Do you work from home for some or all of your working day? Would you like to increase your productivity? While working from home can be great flexible option and bring plentiful benefits, many people still struggle with productivity — our tips can help you correct that.
When we go to the office or workspace, we associate it with work and often have a better mindset for knuckling down to tasks. On the other hand, we often associate our homes with relaxation, fun, entertainment, family, etc, all of which can be distractions and negatively impact productivity levels. The good news is there are a number of different things you can do to enhance your productivity from home.
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Feng Shui your space
A hugely important aspect of increasing your productivity working from home is to have space that makes you comfortable. It goes without saying that the first thing you should do is invest in good quality, comfortable chair.
Ensure you have a place which is just for your work. For example, have a good, comfortable desk to work from. Don’t settle for a boring workspace though, jazz it up, make it somewhere that is yours, that you can enjoy and feel motivated in. You can do this by adding accessories such as photo frames of your fondest memory, little ornaments, and trinkets to look at.
The main point here is to make it tidy, do not fill your desk and workspace with clutter such as loads of books, papers, etc. Try to keep things minimal as a clutter-free workspace is a clutter-free mind.
Another great way to enhance productivity when working from home is to diffuse calming oils to create balance. You can do this with an essential oil burner or aroma diffuser to create a beautiful, calming atmosphere.
Connect with nature
Have you got anything natural in your home working environment? Do you have any beautiful plants and green colourful things about? If not it’s time you did. Working when surrounded by plants can not only make your workspace more attractive, but is also therapeutic and might even improve your entire outlook on your work.
There are numerous benefits to having plants in your working space. Firstly having plants can help to increase your productivity by connecting you to nature and creating a sense of calm. Putting plants in your working environment also improves air quality by removing harmful pollutants as well as stabilising humidity levels.
It is also widely accepted that plants help to reduce stress, and boost creativity, and with less stress comes better productivity, especially when working from home. It has also been shown that plants can help to reduce sickness and absence rates.
Stick to the schedule
One of the biggest mistakes people make when working from home is to take it too easy with a laid-back approach. Getting out of bed at whatever time suits you, then taking your time and staying in your dressing gown all day really is a recipe for disaster. You need to set your working hours for example 8-4 or 9-5 and stick to them.
Set your alarms and when you get up, make yourself ready for work. Dress nicely as you would, freshen up, and feel good. Looking and feeling good will make you feel better about yourself and will put your mind in a better place for work. If you are sitting about in your dressing gown, hair unbrushed and sluggish then you can guarantee you won’t be very productive.
Take regular breaks – you need them
Taking regular breaks is so important when you’re working from home. It is all too easy to remain in the same spot for the entire day when you are in your own home, TV on, music, before you know it you’ve wasted over an hour just staring at something.
Take a break every 30 minutes, even if it’s getting up and walking around the room, or going to get a glass of water or make a brew. Taking breaks will boost your productivity as it gives you a break away from what you are doing and a chance to reset everything.
Actively creating a schedule of regular breaks will give you a series of deadlines to work towards, which can spur you on to finish a task more quickly. Studies have found that breaks can reduce or prevent stress, help to maintain performance throughout the day, and reduce the need for a long recovery at the end of the day.
Banish those distractions when home working
- The TV – You probably wouldn’t be sat watching TV at work so don’t do it at home. Having the TV on is a huge distraction and can diminish your productivity significantly. As much as it might be tempting, ensure it’s turned off.
- The dog – Got a dog? Why not hire a dog walker? You need to remember what things you had in place when you weren’t at home working and stick to them.
- The food shop – It might be tempting to try and do everything but those shopping trips should be strictly kept to out of work hours, on weekends, or after your working day.
- The household chores – It can be so easy to think, ‘I will go and do the laundry or vacuum the house’. Problem is, you wouldn’t do this if you were at work and these chores take hours and time out of your day.
- Texting and phone calls – This is one of the biggest distractions when working from home. Spending hours on your mobile catching up with friends and replying to messages. Again, you wouldn’t spend the day doing this in the workplace so don’t do it while you are at home.
- Social media – Scrolling through social media can break your flow and eat into your work hours! Don’t fall victim to this excessive scrolling. If you can’t get through a working day without it, then ensure you are only checking it on your designated breaks.
Change up your environment
This might not be for everybody, but another way to boost productivity when working from home is to change up your working environment. If you are bored of being at home or in the same room then give yourself a much-needed change.
Head over to a coffee shops that offers free Wi-fi and do your work from there for the day. It doesn’t have to be all the time, but you can give your productivity a boost by changing up your working environment. If the weather is good, you could always try working outside. Try to take advantage of the fact you are in charge of your own working space and make use of the fact you aren’t bound by restrictions.
A virtual commute
In the beginning, you probably didn’t miss the commutes, but now you might benefit from adding them back into your daily routine. A virtual commute is such a fantastic way to start your day as it really sets you up with a good routine.
Before you begin your workday, think of the time it would usually have taken you to get to work, be it 30 minutes or an hour. Use this time to get your exercise in, and head out for a walk, cycle or run. Doing this will give you a boost of endorphins and the rich blood supply to your brain will give you a boost of energy and make you feel naturally revived. Because your brain has had a boost your productivity will increase and you will be much more productive at work.
Whatever you do with the time on your commute, the break affords you an opportunity to glide from one part of your day to another and the opportunity to think about the day ahead or just have a little daydream. A virtual commute enables you to have a good routine and also ensures you are up and out of bed at a normal time and moving.
Leave work at work
If you have distinct lines set between work and home, your productivity will be higher as you’ll set yourself targets to be completed within your working hours, rather than being tempted to complete in after hours work. Always set yourself a time to finish.
Remember those days when you’d stroll out the office one minute before 5 o’clock and work would be left at work? Just because you are now working from home, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t have the same ethos. When your work time is up it is up. You shut down the laptop, walk away and get on with your post-work day. This is why it’s so important to stick to a time otherwise you might be chipping away until the early hours of the morning.
Once you have finished your work for the day, leave it alone. Separate yourself from your working environment properly. and perhaps even add a virtual commute home, such as 30 minutes of exercise to wind down from your work day and separate yourself from your job.
Stay well hydrated
The key to good productivity when working from home is staying hydrated. It can be all too easy to forget about drinking water as you consume copious amounts of coffee (which dehydrates you by the way) and starve your body and brain of water.
It has been shown that adequate hydration plays a crucial role in how well your brain functions. Mild dehydration, ranging from 1%-3% water loss, causes issues with mood, concentration, headaches, memory, fatigue, anxiety, and overall brain performance for people of all ages. So not drinking enough water can have a pretty detrimental effect on a lot of things.
Staying hydrated can enhance your performance significantly. The moment you start to decrease your water intake is when your body starts to lose energy. If you have been feeling a bit lethargic, or fatigued working from home then you might need to take note of how much water you are drinking. Put a bottle on your desk aim to drink a set target each day.
Home productivity conclusions
Working from home can have many positives. If you do it right, it can be one of the best things you can do and enhance your quality of life. With the tips above you can really help yourself while working at home, feeling more productive and enjoying better mental health.
The main things to do to boost your productivity when working from home are to set and stick to a routine, make a dedicated workspace so you have somewhere to focus and work from. Ensure you give yourself regular breaks so your brain gets a chance to relax and rest.
Set yourself boundaries, don’t become tied down to doing all the household chores as your productivity will disappear out of the window. Don’t forget to be kind to yourself and remember, just because you are at home doesn’t mean you aren’t at work so follow as many of the same protocols as you work at work to maintain that discipline.
