Often, when we think of working from home, all sorts of visions pop into our head. Although it can be quite awesome, it can also be difficult to stay on track or maintain a good level of productivity. If this sounds like you, follow these nine tips for increasing your productivity while working from home.
- Create a designated office space for yourself. Having a separate space to work will eliminate other distractions such as the television, phone, kids, dishes, or other loud things. This is also a good way to train your brain to know when it is time to get to work.
- Set goals for each day, week, and month. This will help keep you on track and allow you to use your time wisely. Did you ever notice that without any goals, you tend to take as much time as you need to complete a task? Setting daily, weekly, and monthly goals will eliminate this problem.
- Keep all of your finances, paperwork, and office space organized. With an organized office, you will feel more organized personally as well. Instead of working in a cluttered space, maintaining order will allow you to work with confidence.
- Work during the times that you are the most productive. For some people, this might be in the early morning before the sun even rises. For others, it could be during the afternoon when they are the most awake. Whenever it may be, take advantage of that motivation.
- Set specific times that you check your email and social media. If you allow yourself to check your email or login to your social media accounts every single time you receive a new message or notification, you will never get any work done. Set specific times to check these things, such as every two hours, or twice a day. The same goes for your cell phone and text messages.
- Come up with a daily routine that works for you. Whether it involves waking up, exercising, eating breakfast, making a pot of coffee, or showering, come up with a routine and stick to it. That way when it comes time to work, your body will know it.
- Avoid procrastinating by just doing it. Instead of worrying about what the outcome will look like or putting off a must-do simply because you don’t know how to start, just do it. A blank page is never good, so write something down and you can edit it later.
- Take occasional short breaks. Sitting in one spot and working non-stop, especially if you are looking at your computer screen the whole time, isn’t good for you – and for that matter, it can even make you less productive. Take a short break every hour. Although you may believe it will waste time, it will refresh you enough to allow you to start over and work quickly once again.
- Get out of your office. If you have problems working in an isolated space such as a home office, try traveling to different places in your area to work instead. This could include coffee shops, parks, community centers, or anywhere else there is a table, chair and motivation.
By Samantha Haupt
