Working from home has its fair share of benefits, but it also comes with a great number of challenges — the biggest one of all being time management. As you try to answer all emails, comply with all requests, and take on most of the projects that come your way, consistent work-life balance may become unattainable.
In the end, you may find yourself frequently working at night, on weekends, as well as on vacations and holidays, all in an effort to be more productive with your work. But, such practice is more likely to tire you, and decrease your focus and alertness. To avoid this, you have to structure your work days better, and consider further improvements to your time management.
To help you do just that, here are 4 tips for managing your time when working from home.
Block out distractions
Considering that there are no colleagues around to keep you accountable, distractions are your biggest time culprit when working in a home setting:
- The TV working in the background
- Your phone
- Your social media Feeds
- YouTube videos
- Popular news websites
These are only some of the things that can distract you from your work, leaving you to fight to beat a deadline. But, there are ways you can address these distractions.
Background noises
The best way to block out distracting background noises is to turn to a trusty pair of noise-canceling headphones.
Once you put them on, you can opt for an online noise generator or listen to a specific kind of music: game soundtracks are designed to immerse yourself in a game, and one article states that listening to them while working is bound to help immerse you in your work.
The Internet
The best way to avoid being distracted by your social media feeds, YouTube videos featuring cute kittens, and popular news websites? Just unplug the Internet when you don’t need it.
Once you’re done with online research for your next project, simply disable your Internet connection. You’ll be less likely to walk all the way to your router to plug and unplug your Internet all the time, so you’ll be less likely to procrastinate online, saving precious time in the process.
Your phone
When it comes to your phone, you’re advised to switch it off and leave it out of reach during work hours, preferably in another room.
Just like you’re less likely to procrastinate online if you have to go all the way to the other room to plug in your Internet, you’re also less likely to fiddle with your phone if you have to walk through the entire house to get it.
Set boundaries for yourself (and your family members)
Working from home can be an unconventional experience; you’re physically at home, but need to be focused on your work, as if you were at a typical office. This is why setting boundaries for you and your family members during work hours is a challenge, but a manageable one.
Setting boundaries for yourself
First, you’ll have to make yourself accountable, and make sure you’re responsible towards your assignments; go through each working day as you would if you were physically away at the office:
- Go to bed earlier, and then get up at a reasonable time
- Focus on your work during the hours you’re supposed to be working
- Parse your day so that you know when you’ll be tackling your most important tasks
- Communicate with clients or associates, as well as go through your email inbox
- Take a lunch break, as well as shorter breaks throughout the day — avoiding burnout is as important at a home setting as it is in a traditional office
Setting boundaries for your family members
When working from home, you should also consider your family and pets; they too should learn to consider your work hours.
It’s best that you assign your pet to a friend who loves animals, or a family member, to keep it occupied and taken care off.
When it comes to family members, you should clarify your working hours so that they can act as if you were physically away at the office at this time. Or, if they need anything during this time, you can implement the Inform/Negotiate/Call Back technique:
1. Inform them that you’re currently busy
2. Negotiate the time you’ll be able to address their questions, say, as soon as you’re done with the important assignment that’s keeping you busy
3. Call the family member back at the time you’ve agreed on
Always consider the amount of time you spend on activities
Knowing how much time you spend on various activities is the best way to kick-start improvements to your work routine — you’ll have data showing you how you can manage your time better. A free time tracker can help you track the exact time you spend on activities, and then reconsider your current work routine.
For example, you want to plan your work schedule, but don’t know how long each of your activities takes. This includes:
- Research and general preparation
- Execution of meaningful work
- Communication with clients, either via phone or email
- In-person meetings with clients and associates
To figure out how long you work on each of these activities, just track the time you spend on them. Perhaps you’ll find that you spend:
- An additional 2 hours every day after the end of your official workday on tweaking minor project details
- An additional hour each day answering client concerns and complying to their requests for minor revisions
Both of these activities are the billable time you might not be aware of, and you should include it in your client invoices.
Once you have a log of every minute you spend working, you’ll know exactly how long each of your work activities takes, so you’ll be able to:
- Set realistic deadlines, the ones you can live up to
- Plan better schedules — schedules that take into account that you realistically cannot polish a project proposal in 1 hour, considering it usually takes you up to 2 hours to finish a similar proposal
Create a suitable work environment
Just because you’re working from home doesn’t mean you should forgo the rules of a typical office setting altogether. It’s vital that you create a suitable home office environment directly in your home, to help inspire your work.
The actual setting
Although it’s tempting, avoid working from bed. You may feel comfortable and cozy at first, but you’ll also risk insomnia, as you’ll no longer associate your bed with rest. And, if you’re not rested, you won’t be able to perform productive work.
As a better alternative, choose a separate room or isolated corner where you’ll have the comfort of a sturdy desk and chair, as well as enough peace and quiet to concentrate. If possible, it’s best that your desk has a set of drawers so that you can always keep important documents at hand.
The predominant colors
Bear in mind that the predominant colors in the area of the house you have chosen for work are important — some colors will encourage you to work, but some will just hamper your focus. One study suggests that blue-green colors improve your mood — and, when you’re in a better mood, you’re more likely to fully engage in your work.
The lighting
Lighting is an important factor as well. Natural lightning is best, but if your work corner doesn’t get enough sunshine, or you have to work late at night, opt for a blue hue of light. According to one University of Carolina research, blue lighting increases your alertness, so you’re more likely to focus.
Once you’ve chosen the actual setting, as well as addressed the lighting and the predominant colors, you’ll be sure to make the most of your home office.
Conclusion
Working from home can give you a lot more freedom, but this also means you’ll have to invest extra effort to keep yourself productive. You’ll have to make an agreement with your family, set up a suitable home workspace, keep online procrastination at bay, as well as consider the amount of time it takes you to tackle everyday work activities.
Addressing these points will help you streamline your workday and keep your time management in check.
