Working from home: beyond the couch
The number of people who, for various reasons, prefer to work from home is growing. You may be one of them.
Why is working from home no longer an option, but a strategic decision?
Today, working from home is part of the work fabric. More than 55 % of professionals in Spain choose to do so even during the summer, and 14.6 % practice it regularly. The preference is clear: 51% consider that they perform better at home than in the office, and almost half say they have improved their work results.
Concrete benefits of working from home
- Increased concentration and results
The data confirms it: the level of focus rises from 66% to 71% on remote days, and in managerial profiles it reaches 83%. Studies show that most workers feel more productive working from home.
- Real personal well-being
Working from home frees up time: the equivalent of 10 days off a year, according to research by the Institute of Labor Economics. It also encourages healthier habits, less stress and more family time off.
- Satisfaction and retention
Hybrid workdays (2 days at home, 3 days in the office) have shown a notable reduction in quit rates and an increase in job satisfaction.
How to organize yourself to work from home
Your ideal work corner
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Choose a fixed space: light it well, make it quiet, avoid distractions such as the television.
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Invest in ergonomic equipment: chair, table, monitor... your health will thank you in the medium term.
Tools that make a difference
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Communication: Slack or Teams keeps the team connected.
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Projects: Trello, Asana or Monday help to visualize pending and progress.
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Personal control: Toggl or RescueTime help you optimize your time.
Routines that separate life and work
Set clear schedules and boundaries. Define a ritual at the end of the day (such as closing the screen or leaving the workspace) to help you disconnect.
Common challenges and how to overcome them
| Challenge | What can happen | How to prevent it |
|---|---|---|
| Occupational isolation | Loss of emotional connection with the team | Informal virtual meetings, social breaks, check-ins, etc. |
| Professional overload | Longer working days due to lack of clear boundaries | Manage schedules, turn off notifications outside the workday |
| Uneven visibility | More value is given to those who appear more in person | Hybrid presence at key meetings, fair use of metrics |
Legal framework in Spain (key if you spend more than 30% of your working day at home)
Working from home goes beyond "I log in from my living room". From 30% of telework in three months, the law requires:
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Written agreement between employer and employee.
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Equal rights: training, promotion, equal treatment, digital disconnection, data protection.
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Corporate commitment to equipment, cybersecurity and risk prevention in the home environment.
Trends and tools
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Customized hybrid models (custom-equipped, with real flexibility) are on the rise.
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Technology is evolving fast: virtual reality, more secure VPNs, AI that automates routine tasks... all driving work from home.
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The focus is no longer just on productivity, but on integral wellness, mental health and a sustainable model.
The importance of creating routines
The environment
Let's start with something simple. If you are going to work from home you will have a space adapted for it; a table, a desk, another room... But you are at home and there is something you can't get rid of: your cell phone.
Your first routine is going to be the following, every day when you sit down or go into that room, you are going to leave your cell phone out. Surely you have one for work or a landline where clients can contact you; your private cell phone where your friends write WhatsApps to you all the time is not something you should have with you.
On the other hand, it is proven that a positive environment becomes a productive environment. We love working with piped music and one of the advantages of working from home in terms of atmosphere is that you are the DJ.
The schedule
As a general rule, we are all used to working 8 hours straight in an office. Now that you have the option of working from home, that may be exactly what you don't want to do. So we are going to propose you something infallible to decide what hours you are going to do it. For example, you might want to get off on Friday afternoons because you are meeting your friends, or on Wednesdays you might want to come in later because you are taking your children to school.
Our idea is this: test. Just as it sounds. The only way to know if we like something, if something really suits our needs is to test if it works. You may think you'll perform better if you get up at 7 a.m. but it turns out that getting up early is not your thing. It's all about you assessing your own needs for working from home, and based on that, adapting yourself.
The point is to set parameters that you are willing to follow when deciding what your best schedule is. After all, you don't need 8 hours a day to perform like 8 hours, do you?
Breaks
Working from home for so many hours at a time without stopping can be a personal drain that can only be solved by reducing your productivity. This is like driving, remember to make a technical stop along the way.
Now then, we are at home. Our advice is that your breaks also follow a schedule, simply because of one fact: distraction. When we are at home, we manage to be distracted by everything, even the household chores we were slowly putting off.
As you can see, working from home has more complicated aspects than it may seem at first. But it also has very positive things like stress reduction. We don't have to get up at a time we are unhappy with, we don't have to take a subway or bus running, we don't have two-hour traffic jams to get downtown, and we don't have to get up just two hours earlier to get to the office on time. Working from home can't offer you more time flexibility; let's learn to use these advantages to our advantage.
Pure routine
A good routine can increase our productivity when working from home to an unknown extent. You, as an adult and working person, have full knowledge of what tasks you have to accomplish; that's why you will be your own best organizer. But let's see what kind of days exist in our schedule.
- The boom day
- The day of doom
- The following day
- Establish a daily routine: Define clear schedules to start and end your day, and stick to them consistently to generate healthy habits.
- Disconnect from household chores: Physically separate your work space from your break space and avoid performing household chores during your working hours.
- Take active breaks: Take at least 5 minutes every hour to stretch, perform breathing exercises or even go for a short walk.
- Practice mindfulness: Techniques such as meditation, mindfulness exercises or even reflective writing can help reduce anxiety, improve concentration and increase mental clarity.
- Good lighting and ventilation.
- Inspirational elements: Plants, art or motivational phrases.
- Avoid working from bed or couch.
- Invest in ergonomic furniture: A good chair and the right desk can make all the difference in your comfort and postural health.
Depending on your industry and how you are working, a Monday may be the day you spend the most time sending and receiving emails. Therefore, never set that Monday as the end of a project, because that is exactly when you will need the most time; working from home does not save you the trouble of an email with the client of the day.
Fridays are our downfall. Assume above all that Fridays are the day we want to be the freest in our lives, that we are thinking about going out for a drink with our friends rather than working from home... let's face it! Motivation is key in our routine in search of productivity. Setting a Friday off is neither a sin nor a bad thing.
You may not have a Monday or Friday like this one, but I'm sure that when you read it, your subconscious has identified which day of the week is more like it. Simply apply it.
Every day, whether it is Monday or Wednesday, you should sit at your desk to work from home knowing what tasks you have to do. Throughout that same day different tasks may arise that you will add to that list of tasks but remember, everything must have labels: important, urgent, in process, finished.
Managing emotions in remote work
To maintain a positive emotional balance, it is essential to develop effective strategies to manage frustration and lack of motivation.
Strategies for coping with frustration and stress from home
Create a workspace that inspires you
Your environment directly influences your emotional state. Design a space that promotes creativity and concentration:
At Aticco, our coworking spaces are designed with these principles in mind, offering an optimal environment for your productivity and well-being. Visit us and find out how we can help you improve your work experience!
