More people than ever find themselves working from home. While the dream of opening your laptop, and sitting in your pajamas all day sounds great, many are having a hard time adjusting to this new reality.

Many are struggling in learning how to work from home, or fashioning home offices out of any spare furniture they have laying around. The biggest struggle for those working from home is being as productive as they were in the office.

Managers everywhere are worried they will see an insurmountable drop in productivity, and that their workers will fall behind the ever-increasing to-do list.

As someone who feels like a pioneer in virtual work, I can finally say that my time has come! Finally, I can share my knowledge on how to work from home and still love it! I have had triumphs and epic failures, but still love the ability to work remotely, and have loved every day of craving out my stake as a freelancer, and built my career faster than I believe I could have in a traditional working environment.

If you are looking for the best tips to work remotely, and still love it, read on!

How to set up your home office

For those struggling to adjust to working at home, one of the easiest ways to get back on track is to revamp your working space. While the notice to start working remotely was nowhere to be found, people have acted fast to cobble together barely functional work spaces.

For those working remotely, having a working home office is a necessity. Having a great office space doesn’t mean you have to drop a lot of money or even add all the bells and whistles.

The key to any workspace is that it is functional. That means having a hard surface for your computer, a comfortable chair you can sit in for hours, and ideally a door you can close for when you have virtual meetings.

You can make this out of any items you already own. When I first started working from home, I used a camp table and even an outdoor chair that had cupholders in the arms. It wasn’t glamorous, but it worked and was comfortable. Depending on the tasks I was able to switch where my ‘office’ was for the day and could work outside on sunny days on my patio, or work at the kitchen table, or in the recliner if it suited the work I had to do.

For working from home you will need:

1. A dedicated workspace: Whether the kitchen table or sunroom, have a dedicated area you will work.
2. A Table/desk: For anyone who types you will need a table for your day-to-day interactions.
3. A comfortable chair: Camping chairs, kitchen chairs, or recliners? While nothing can beat an office chair, a comfortable chair you can sit in for hours will help!
4. Office Equipment: High-speed routers, printers or scanners are all necessities of working from home!

Setting up a home office is a necessity for those working remotely. Not only will having a dedicated space help switch your brain into work mode, but it can help you be more productive. By having a dedicated workspace that is functional, you can focus more on what you need to work on, not the distractions of your home!

Must-Have Items For Working Remotely

While those that work in an office are used to having their work supplies readily available, those transitioning into working from home may find that their workspace is ill-equipped.

For those working from home, they are often lacking the supplies they need to support their workday. Having the right equipment goes a long way to having a more productive workday!

Here are some must-have items for working remotely:

●     A Headset/webcam

●     High-Speed Internet

●     A Second Monitor

●     Printer or Scanner

●     A Good Pen (Nothing Beats A Good Pen)

●     Sticky Notes

●     Pen Holder

●     Desk Organizer

●     Notebooks

When working remotely, a headset and webcam go a long way! Online meetings are the norm right now, so having the right equipment (if your camera is lacking) is a must! Paired with fast internet these are necessities for meeting with your remote team.

Having the right equipment for working will minimize distractions throughout your workday. Having to get up from your desk and scrounge the house for a pen or pencil and a piece of paper won’t help your stay focused in your meeting.

Having pen and paper handy will make it easier for you to get your work done in a day, and when you get a smart idea you will be able to write it down as soon as the thought comes to mind!

You should do all you can to keep your home office as organized as possible. Having a clean layout to your desk, and having all the necessities within an arm's reach. If you are looking for some home office inspiration, check out this list of best items for your office.

How To Make A Productive Routine

The biggest struggle for those working from home for the first time. How to be productive while working from home? It’s easy! Just have a productive routine! Creating a productive daily routine for yourself is a great way to completely transform your workday. It can be as easy as setting the right habits in the morning!

The biggest mistake those working remotely do is they don’t have a hard ‘clock-in’ time. For those looking to be more productive, having a firm time to start and end your day makes it easy to frame the rest of your day and be more productive.

I have also found that having a healthy breakfast and morning workout gets my blood pumping and keeps me focused throughout the day. 

This is what my productive morning routine looks like:

●     Wake Up

●     Make and Eat A Healthy breakfast

●     Read For 15 Minutes

●     Workout for 1 hour

●     Take A Shower

●     Get Dressed For Work

●     Clock in For Work

What I love about my daily routine is that it is easy to modify depending on the day I am about to have, and puts me in a great mood for the rest of the day!

Routines set the bar high for personal productivity. If you aren’t much of a morning person you can still make yourself a productive routine that works for you. Even a short walk around the block is enough to get your blood pumping and help you get ready for your day.

When it comes to making a productive work routine, time blocking will be your best friend! Time blocking is a way of scheduling your workday to accomplish the most important tasks first. It minimizes distractions by applying a laser focus to the task at hand and only working on this task until it is complete.

When you set up your time block it is crucial to make sure that time is allocated correctly and properly. You should focus only on the most important task that will make your day easier if it is accomplished. Make sure you set realistic lengths of time to accomplish these tasks, and then work in the daily tasks that need to be completed.

By sticking to a strict morning routine, and applying a time block to your activities you will make it easier to keep yourself focused and productive when working from home.

How To Minimize Distractions When Working From Home

Working remotely is a blessing and a curse, while it may minimize the distractions caused by coworkers, there is still plenty to be distracted by at home!

Dishes, laundry, pets, children, you name it! To have a productive workday minimizing your home distractions are a necessity. One of the easiest ways to remove distractions at home is to set a clear routine and schedule for all your family members!

 For those with children or pets properly time blocking your day to include breaks to spend time with the kids, do an activity or even take the dog on a walk! When you time block, you can evenly properly schedule your children's schedule to collerlate when you have tasks that need to be done. If your son takes a nap at 2, that is when you can schedule a meeting to spend time working on your next big proposal.

You also need to set clear ‘clock out’ time to spend time with your family. It is harder than ever to unplug, but when you properly plan and time block you will feel more productive and be able to relax and spend time with family.

Another major distraction when working from home is noise! While soft music can help boost your productivity, listening to Netflix in the background will make it harder than ever to focus on your work. You can easily use a set of headphones and a Spotify work playlist to keep your mind from wandering. Working in a quiet room, or a room with a door can reduce distractions!

Keep your workplace clear, as a messy workplace is easy to get distracted. Leave the household tasks for after work hours, and make sure you keep your workspace clean and organized as possible. A pile of laundry sitting next to your desk can distract anyone, so make sure to have your space clear to give you room to focus.

Social media is a huge time and productivity killer and by limiting when and how much time you can spend on social media you can better focus your time and energy throughout the day.

You can easily set a trigger for yourself that signals the start of your workday. For me it is when I light my scented candle. I know it is time to work by the time the smell of the candle tickles my nose! It gives me just enough time to check emails and get into my major time block of the day.

Summary

When I started working remotely over 5 years ago, I didn’t know how it would affect my career. Little did i know that I had actually made one of the biggest and best changes to my life! I was able to accelerate my career to a whole new level, and be able to raise my son. By following a strict routine and keeping myself motivated, I have been able to make my own path.

More people are finding themselves working remotely, and don’t know when they might be back in the office. For them, they are trying to make the best of a totally new situation! Working remotely can be extremely rewarding, if done correctly!

 It requires planning, motivation, and a can-do attitude to keep yourself focused. For those working remotely the first time, having a plan to minimize distractions, a solid daily personal and work routine and the right home office can make working remotely a dream come true!

Here Is How To Start Working Remotely, And Love It:

●     Have A Home Office: have a dedicated workspace with a good table and chair. Your workspace should be comfortable and functional for your work.

●     Have The Right Equipment: Router, printer, Scanner, webcam and a headset are some of the items you will need for your workspace. Make sure your remote workspace has everything you need to properly do your job!

●     Set A Productive Routine: From the time you get up to when you go to bed, having a productive daily routine makes it easier for you to work remotely! Timeblocks your daily work tasks to make it easier to focus on the most important work you need to complete.

●     Minimize Distractions: Follow a routine that works for your family and your life, and keep a clean workspace. By drawing a distinct line between your home and work hours you can minimize distractions when working remotely.

Working remotely offers freedom and flexibility. For those with the right amount of discipline, and motivation it can be a dream come true!

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About the Author: Catherine Way graduated from Michigan State University with her Bachelor of Advertising, with a specialization in Graphic Design. She is a content marketer for business, mortgage, and real estate industries. She has written real estate articles for Silver Doctors, The Paper Source, Active Rain, and Progressing Income. She enjoys finding new creative outlets through writing, designing, dancing, modeling and more. She currently writes and reports for  Prime Plus Mortgages:Hard Money Lenders

There's been a new construction project underway at the CityPlace Tower just outside of downtown Dallas to increase its office capacity and add to its current commercial activities. Nobody knows for sure yet what this major redevelopment project will look like at the end of this project, but the investment of $200 million in it certainly signals major amenity upgrades and parking space additions. The main investor in this property is Highland Capital Management, one of the top private equity firms in Dallas, although they did also receive financing from New York based firm Acore Capital. Highland Chairman and CEO James Dondero has said this project is about strategically renovating that urban area and carrying out what he believes the commercial property was begun for back in 1987.

As a firm, Highland Capital Management currently has $15 billion in AUM and prides itself on being one of the "most experienced global alternative credit managers." Real estate is just one of their many investment strategies in their portfolio which has large funds in healthcare, high-yield credit, fixed income investments, and other structured products and unique business situations. Highland Capital has also entered into some global partnerships for increased funding in some of their holdings including forming a major powerhouse with South Korea's Stonebridge Capital in 2017.

James Dondero has been with Highland Capital Management for just over 25 years going all the way back to its founding. He holds several accounting and investment management certifications including being a CPA, CMA and CFA. He received his bachelor's degree in finance from the University of Virginia, and then for several years worked as a credit and corporate bonds analyst for American Express bank. Dondero's work as a portfolio manager there led Protective Life Insurance to hire him as Chief Investment Officer to oversee the founding of a subsidiary asset management firm, and in just a few years Dondero turned this subsidiary into a $2 billion AUM operation. With the help of fellow executive Mark Okada, this subsidiary grew and in 5 years spun out from its original parent company becoming known as Highland Capital. Over time Dondero was elevated to Chairman of the Board of Directors of Highland and it's affiliates which include NexBank and Nexpoint Advisors.

James Dondero has funded research, formed committees and helped host conferences at the George W. Bush Presidential Library on different business and financial topics including a recent exploration of cryptocurrency. He has also helped start other business initiatives including serving as a trustee at the SMU Cox School of Business in hopes of helping fund an atmosphere conducive to entrepreneurship. Dondero has also established the Highland Foundation and has made a commitment to giving back to the community, and that included bringing Linda Owen on as head of the firm's charitable giving division. He also has sponsored veterans events and offered up to $1 million in grants for the Family Place, a domestic violence shelter in Dallas. He was later given the ReuNight Honorary Chair award at an event hosted by the organization.

While technology enables modern businesses to achieve profound levels of success, technology comes with a price. Various innovations have enabled the use of a remote workforce, improvements in communication and data sharing, globalization, e-commerce, connectedness through Internet 2.0 and numerous other benefits. These and other benefits of technology, however, have decreased the need for human labor in some cases, have negatively affected the environment and have had other consequences.

The largest and most influential companies have the ability to make a huge impact based on how they address these problems. In addition to the direct effects, their efforts may spur change in smaller companies. With China’s population exceeding 1.4 billion people, major corporations in this country are closely watched. JD.com, which is the Chinese equivalent of Amazon, had made huge strides in the right direction. Richard Liu, who is the company’s founder and current CEO, actively guides his company toward completion of incredible improvements.

The company, which is also known as JingDong, had humble beginnings with several retail locations scattered across the country. However, when the SARS epidemic broke out, Richard Liu was forced to make strategic changes to the company’s operations. He transitioned the company to an e-commerce company, and today, it serves approximately 300 million customers regularly. More than that, its total customer base exceeds a billion people.

This e-commerce giant’s business model requires it to maintain large warehouses and a massive fleet of vehicles for deliveries. Liu recognized the impact that this business model has on the environment, and he took action. For many years, JingDong has regularly published a Corporate Social Responsibility Report to communicate its efforts and goals directly to stockholders and to the public. It outlines completed projects and initiatives that are planned or are in progress.

JD.com recently released a new report, which outlined the completion of a large solar panel project in its Shanghai warehouse. Because of the magnitude of this project, the company dramatically reduced its overall reliance on fossil fuels for energy and its carbon footprint. This e-commerce company is not stopping there. It intends to complete other similar projects so that it covers a total of 77 square miles of its facilities with solar panels within the next 11 years. By doing so, JingDong would have the world’s largest system of roof-mounted solar panels.

This is only one of numerous projects outlined in this year’s report. For example, JD.com is actively transitioning its fleet of delivery vehicles to green energy vehicles. It is in the midst of a rollout of approximately 5,000 green vehicles to replace outdated gas-powered vehicles. The green vehicles include tricycle delivery vehicles that are powered by solar energy as well as vans and trucks that run off of hybrid, electric or hydrogen power. Within two years, the company anticipates that its entire fleet will be comprised of green vehicles.

In addition to these efforts, the company is moving away from the use of cardboard delivery boxes, which have a one-time use functionality. These are being exchanged for green boxes that can be re-used multiple times before being recycled. The company is also making a social impact by supporting some of China’s poorest rural communities. It has created 25,000 jobs in these impoverished areas to revive local economies. At the same time, it has improved delivery service to these areas to ensure that residents there had access to all of the products they need.

Richard Liu actively guides his company in these areas, and he continues to look for new ways to innovate positive change. His efforts have an immediate impact on the local economies and environment, but they reach farther. Companies around the world are watching his efforts and are being inspired to take positive steps toward change as well.

The traditional system of annual performance reviews may have once been effective, but it’s clear that conventional performance evaluation practices have long been outdated. Only 5% of HR leaders believe that annual reviews are effective, and forward-thinking businesses have already found new ways of monitoring employee performance, regardless of whether they’re located in a traditional office setting or working out of a coworking space.

Continuous performance management is no longer an isolated trend, but rather one of the most promising answers to the problems raised by annual reviews. CPM provides a new type of evaluation that takes into account new trends in the workforce that have changed the way employees and managers approach performance.

Why Are Annual Reviews Outdated?

A number of factors have contributed to the creation of the modern workforce, and today’s workplace is very different from the one that allowed annual reviews to become a standard practice. There are now more than double the number of telecommuting employees than there were in 2005, and that trend will likely continue over time.

The relationship between employees and managers has also changed as workers are generally no longer satisfied by a simple source of income. The modern employee wants to play a larger role in his or her company and isn’t satisfied with the traditional top-down perspective embodied by an annual performance review.

How Does Continuous Performance Management Work?

Continuous performance management involves a much more hands-on approach than the traditional review system, so it requires a coordinated effort between employees and managers. It may take both sides some time to get used to the new feedback dynamic and feel comfortable with the process.

Rather than giving all feedback at the end of the year, managers should schedule regular one-on-one meetings with each employee that include discussions regarding individual performance. This allows managers to be more involved in each employee’s approach and gives them a chance to discuss performance issues before they become more serious.

The Benefits of Continuous Evaluation

CPM also enables employees to make small, incremental changes to their performance rather than being forced to take in large amounts of information all at once. They can also give other employees positive or constructive feedback on a day-to-day basis, making everyone more active in the performance evaluation process.

In an annual review, much of the information presented is outdated or no longer actionable. Continuous performance management makes opportunities for growth available every few weeks and allows them to be presented as soon as they become relevant. Roughly 90% of employees would prefer to have this feedback given in real-time.

Annual performance reviews may have once been an effective system, but that work environment is now a thing of the past. Continuous performance management is the best way for both large and small businesses to adapt their evaluation practices to the needs of the modern workplace.

Do you want to know how a fresh juice selling company grew their sales from $8000 to $96,000 per month? Today we will provide e-commerce business owners with some tips that can boost their sales and get more conversions. However, you must remember this: there is no shortcut to becoming an e-commerce success overnight. Some entrepreneurs start a website and then look for ways to get more sales, while some set aside heavy marketing budgets to seal more deals. Trying to build any business is not easy. With the right research and groundwork, you can put your work on the right path to unlock more sales.

Choosing a product and opening an online store is not the only task. You must look for more sales and a consistent customer base. Take a look at these tips to grow more sales on your e-commerce store:

Marketing online:

The founder of Raw Generation also had this thought in mind when she started selling fresh fruit juice from her kitchen. Jessica Geier focused on marketing while her dad managed the product end. Starting initial marketing through social media, Jessica moved on to explore other channels and used platforms like Groupon to get more sales. Currently, she focuses on promoting to her existing customer base to get repeat customers.

Start growing an audience for your brand as soon as you buy a domain name for your website. You can do wonders with organic traffic. Social media is the best marketing channel because it is relevant to people’s needs and it always free to post an update. You can collect many potential leads through your social media pages. Make sure you are using the right social medium to promote your account. Don’t start too many accounts; choose the medium which is most relevant to your business. For example, clothing brands must be on Instagram while B2B stores can thrive on Twitter and Facebook.

Trust badges:

The online world is wonderful, but it is also a dark and scary place. A person with a credit card in hand would think 100 times before disclosing their most sensitive information to you. How do you assure these people that your store is safe to make an online transaction? Through trust badges. Trust badges show a customer that you feel accountable for your presence and business. They also show credibility on the brand’s side.

Most customers will abandon the cart if they feel insecure about the mode of payment. If customers love your products, why should they feel insecure in online payment? ConversionXL did an online survey where people felt encouraged to go ahead with online payment by seeing the ‘PayPal’ seal. The same study found out that other trust badges from Norton Security, Google and BBB were amongst the most trusted seals in the e-commerce world. Trust badges will help you grow more sales on the site.

Fashion startup LeatherSkinShop has prominent trust badges on their website. These badges show that your privacy and data security are a primary concern of the online store. Another guarantee that will make people buy more from your shop is the money back guarantee.

Most people will know that you are serious about their experience in your store and they can always come back for another purchase.

CRM:

With the sharp shift of customers towards the online store and mobile shopping, CRM technology has evolved manifolds. The importance of customer reputation management is directly linked to more sales. Most of the major CRM solutions providers have established the fact that the e-commerce industry is a huge market for investment. For e-commerce entrepreneurs, it is high time to invest in a CRM solution.

Online CRM solutions like Salesmate are a good choice because they are a one-stop solution for all your online sales needs. If your website uses Wordpress, you can simply install the Wordpress crm plugin on the website dashboard to get an immediate overview of your leads through the day/week/month.

An efficient tool helps you streamline the sales process and limit manual intervention as much as possible. The busy e-commerce entrepreneur has too many hats to wear in a single day. Let CRM tools do their magic and organize regular reports which you can analyze at the end of the day. You will gather more leads, follow up with warm leads and reach inactive customers when the sales process is automated.

Mobile optimization:

Most of your customers are shopping through their mobiles. It is essential to optimize your site for mobile and gather more mobile customers. Mobile shopping will soon overtake desktop or laptop shopping. Your site must be prepared to welcome these customers. Keep a check on visitor devices on your website by installing the Google Analytics plugin. The plugin is the best in business to know about traffic on your site. Check mobile traffic and then work on improving your site navigation for mobile visitors.

Think about how your site should look on a tiny phone screen. Design mobile first by placing buttons and menu bars in the best places. It will help you decide what looks best for the customers. If you want to give it a soft launch, try A/B testing your site by subjecting two different looks to selected users.

Live chat:

In a physical store, one can always walk up to the salesperson to ask for advice. In an online store, there is no salesperson to ask. Luckily, technology helped close this gap by introducing live chat tools. These live chat tools are an extension of your customer support program. A customer service representative can always be on hold when a customer is buying on your site. Simply tap the live chat window, and help is few clicks away!

This will ensure that more people proceed to buy the items they have questions about. Comm100 reports that the average satisfaction rate for live chat is 85.39%. Find an efficient tool online to take care of your live chat needs. If you can’t invest in a customer service team, find a good live chatbot.

Last word:

The tips mentioned in this article will be effective in your mission to secure more sales on the e-commerce platform. However, every business works differently. Marketing, technology and customer trends will continue to evolve, and a savvy online business owner must keep up. Search for new trends and adopt the latest ways to keep your site active and buzzing with traffic.

 AUTHOR BIO

ABOUT Erica Silva

Erica Silva is a blogger who loves to discover and explore the world around her. She writes on everything from marketing to technology, science and brain health. She enjoys sharing her discoveries and experiences with readers and believes her blogs can make the world a better place.

Find her on Twitter: @ericadsilva1