Working from home can be a real challenge. We all have to deal with it now, and it’s the new normal. So, we’ve got to figure out how to be productive in this new way of earning a living. On top of all the usual distractions, working from home can also be super stressful. Studies show that people working from home put in an extra 26 hours of work each month. Some folks end up dealing with mental health issues and lower productivity. Even though there’s less peer pressure, you’ve still got to manage your work environment, time, and all the tech stuff. It can be a real mind-bender. So, let’s go over nine tips to help you stay productive while working from home, ’cause this online thing might be sticking around for a while.
1.
Begin Your Day in a Positive Mood
For employees working from home, the beginning of the day is crucial, as it can help boost one’s energy and creativity while setting the mood and pace for the whole day. Here are some tips to achieve it:
Start Your Day With Self-Reflection and Meditation
Self-reflection can be a powerful source of enhancing your resourcefulness. Give yourself a proper time to meditate in solitude. Start your day with meditation and it will help you achieve your goal. You can think about your actual progress and make strategies for maintaining or improving it.
Maintain Your Journal
Keeping a journal can help you manage the stress load. So you can keep a journal with you to note your thoughts or priorities for the day. Try to achieve small goals each day, and don’t burden yourself with chaos.
Add Buffer Time in Your Schedule
It’s crucial to factor in buffer time when planning your schedule to accommodate unexpected emergencies. Sometimes, we make schedules without considering the possibility of unforeseen circumstances. As a result, when an emergency disrupts our daily routine, it can lead to stress and overwhelm. To prevent this, it’s wise to create a realistic timetable that allows for unexpected events. Keep in mind that illness or other unwanted situations can arise at any time, so it’s important to allocate some flexibility in your schedule to effectively manage such occurrences.
How to Stick to Your Routine?
Working online is a challenge itself! You have to work in between the annoying questions from your partner; your cat may throw on your computer, you may need to go grocery shopping or feed your dog or wash the dishes. Moreover, you have a boatload of work to do simultaneously. So if you follow the routine strictly, you will remain productive and positive.
When you work from home, you have a very flexible schedule. You don’t need to wake up early in the morning and get ready for going to a traditional working setup. You can work on your laptop by simply lying on your bed. However, this comfort can distract you from your actual routine. You begin to postpone your mandatory tasks and burden yourself.
- So giving yourself an early morning goal is crucial for being positive at home.
- Set a time of waking up and follow it regularly.
- You can take a cup of coffee before initiating your work.
- You can go for a morning walk with your puppy for a healthy life. It will boost your motivation and productivity level, and you will know that you are starting your work right after this.
2.
Set a Specific Finishing Time
A general perception is that online work helps keep a balance with personal life. But it’s not necessarily true. When you work from the comforts of your home, you feel so relaxed that you may lose track of time. Some people keep working even after office hours and neglect their personal life. You may be able to cover your plenty of work this way, but it will imbalance your household tasks. A balance between your working life and personal life is essential.
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You can set the alarm for the end of the day, and it will remind you of your office hours. It will denote that office timing has come to an end. It is not essential to quickly stop your duties at that time, and you can initiate packing up your work station at this time. The actual verdict is to stick at a definite time for wrapping up your tasks.
3.
Adopt Batch Working and Minute Breaks
Batch Working
In batch working, you group tasks of similar nature. For example,
- Grouping all the works related to writing will be very beneficial. It will help you improve your efficiency and creativity.
- Similarly, you can group all the tasks involving mathematical calculations.
Performing work in such groups will bring new ideas and help increase your productivity.
Minute Breaks
Try to use the Pomodoro technique for splitting your repetitive work into small intervals. A French university student, Francesco Cirillo, devised this technique. In this method, you can divide your long tasks into small chunks. You can take a break of 5 minutes after every 25 minutes of work. Such small power naps play a significant role in balancing stress levels; they will also help you relax.
4.
Keep a Good Workplace in Your Home
Just because you are not going to your traditional workplace means you cannot have a designated workplace:
- Instead of sitting on your sofa or places linked with enjoyment, you can select an appropriate room in your house for working. It can be any room or a quiet corner of your home place where you encounter minimum distractions.
- While selecting a place, keep in mind that it must be a stress-free zone, and your work does not intrude into the lifestyle of your family members. So finding a quiet and calm place is the best way to be productive while working from home.
5.
Set Boundaries and Limits for Family Members
Set rules and regulations for your family members:
- Ask your family members and spouse not to enter your room when working.
- Make boundaries on strict grounds for your pets also.
- You can keep the kids busy by giving them an activity for as long as you’re working.
- Don’t be shy about imposing your boundaries on your relatives.
- Ask all of them to follow your schedule and not disturb you during that period.
All this will help you to manage your burden.
Another pro productivity tip for people who work from home is to shut the door of your room, and it will help you attend all your meetings and business calls in peace.
6.
Go For a Walk or Other Physical Activity
The major drawback of working from home is that people become lazy and inactive. A sedentary lifestyle gets promoted in employees working online. You can avoid it to keep yourself healthy and creative. Instead of spending your time on social media platforms, you must go for a walk after wrapping up your tasks.
If you sit for long periods in front of a screen, it drains your energy. So walking is the best way to boost your energy and metabolism. You must include any physical activity or a physical sport in your daily schedule. As per international research, walking is the best of all the activities. Going for a walk outside helps you take deep breaths in the fresh air. If you go to a lush green garden for walking, the captivating colors can drain out your stress. It will help you feel light and motivated for the upcoming day.
7.
Work Smarter, Not Harder by Tackling Difficult Tasks During Your Most Productive Hours
Productivity levels ebb and flow throughout the day, and you cannot keep your creativity at its peak for the entire day. Working from home greatly depends on the mood swings, as well as the ebb and flow of your motivation. So it’s better to make a schedule according to it.
- Cash your productive hours by completing challenging and complex tasks.
- Knock out the comparatively simple assignments in the drained-out hours of the day.
- Pick up a goal according to your energy level.
- Try to do logical tasks in the early morning (or if you work the night shift, upon waking). Simple tasks provide you a time for relaxing and building your momentum for the complex ones.
It depends on how you arrange your schedule for reaping maximum benefits.
8.
Pretend Like You Are Going to an Office
If you don’t get ready properly, you will remain lazy throughout the day. Mental association with your preparation and office helps you stay motivated the whole day. Working remote lacks this feeling or association. Give yourself a feel of your traditional office at home. Some people may like working in their nightdresses, but you can do some things to give yourself a signal that you are ready.
For example, you can set your waking time, take a bed tea, and wear nicer clothes, and it will pump you throughout your working hours. Similarly, take breakfast on your time like you are going to the office. You can set up multiple accounts on your Google browser for work and home, and it will help you manage things and prevent tasks from messing up.
9.
Find Ways To Stay Awake for Those Times When You Are Tired While Working
If you find yourself tired while working, there are a number of things you could do to make sure that you don’t doze off before you’ve completed that important task:
1. Drink Coffee
Caffeine is the ideal drink for anyone looking to stay awake. That’s because of the caffeine. Now you do not need to drink coffee for caffeine of course. There are quite a number of energy drinks that contain the substance. Keep in mind though that these energy drinks often have caffeine levels higher than that of coffee, so keep that in mind. If you’re concerned about drinking too much caffeine and staying awake all night and even for days, then you may wish to consider the other options in this post.
2. Switch Activities
Changing what you’re doing at the moment can help keep you awake. Make sure you choose an activity that is going to involve you both physically and mentally. This could be for instance a game of chess against an opponent or a computer, or it can be a video game online. Use this time to not only keep your mind and body busy, but also to get your thoughts off of any worries you may have about not being able to stay awake
3. Splash Cold Water on Your Face
If you don’t drink coffee or it would like another method that won’t risk keeping you up all night, then splashing some cold water on your face just may be the solution. If you’d like, you could place an ice-cold bucket of water in your fridge to be used only for this purpose. You could even combine this with physical activity and another method in this article for an even better chance of staying awake for the time you need.
4. Take a Walk
Strolling outdoors just may be a solution for you. A benefit is whatever it is that’s bothering you at that time you’ll be able to deal with as your mind will be occupied on some other activity. You could take a walk for instance around your neighborhood, though this may not be practical if it’s late at night. If that’s the case, then try some stretching exercises at home. The key is to keep physically active so that your brain tells itself it is not time to sleep.
Conclusion
Remote work became common practice not during the COVID-19 pandemic but still the reality for many employers. To enhance productivity while working from home, adopt our tips. Though remote work may appear to require less stringent discipline, finding equilibrium is paramount. We hope you found our guide useful. Last but not least, for optimal health benefits and to fully maximize the advantages of remote work, ensure to prioritize good, quality sleep and exercise to your daily routine to benefit your health and maximize productivity.
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