While many of us may well be used to working from home, a lot of us are also quite new to it. Especially after these last few months! I personally love working from home, but it doesn’t always mean I’m at my most productive! If you occasionally struggle with this too, I’ve laid out some of my tried and tested productivity tips for working from home!
Work at the best hours for you
If you can, try and work at the hours that are actually best for you, not what the 9 to 5 tradition dictates. While this might be a bit tricky if you’re not self-employed, times are changing. Hopefully employers will start to see the benfit to this. For me, this is one of the biggest benefits to working from home, and to helping increase my productivity. Working at the hours that suit me, makes me happier and more productive. I now wake up at 8, and start working at 10. The days when I lived in London, woke up at 6, just to commute to the office by 8.30am were definitely not my happiest!
Pomodoro timers
I’m sure you’ve heard of Pomodoro timers, and I’ve definitely mentioned them before! This is a method of working in blocks of focused time, for example 25 minutes solid work, then 5 minutes break. You can find lots of great apps, or just use your own phone timer of course. Be strict with yourself though! Work solidly for those 25 minutes (no phone, no email, etc) then take that five minute break, even if you’re in the flow of work! Working like this means I’m far more productive, and it prevents my brain from turning to mush after a few hours of staring at my computer screen.
Put your phone in another room
If your phone isn’t vital to your work (I mostly communicate via email and other apps that I can get on my laptop), then put it in another room while you’re working. If you must check it, you can use that five minute break in the pomodoro timer to have a look. But nowadays, most of us communicate via the laptop or PC in one way or another, so leaving your phone in another room will prevent the mindless Instagram scrolling that you might do to procrastinate.
Photo by Cathryn Lavery on Unsplash
Get out for a walk at lunchtime
During the last few months of lockdown, I got into the habit of doing workouts at home, but then wondered why I wasn’t sleeping well. I realised I needed to get out and do outdoor, fresh air exercise everyday. I either try and get out at lunchtime, or at the end of my working day. This helps to structure my day better, de-stress, and again, have time away from the screen.
Have a separate office space if possible
Not possible for everyone I know. My “office” is the desk in my bedroom. I do actually have a spare room in my flat that I could use as an office, but I prefer the natural light in my bedroom so I find I work much better there. And I can look right out my window at the lovely view as I work! I’m sure we all like to work from our bed or sofa from time to time, but I honestly find that I’m more productive when working at my dedicated desk space. If you find it difficult to get focused at home, there are always co-working spaces to try – I’ve never tried these myself, but I know a lot of business owners like them as they can feel like they have a bit of the office experience, without having to do it everyday.
Make an achieveable to do list for the day
And finally, make a to do list at the beginning of each day. I personally keep a “master” to do list, then make a separate one for the day. This helps me to stay focused on what REALLY needs to be done that day. It can also stop you from feeling overwhelmed and jumping from one task to another. Whether you prefer good old pen and paper, or an electronic to do list, it doesn’t really matter! Get the list down, and feel a nice sense of achievement when you tick things off throughout the day.
Photo by Minh Pham on Unsplash
Need some extra help?
If you’re finding that your workload is really out of control, and all the productivity tips in the world aren’t helping, then maybe it’s time to outsource a few things. If you’re looking to grow your business, but are bogged down by too much admin, and general running of the business tasks, then I can absolutely help you with this! You can check out my services, or book a call with me to have a chat about how I can help you tackle that to do list!