If asked to decide between working in an office or at home, I think most people would choose working from home. You don’t have to get dressed, the biscuit tin is a two metre walk and you can have the television on in the background.
But these things often prohibit us from completing all of our work, or slow us down and distract us regularly. So how can you start to be more productive when working from home?
Keep your routine the same as though you’re going to work
It’s so tempting to get into your comfiest tracksuit bottoms and laze around until 8:59 when you turn your computer on. Then you might grab breakfast around 9.30 or 10ish, or maybe not, because you could just have lunch at 11.30 instead.
This will throw your routine off. It’s best to get up at your normal time, have a shower, get dressed (properly) and then be ready to start work at 9am. This will refresh your mind so you’ve physically woken up more and are ready to start work.
Stick to having your lunch between about 12.30 and 2pm and take any breaks that you normally would at work.
Avoid working where you relax
It would be so lovely to work in bed or on the sofa with the television on, but this should absolutely be avoided. Use a dining table, and if you don’t have one, find a library or cafe that offers free wi-fi. If you don’t own a desk, it would be worth investing in one from Furniture at Work™ to store any files in it, but also to put hardware on such as your computer and a printer.
In these places, there are less distractions, such as the cat who just wants to sit on your laptop, and you’ll be in work ‘mode’ (with a constant supply of coffee if you choose a cafe which is a huge bonus).
If you do have a home office or dining table to work from at home, don’t eat lunch in there, or scroll through Facebook in your lunchtime. This area should be for work, so eat somewhere else such as the sofa.
Keep in touch with your colleagues
Working from home can be very lonely, especially if your other half is at work or the children are at school. Keep in touch with your work colleagues via email or phone.
If you’re out of the office, you can quickly lose touch with what’s going on in the office, or any problems they might be having. Staying in touch with your colleagues means you can help to solve any issues in real time or just talk to someone when the house becomes too quiet.
Plan and schedule your work
If you don’t have a plan to stick to, you may find yourself aimlessly scrolling through your social media. If you write a to-do list at the beginning of the day, there’s less of a chance of you becoming distracted or switching off.
You could sort them by priority, and get the most important ones done first. Or you could list them by how long each one will take you, starting with the longest.
However you do it, your plan will add a schedule to your day that you’re much more likely to stick to.
These tips will see you through the day when you’re working from home, and will keep you productive and motivated right until 5pm.
