Many employees found it hard to transition to working from home during the COVID 19 pandemic. However, with some tips, working from home is an exciting experience. Many people have normalized working from home, considering about 71% of workers in the United States work full time from home. Furthermore, innovations in information technology have made working from home easily and convenient, restoring many firms’ production capacities.
Dentists working from home have shifted to teledentistry, which entails using video conferencing technologies to assess and issue treatment plans remotely. Teledentistry’s main benefits are that it promotes increased access to dental services, especially for those who may live in rural areas. It also cuts costs significantly, especially transport costs. It also gives you some autonomy as it shields you from direct supervision in many office environments.
How You Can Improve Your Working From Home Experience
1. Have Regular Working Hours
Working from home offers the utmost flexibility, as it entails planning your time accordingly to achieve your work objectives. You need to set reasonable and regular working hours when offering teledentistry to avoid overworking. Dentists and dental staff operating in a teledentistry environment should uphold regular working hours to promote a healthy work-life balance.
For instance, they can plan their day such that it follows a normal working day in the office. They should also include tea and lunch breaks to avoid burnout.
2. Get Up and Take Breaks
Dentists and dental professionals working from home should ensure they have regular breaks. Enjoying fresh air, exercising, and spending time with friends and family are some of the few ways to enjoy a healthy breather from work.
Dentists should avoid stressors during their break time to relax efficiently. Doing so boosts their productivity considerably. Notably, it is important for dentists to balance their professional and personal life while working from home. They uphold work ethics by ensuring their issues do not affect their work delivery, considering the sensitive nature of their profession.
3. Be Productive in the Morning
How dental employees start their morning sets the tone for the rest of their day. Having a morning routine helps you plan your day’s activities and deliver optimally in your work. Your morning routine can involve jogging, exercising, or freshening up by dressing up and organizing your work desk. Sticking to your schedule helps you manage your time and improves your working habits making your working from home experience interesting.
4. Communicate With Your Colleagues Frequently
It is common for dentists and other dental professionals who work from home to feel lonely and isolated sometimes. You can avoid this by frequently communicating and connecting with your colleagues and friends. Dental professionals can engage their colleagues virtually via Zoom or other video conferencing platforms to promote the office experience. Furthermore, communication helps employees working from home to raise their opinions and be heard and maintain good working relationships between employees and their employer.
5. Secure Your Network
While you may have dental IT support and secure networks at the office, teledentistry can leave your practice vulnerable without proper security measures. Whether it’s top-of-the-line email encryption or robust antivirus software, you’ll need to ensure that your workplace remains protected even while working remotely. A great place to start is with a specialized dental IT provider that can safeguard your network both in-office and remotely.
6. Minimize Distractions
Dentists offering teledentistry need to focus on setting up a home office or working space. It would help if you created a schedule for the entire family that accommodates everyone’s needs. Doing so reduces distractions from family members. In essence, dentists should establish their work desks in secluded areas to avoid clashing with other family members. Doing so also avoids disrupting normal activities in your home.
Setting ground rules also minimizes distractions, helps you maintain focus and improves creativity when working from home. Rules minimize distractions from children and spouses.
You can also minimize digital distractions by disabling social media alerts and notifications. This is important as it helps increase productivity and improves your remote working experience.
7. Keep a To-Do List
A to-do list allows you to maximize your working hours, as it states the activity you should be doing and at what time. These lists promote healthy working habits and help you track your productivity more proficiently. List your activities in order of priority from the most urgent task to the less urgent ones. Doing so helps you to stay focused throughout the day and avoid missing important assignments.
8. Check Emails at Set Times
Checking your emails constantly distracts you from working. Dentists working from home need to set time to check emails to uphold their productivity. Your most productive period in the office might be different from when you are working from home. It is advisable you set a time for emails and stick to it. Doing so creates a healthy routine for communication with your colleagues and associates.
9. Do Not Forget to Eat
Dental professionals practicing teledentistry should establish healthy eating routines for breakfast, lunch, and supper to maintain a healthy work-life balance. Dentists and dental staff can replicate the tea and lunch routines in the office while working from home to ensure they have regular meals. In essence, they should ensure they eat healthy foods to maintain their energy and productivity in the long term.
10. Prepare for Work Like You Are Going to the Office
Without a commute, waking up early for work is challenging for dental practitioners, as they are not used to the working from home culture However, they should prepare for work like they are going to the office as it prepares them mentally to work. Creating a healthy routine that reflects going to the office such as dressing professionally, prepares your mind and body for a productive day.
In Closing
Erickson Dental Technologies understands that working from home can be a daunting transition. We offer services and solutions that allow your office to maintain various aspects of dental practice while working from home. You can improve your working from home experience by adjusting various life aspects. Contact us today to discover our wide range of IT solutions to boost your teledentistry.
