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Working from home is now more popular and so many businesses are opting to have their staff work remotely. It is not just freelancers working from home anymore.
Due to the Coronavirus pandemic, this option of working is becoming more popular and far more widely available. This can be great for working parents, people with disabilities and many more. However, there can be drawbacks to working from home and the main point being how productive and successful you can be working in your home. Even the most productive and successful people can struggle when switching to working from home. So, if you are in this situation or thinking about working from home, you can use these productivity tips to help you work effectively and reach your goals.
Here are 15 productivity tips you can use when working from home:
1. Set Your Working Times
Even though you are working from home, it is important that you set times that you want start and finish your day. Without a schedule, the lines between work and personal time can get blurred and stressful. So, it is important that you have work times and that you stop checking emails, working or answering the phone. Just focus on your home life once you reach that finish time. It can be easy to think ‘I’ll just finish this’ and then before you know it, the hours pass. This can be how people end up burning out or feeling stressed.
2. Make Sure You Have Regular Breaks
It can be easy to get distracted with a work task that you work through your breaks. It is important to schedule regular breaks throughout your fay. Having breaks away from a screen can help refresh your eyes and mind. When you have your breaks, you should make sure that you move; you could go for a short walk or even do some light housework, any task that gives your muscles a chance to work. Occupational therapists recommend movement breaks to enable you to increase your alertness.
When you take short breaks during tour working day, you’ll be better prepared to leave work-related stress behind when it’s time for bed; this allows you to rest properly to perform even better the next day. If you work frequently from a computer screen or a smart phone, taking breaks can also prevent Computer Vision Syndrome. This usually manifests as eye strain and headaches.
Medical professionals recommend that individuals look away every 20 minutes to focus your eyes. Taking breaks regularly means you can return to your desk with fresh eyes and a boost of productivity.
3. Have A Productive Workspace Set Up
To have that boundary between work and home, you should have a dedicated workspace or desk which doesn’t have any other use. For example, as tempting as it is, you shouldn’t work from your bed. This is because medical providers say that working from your bed causes disruption with sleep and makes you less productive. In addition, it can negatively impact your posture, which can lead to aches and pains; these could all be avoided with a proper workspace set up. Ensuring that your desk is tidy and organised means that you eliminate distractions, you are more focused and therefore you are more productive in achieving your tasks and goals.
4. Limit Your Distractions
Distractions are everywhere, but when working from home, the amount of distractions hugely increases from the usual phone notifications and emails to a knock at the door, your pet needing or wanting something as well as home tasks that may arise.
When you are working from home, you have to (as much as possible) eliminate those distractions and if certain tasks need to happen, you should schedule them into your day. For example, take your dog for a walk on one of your scheduled breaks. When working, ensuring that your notifications are on silent; this will reduce the urge to check your phone and social media.
5. Use To-Do Lists
To-do lists can be an effective tool in being productive on a working day. Writing your to-do lists the day before or first thing in the morning means you know exactly what needs to be achieved each day. These lists can help you to stay organised and focused on what needs to be achieved.
Photo by Ella Jardim on Unsplash
6. Communicate Expectations To Other People In The Home
You may be working from home, but you could still have other people in your house. You should ensure that any other people in your house respect your space during working hours. Although you are at home working, it doesn’t mean you’re home!
If you share your space with a partner, older children or another adult such as a roommate, you should have ground rules about meeting times, shared workspace or when the environment should be quiet. Having that communication allows you as well as others the chance to work productively with no interruptions.
7. Interact With Others
Working from home can be isolating when you don’t have to be in the office networking with other colleagues. You won’t have the casual small talk and other activities that pass the time in an office setting.
Communicate with your colleagues; reach out to them on Zoom or however your company communicates. It is important that you do interact with others as it can help with the boredom or the loneliness. When you have scheduled breaks it can be a good idea to see another person during the day – whether it’s a video call or meet up for a coffee break. Having another colleague or friend to talk to can boost your mood and they can motivate you to achieve more.
Working from home means you rely on mobile phones and computer programmes to communicate with your colleagues as well as clients. With this in mind, it is super-important that you stay on top of your cybersecurity and make use of things like this article on Cell Phone Deal so that you are aware of the measures you should be taking to ensure that your devices are as secure as possible. The last thing that you want is to be dealing with a hacker having gotten hold of your details or, even worse, clients’ personal information.
8. Dress For Success
As you are working from home, it can be easy and tempting to work in your pyjamas. They can be an outfit for staying in your comfort zone; they can give you a sense of comfort and give you a sense of freedom. While it is not necessary to dress formally as you would for work, simply changing your clothes will signal you to wake up and start working. Getting dressed puts you in a certain mindset as well as establishing a routine and you are far more likely to be productive during your work day.
9. Look After Yourself
It is important that you are using the most comfortable chair you can that provides you with back support. If your role is telephone based, you should consider investing in a hands-free headset, so if you are making long calls, you do not have to balance a landline phone continuously.
If you are working from a computer screen, it is important to protect your eyes, so you could invest in blue light glasses which protect your eyes from continuous screen lights.
10. Schedule Work And Meeting Times
You should schedule your day into chunks like work and meeting times. At the start of the day, you should set the intentions for the day. This then allows you to schedule tasks to ensure you have enough time to achieve them.
11. Use The Task Batching Method
Batch work is a method that groups similar tasks together for the purpose of being more productive. By creating a continuous workflow through task batching and eliminating distractions, it makes it easier to ta focused on the job at hand and get it completed quickly and effectively.. If you start task batching, you will feel more organised, stress will be reduced and your focus will be increased.
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12. Set Yourself Goals
Setting goals whether they are daily or weekly helps to motivate you to reach success. Working towards goals means that you are goal-oriented, so you are solely focused on that task. You are far more likely to be productive with your time.
13. Use Time Management Techniques
It can be so easy to lose track of time when working remotely, so using time management techniques can enable you to monitor how long you are spending on each task. You should investigate techniques like the Pomodoro Method where it encourages you to plan work for 2 to 3 hours, then encourages you to take a 20 – 30 minute break.
14. Stay Organised
It is important that you have a decluttered work space and ensure that you have an effective system for keeping important documents and files organised. Using a planner can also help you to organise your time productively.
15. Ask For Support
If you feel stuck or frustrated, or if you are just feeling isolated, ask for support. Reach out and communicate to friends or colleagues and let them know how you are feeling or what you are struggling with. Similarly, if you are struggling with your workload and finding it overwhelming, talk to your supervisor to help you. Asking for help when you need it is important for keeping you on track and productive.
If you are working from home or thinking about taking a remote position, these tips can help you to be productive. Other tips for working from home are:
- Use productivity apps
- Contribute and attend virtual meetings
- Ask for regular feedback
- Eat lunch at the same time
- Have a morning routine
- Stick to your routine
There are so many benefits of working from home including: having a flexible schedule, no commute time, better work/life balance, saving money and much more.
Excellent suggestions here, though I don’t work from home but instead I’m a disabled person in surgical recovery, I would say the same applies. Getting dressed helps set the mind from bedtime and resting, to a more active mindset. I must do physio daily so it does help to set a particular time, change locations in house, remove distracting TV etc
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I find it really hard to concentrate, these tips will help. I already use the pomodoro method, it’s great!
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This is pretty helpful, I would love to work from home. Distractions are the main factor..
Some great tips. I’ve worked from home for years and managing your space / productivity with other people in the house is really difficult for me.
Yeah that can be hard, pets can also be distracting ha ha. Thank you for reading and commenting.
I absolutely love these tips! It can be so easy to go back to a lockdown state of mind when you work from home but it’s very important to remind yourself that you’re working and to treat your environment and mindset as such. 😊
I absolutely love these tips! It can be so easy to go back to a lockdown state of mind when you work from home but it’s very important to remind yourself that you’re working and to treat your environment and mindset as such. 😊
Even as a Blogger these are very useful and I always find if I switch up my location I work much better! 😂 I don’t know why!? Xo
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Having a productive workspace is very important. The bed really isn’t for work. I fall asleep or look over at my phone when I try to work sitting on the bed. The back pain?? I prefer a workspace. Great point. Staying organised vital, also. A cluttered workspace stresses me out. Thanks for sharing this great post.
I can be guilty of doing work on my bed. But trying to work on changing my area. Thank you for reading and commenting.
These are some great points! I have been working from home since last January and it was a hard transition for me at first. But I agree asking for support and limiting distractions did really help me!
I hope some of these tips can help you. Thank you for reading and commenting.
Great tips! I don’t work from home in my job. However, I had no choice during the lockdown. I woke up, showered, got dressed and had breakfast as I would if I was leaving the house. I would also try not to work in my bedroom to separate sleep and work because of the energy and all that. Xx
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Fab tips here! I don’t work from home but I’ve actually just started study leave and I think a lot of these are applicable to that too. I definitely find having rough goal and to do lists every day really helps, although I still need to work on establishing more of a schedule in terms of when I’m working instead of just what I feel like (which is a really bad habit). Thank you so much for sharing x
I hope this can help you with your study leave. If you have exams, I hope they go well. Thank you for reading and commenting x
This always remains a hot topic due to the current need to work from.home. Eliminating distractions and fixing hours to avoid disturbance from family are challenging and necessary. Otherwise it gets difficult. A proper qork station and chair is a must, I agree. Liked the detailed post. Xx
Isa A. Blogger
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You’ve shared some really great tips here lovely which I know will come in handy for so many people. I’ve got friends and family still working from home after the dreaded C so I’ll for sure be sharing this with them. Thank you so much for sharing with us, it’s a great read xo
Elle – ellegracedeveson.com
I hope this post can help them too. Thank you for reading and commenting.
The first four kind of remind me of how I set of writing sprints, and it’s so helpful. I like to write for 20 minutes, then take 5 minutes to break and make sure to blink because of screen time/or just writing on paper. Then I would make my desk set up how I need it, and just write if it’s bad or wrong I can go back and fix it later. 🙂 I love to-do list, they are always so help, and also is everything on this blog post. Thanks for sharing 🙂
I am glad you found some of these helpful. Thank you for reading and commenting.
I love all your tips. I mostly work at home now and I find it hard to focus. Asking for support is something I haven’t done because I want to do things on my own but I think it’s also important.
I hope these tips help you to focus more. Thank you for reading and commenting.
Great tips, I’m trying to do all this list, but missing a few. All my day is on a to do list. And it helps me big time.
Sounds that you have tools that work for you. Thank you for reading and commenting.
Some really good suggestions here, Lauren. I’ve worked from home for over 12 years and the main problem I still struggle with is Alan and Flora popping in every now and then to chat or share something. It completely interrupts my flow and I end up having to start again! x
Wow! That is a long time, it is great you have been able to do that for so long! Yeah it can be hard when you are in the zone, somethings happens and it completely throws you. Thank you for reading and commenting. X
Great suggestions here! We work from home and sometimes it can be hard to put the computer down. Sticking to a schedule is so important.
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Great list, now I wish I worked from home, but it also works at work too!
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These are such great tips! I especially love the task batching method, I’ll have to use that more often. Thanks for sharing!
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That is too funny, I had literally just posted a tweet about this subject and how I struggle with it and now seeing this blog post. Great tips! Best believe I’ll be using a couple of them!
xo, Willow
Oh really? Glad this post has been helpful. Thank you for reading and commenting. Xx
Some great tips. It’s so easy to get distracted when working from home, but I still think I work better at home than the distractions in the office!
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I don’t work from home but these tips are really helpful when I work at my desk at night! I definitely have very frequent breaks haha! And I really feel a difference when I get dressed for the day and don’t stay in my pyjamas. Thank you for sharing x
Thank you for reading and commenting. I sometimes stay in my pjs too ha ha!
Some amazing tips here! It’s so important to take regular breaks when WFH. I think all productivity and creativity gets lost when you don’t take a break to recharge and refocus! x
Lucy | http://www.lucymary.co.uk
Definitely! Thank you for reading and commenting. X
These are great tips. Thank you for sharing. You should check out our post of the five things derailing productivity. It complements this post.
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Great tips!! For me batching is real helpful because it helps you focus on one thing at a time. Also, it limits the time you need to refocus when you switch between tasks
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Although I do live working from home I must agree that all the suggestions you mention are equally important to me. Planning your day ahead with specific to do lists and seperating your working hours do make a difference.
Good advice. It is really important that everybody understands how you work and respects your work space.
Definitely. Thank you for reading and commenting.
These are good tips, Lauren. Some people can be very productive working at home. It’s very to stay focus when you’re working at home because there’s less distractions. Thank you for sharing.
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I find having a set morning routine is really helpful, and I have also built external accountability into my day. For example, I schedule things with other people that will prompt me to have a good schedule: I am a dog-sitter (in addition to my WFH gigs), and I have a dog who arrives at 6:30 every morning, which gets me up early. Then I build my day around his walks, so I am productive in between. I have found this super helpful!
Great post – it can be easy to fall out of the good routines at home, and having suggestions for maintaining productivity is super helpful!
Colleen|ChooseYourUni
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Really great tips. I struggle with number 2 so much, which then leads ro me being really unproductive and is totally counterproductive. After so many years working in an office, working from takes some getting used to. X
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I’ve worked from home for about 15 years now. I can’t tell you how important #1 is. Not only do you need to set your work hours for yourself, but you really need to communicate it to others. Your co-workers and clients need to know when you are and are not available. Surprisingly, when you don’t do that, they actually expect you to be available whenever they choose to reach out. Be clear with your boundaries and stick to them so everyone is on the same page.
Great list overall. As freeing as it is to work from home, it is a transition to remember that you’re still working.
That is a good point. People expect the instant response. Thank you for reading and commenting. C
So many great tips! Thank you for sharing these. I will be trying lots of these. I’d not heard of task batching before but it makes perfect sense! Will try doing that in other areas of life too (like chores).
Sabina (from rosegoldreports.com )
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Great post! I don’t work from home but have great respect for people who do! I find it hard to concentrate even when I was studying at home it was hard I would have to go to the college library! Thank you for sharing such great tips!
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This was a really good list! I’m working from home + to do list are my jam! I have 4838 things on the list but the list helps lol
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These area all great suggestions and I can see them applying to those of us who blog as well. Thanks for sharing them Lauren.
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Awesome list!! I need to work on making to do lists and taking breaks. Thanks so much for sharing!✨
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Great tips! I’m still working from home most of the week so I’ll definitely try to use a few of these. Thanks for sharing!
I am glad these have been helpful. Thank you for reading and commenting.
Thanks for sharing, these are good tips, I find going for a walk to break up the load of blog work helps 🙂
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Great contents sis, communicating with family about your goals will actually serve as extra source of motivation
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