people will suffer from a little bit of loneliness or a feeling of being left out when working from home, and good communication strategies can often help with that. Regular updates can take place via video chats or calls, text messaging, or on a project management platform. Of course, constant communication is too much and can feel overwhelming, so do your best to find a balance. 

Working from home is incredibly common right now, but isn't always the easiest for people to adjust to. By communicating well, using various online tools and setting boundaries, working from home can be much more enjoyable, and effective.