Working from home is no longer a luxury, but a necessity.
The global COVID-19 pandemic, coronavirus, has led to more people working remotely to help curb the spread of the virus. With people being encouraged to stay at home, more individuals continue to work from home despite countries worldwide no longer on lockdowns.
Some benefits of working from home include:
- Business continuity
- Increases performance
- Better work-life balance
- Saves on commuting time and thus the environment
- Greater professional engagement
- Better productivity
- Flexible work schedule
- Fewer distractions
Although the pandemic has seen more people worldwide now working from home, the majority are new to the work-from-home lifestyle.
But…
All remote workers, including those who’ve been working from home for the last decade, face similar issues. This is despite the unique challenges you’re bound to experience due to your distinct lifestyle, personality, and the type of work you do from home.
Despite better productivity, you can easily experience various problems when working from home. But, that doesn’t have to be the case.
When working from home, you have to create a boundary between your personal and work life, determine your work station, and figure out when to work.
Whether you’re working from home due to the COVID-19 pandemic or because you have a remote job, there’s a need to develop routines and change certain habits to achieve success working from home.
Here’re 5 tips to help you maximize your productivity while working from home:
1). Mentally Prepare Yourself for the Day
Prepare yourself for the day mentally to achieve success working from home.
Do whatever you may not normally have time for during the day, in the morning, because of commuting to work. Use this extra time in the morning wisely to prepare for the day psychologically.
Meditation and other mindfulness practices can improve your general wellbeing, making you healthier, happier and more productive.
Studies show that meditation lowers stress, improves focus, and enhances clarity, including decision-making ability. All these benefits work together for your good.
Mindfulness practices boost the immune system, slows down brain-wave and heart rate patterns, and reduce stress. They also enhance relationships and reduce health problems so you can live longer.
Practice meditation to make your mind ready for the day’s workload and prepare for a successful day. Begin your day with at least 12 minutes of meditation every morning to keep you pragmatic, mindful and energetic.
Other beneficial activities to kick start your day include exercise and journaling. Doing so will help kick out negative thoughts and free up your mind, ready for your tasks or to-do list in any given day. If you’re short on time, you might find one of the best journaling techniques is using the bullet journal system.
2). Establish a Routine
Set a work schedule for working from home.
Create clear guidelines on how and when to work, and when to stop working for the day. This is a great way to strike a work-life balance. The flexibility of working from home allows you to either begin your day early or extend your day to meet your specific needs on a day-to-day basis.
Use automatic time-tracking applications to keep you on schedule.
Apps such as Rescue Time can determine your most productive time of the day, and when you experience the least productivity. With the information, you can focus on tasks at the top of your priority list during your most productive times.
Create a morning routine to guide you into your working desk each day and spell out when you want to start working. For example, you can begin with a cup of coffee as you go through your to-do list for the day.
Your morning routine can also include returning home from your exercises or jogs, and getting dressed for the day. This kind of routine is a powerful way to begin your day. However, you can refer to yours as a “getting started” routine if you usually don’t begin working from home in the morning.
Make sure that you also end your day with an evening routine. Develop a habit that shows you’re almost ending your workday. This could be joining an evening yoga class, taking your dog for a walk, or signing off on a messaging app for your remote job.
You can also turn on a favorite podcast or shut down your PC to signal the end of your workday. Whatever you add to your routine to end your daily working hours, follow it consistently.
Don’t get sloppy with your schedule. Stick to a routine.
3). Maintain Personal Hygiene and Dress for Success
Don’t just wear your pajamas because you’re working from home. Instead, dress like you would for the office. Do your hair and makeup to look your best each day. Slip into a tube skirt and a nice blouse.
Shower and brush your teeth after waking up to start your day feeling energetic. Your pajamas may be comfortable, but you’re likely to feel sleepy, sluggish or unmotivated throughout the day.
Plan for a quick outing during the day or choose your outfits the night before to motivate yourself to dress up for work from home. Dressing properly kick starts your day and motivates you for success. It’s also a great way to balance your work-life.
Dressing like you would for the office makes you feel fresh and ready for work. This is also a great way to try out your new outfits.
Image Credit: Blue Bungalow
4). Eat Well, Stay Hydrated and Get Enough Rest
Working from home gives you free access to your kitchen all day, meaning you can easily grab some snacks during breaks. You may be tempted to snack excessively because food is readily available.
However, working remotely from home allows you to prepare yourself a healthy lunch. Additionally, you get enough time to eat a healthy breakfast and dinner each day.
Stock healthy foods in your kitchen and opt for what can help you work better, instead of draining your energy. Keep what goes into your mouth in check to eat healthy.
Add complex carbohydrates such as whole grains and legumes, proteins (such as eggs, meat and fish), and iron-packed foods such as leafy greens to your lunch.
Include nuts, fruits and fresh juice in your diet for added health. The foods nourish and energize your body for the work you do. Eat just enough food and avoid excessive eating to prevent sluggishness during the day.
You must also drink lots of water daily to keep your body hydrated.
When working from home, you must also keep track of your sleep pattern to ensure that you get enough rest. This clears your head, refreshing it for the next day. Avoid binge-watching and adopt a healthy routine during work days.
Develop the habit of getting at least 6 hours of sleep every night. Start your day early and avoid the urge to oversleep.
A demanding work-life can keep you awake when you should be asleep, whether you’re working from home or not. Take short naps during the day, eat the right foods to maintain high energy levels, and get enough sleep to refresh your mind and body.
With peace of mind, healthy food to eat, regular exercise, friendship, and adequate sleep, you’re guaranteed high productivity when working from home.
5). Take Your Downtime Just as Seriously
Despite working from home and having fewer distractions, overworking can easily kill productivity.
Schedule for short breaks throughout the day when working from home. Set aside enough time to break from work for a short while. Take time off your phone and computer screen to do something different.
Lunch breaks could last for an hour while other breaks about 15 to 20 minutes. Use apps such as Smart Break and Time Out for Windows and Mac, respectively, to remind you when it’s time to take your breaks.
The apps lock you out of your PC automatically to ensure that you take a break from work. Walk around your house, listen to some music, take short walks outdoors or play with your kids (or pets) to reset your mind. The breaks can improve your creativity and production while reducing decision fatigue.
Develop a work-life balance to avoid working excessively and over-committing. Do breathing exercises and take short naps during breaks to increase your efficiency and make you more mindful throughout your working hours.
It’s easier to never really ‘log-off’ from work when working from home. Remove all distractions to maximize those hours you’re logged in. When work is over, properly check out. Turn off your computer and remove access to email from your mobile.
Rest is as important as mentally checking out.
Conclusion
You can optimize your productivity while working from home. With tips ranging from creating a routine to taking short breaks, figure out what works best for you to gain the most productivity. You must also at well and keep your body hydrated.
Leanne Lee
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- 5 Tips for Maximizing Your Productivity While Working From Home - April 19, 2021
Excellent tips for employees who are constantly working remotely. Often due to high pressure of work, employees often forget to look after themselves. This article has particularly touched those much needed point. I have a small business of my own, and I monitor my remote employees using software called Clouddesk, what I found is that some employees take frequent break during work hours while other work non stop 8 hours. Those who take frequent breaks are actually the employees who are productive and performs high
Handy and useful tips for increasing productivity while working from home. I am following most of the tips given in the article to gain fruitful results. Thanks for posting WFH tips.
Thank you for providing these type of information this corona pandamic situation many people for suffering for how to do where to and when to do thank you for giving these types of information
Great tips. Thank you!
Hi,
Some super helpful tips. The one that worked for me and I will especially like to mention is “Routine”. Creating a schedule and sticking with it works wonders.
Thank you. Keep coming up with more.
Much Appreciated
Nice post! You are sharing amazing information through your blog. I am a big fan of your excellent writing skills.
Nice post, you are sharing amazing information
The significant impact of Covid-19 has forced businesses to allow their workforce to work from home. Although work from home success depends on technology. These new WFH policies have increased the hype of tools that can help employees working remotely from anywhere in lockdown.
This is one of the best blogs I have read on this topic.
You rock with your writing!! Spectacular one for sure.