When you work from home, you are more likely to be distracted, lack accountability, and have less opportunities to communicate with coworkers. Housework, family, email, instant messaging, and social media are just a few of the many potential sources of interruptions to your workday. In spite of this, it is still possible to be productive. From the comfort of your own home or office, there are several ways to keep oneself productive.
Whether you work from home every day, a few times a week, or only when you’re sick, these pointers can help you make the most of your time spent working remotely.
12 Tips to Increase Your Productivity
Take a look at the tips to help you stay focused when you’re working from home.
1. Cultivate Your Workspace
2. Try a Productivity App
3. Begin and End on Time
4. Move your Body
5. Use Technology for More than Just Work
6. Work with Your Rhythms
7. Communicate Effectively
8. Work Out a Schedule With Your Family
9. Prepare a To-Do List Every Day
10. Try Meal Prepping
11. Ask for Regular Feedback
12. Ask for Support
1. Cultivate Your Workspace
The problem for many people is not working from home, but the fact that everyone else is doing so. Having a distinct work area at home is difficult but vital whether you have kids who are homeschooled or roommates who are on conference calls.
If you have an office with a door, take advantage of it. Distractions from the rest of the apartment can be minimized by simply facing your workstation away from a wall or a window. Create a barrier between your home office and your other (perhaps unruly) coworkers by stacking books or planting potted plants.
A pair of noise-canceling headphones can be a lifesaver if everything else fails.
2. Try a Productivity App
A digital tool that lets you work uninterrupted periods (about 20 minutes) punctuated by brief pauses (about five minutes), with a longer break after multiple work sessions is a good choice, whether you choose the Pomodoro technique or the Forest app. It is common to have extra distractions while working from home, such as a talkative roommate or cat, but employing one of these tactics will help you stay focused on your task at hand.
Take a break from social media and put your phone in flight mode if you can. Taking a brief glance at your phone, even if it’s just for a second, is a waste of time.
3. Begin and End on Time
Working from home might make it more challenging to strike a work-life balance. When it comes to a home office, you may never get out of it.
Assign a set of working hours that everyone must adhere to, and hold yourself and your co workers accountable to upholding those hours yourself. Set up rituals that mark the beginning and end of each day, such as grabbing a cup of coffee when you get up and going for a walk when you shut down your computer. Allow yourself to utilize the “away” mode on your digital communication device.
4. Move your Body
Your focus, creativity, and productivity will improve if you take regular pauses during the workday to exercise. During a pandemic, it may feel like there are less options for staying active, but you may only need to grow more creative in order to do so.
If you’re able to, look into low-impact exercises that only use your own body weight as resistance, and take a little walk outside with a friend, if the weather permits.
5. Use Technology for More than Just Work
Coworkers’ spontaneous conversation is one of the best parts of working in a real workplace, whether it’s discussing your weekend plans or debating a particularly hard client call.
Another way to improve things: Don’t limit your use of video conferencing to business meetings. Meet your coworkers for a video happy hour or get a virtual cup of coffee to check how they’re doing.
6. Work with Your Rhythms
When it comes to productivity, some people are at their best in the morning, while others need a little more time to get into their stride. Schedule your day according to what works best for you. If you’re able to focus right away, try scheduling phone conversations for later in the day; if you’re more prone to a midday slump, schedule tasks that don’t require much focus. Set limits for your workday, but don’t rule out the late-night bursts of inspiration; for some, this is when their best work occurs.
7. Communicate Effectively
Check in with your coworkers on the best ways to communicate online as you adjust your work from home approach for 2022. Working from home necessitates a variety of conversational styles that can be adapted to the situation at hand.
You must ensure that everyone has access to a wide variety of means to communicate: Slack is a messaging platform that allows teams to communicate with one another in real time. Set explicit expectations on how often everyone should check in with one another and the parameters of engagement for various media (e.g., when it’s appropriate to chat about non-work items and when it’s not).
8. Work Out a Schedule With Your Family
There may be periods during the work week when your school-aged children are at home. Taking care of children might make it even more challenging for parents who need to work while at home to stay productive.
Establishing a clear family plan is essential if you find yourself in this situation. Think about how you and your partner can arrange your work schedules so that one of you can work in the mornings while the other works later in the day to accommodate the requirement for child care. You might also consider waking up an hour earlier in the morning so that you have more time to work while the house is empty. As a result, you may be able to free up some of your time later on.
9. Prepare a To-Do List Every Day
Keep yourself accountable with a daily to-do list. At the end of each workday, scribble down a task list for the next day, including what you need to get done and by what time. You should also note any meetings or calls you’re participating in. The idea is to pull up that list as soon as you log on the next morning to assist you get off to a good start.
10. Try Meal Prepping
You can’t just walk down the street to get a quick lunch with coworkers. Mealtime duties may fall on your shoulders if you work from home (and maybe those of your kids and spouse, too).
Preparing your meals in advance is a wonderful method to reduce the amount of time you spend in the kitchen. Put together a couple meals for the week on Sundays and store them in food storage containers. This will save you from having to stop work and prepare meals on demand throughout the week. With a large family, this works well because not everyone will be hungry at the same time. This allows people to eat when they’re ready.
11. Ask for Regular Feedback
In the same way that you need to spend time in person with your team on a regular basis, you should also seek regular feedback from your managers and team leaders. It’s easier to stay motivated about your work if you know exactly where you can make improvements and what areas of your work are above average.
12. Ask for Support
Ask for help if you’re feeling stuck or frustrated, or even if you just want to connect with someone. If you’re struggling, don’t be afraid to tell your coworkers about it. In the same way, if you’re feeling overworked, talk to your boss about a more flexible work schedule. Asking for help when you need it is highly vital for keeping you productive and on track.
End Note
Extraordinary circumstances necessitate unprecedented empathy on both your part as well as that of your coworkers. Remind yourself that peak productivity during the epidemic may not always be possible.
It can be difficult to make the transition from your office to your home, but with a few small adjustments to your routine and workspace, you can still have a productive workday. Try out some of the working from home strategies above to see what works best for you and your family.
