Boosting Productivity While Working from Home: Techniques to Try

Illustration by Studiokat via Dribbble
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As more and more people are working from home, it is important to know how to boost productivity from a home office. Whether you work for yourself or someone else, there are many different ways to make your workspace feel welcoming, comfortable, and efficient.

In this article, we will explore some techniques that will help boost your productivity as well as understanding ways to create a work-from-home environment that best suits you.

#1. Schedule your Day

Choosing when you want to work and what times of the day for breaks, meals, or personal time. This will allow you to start each task with a fresh mindset and have the necessary downtime before returning to it.

Benefits of Using Web-Based Employee Time Clock
Illustration by Serj Marco via Dribbble

Something as simple as getting fully dressed to the day, they say certain clothes can help us shift gears or mindsets or even help us prepare for certain activities.

Keep a timer nearby so that every hour is accounted for in terms of work time. If you are a procrastinator or get distracted easily, a method used the best whether working from home or at the office is the Pomodoro Method: The secret to effective time management, its biggest strength is its simplicity!

  1. Get a to-do list and a timer.
  2. Set your timer for 25 minutes and focus on a single task until the timer rings.
  3. When your session ends, mark off one pomodoro task and record what you completed.
  4. Then enjoy a five-minute break.
  5. After four pomodoros, take a longer, more restorative 15–30-minute break.

Three key rules to this method:

  1. Break Down Complex Projects. Dividing a larger task into smaller steps would be more achievable in the time frameset. always stick to each individual task to ensure you make clear progress on your projects.
  2. Small tasks go together. simple tasks that would take less than the set time you have created should be combined. For example, “pay the rent,” “set vet appointment,” and “proofread an article” could go together in one session.
  3. Once a pomodoro is set, it must ring. The pomodoro is an indivisible unit of time and cannot be broken, especially not to check incoming emails, team chats, or text messages. Make note of anything that comes up during that time to refer to later.

#2. Have a Designated workspace

Setting up Workspace
Illustration by Roman Klčo via Dribbble

Make sure to have a designated area in the house that is organized, free from cluttered, full, and inviting.

To make it feel like your own personal sanctuary, the room should be well lit with plenty of fresh air coming in from outside. Try and eliminate any distractions, For example, the tv, phone, and family members or pets.

Your workspace should be separate from the rest of the house that is frequently used or could cause distraction.

Your office at work has been purposely designed with productivity in mind, while your house is designed for leisure and relaxation, it is important to take time and effort into creating a space that will best accommodate your work needs.

For example.

The chair that you use to work in, all day serves a very different function from the couch that you use to relax on. Including work desk items to your space: coffee mug, water bottle, notebook and pen(s), mouse pad with wrist support. This will help you focus on the task at hand rather than getting distracted by looking around the room or searching for something that is needed to make your work more efficient.

Organization is key, something as simple as the way papers are organized with labelled folders, having baskets used to store office supplies, and electronics charged up and set up appropriately.

Do your best to understand the basics of a good office design and incorporate them into your at-home workspace.

#3. Take a Break!

Take A Break
Illustration by Ashleigh Green via Dribbble

Taking breaks is crucial to boosting productivity in your work-from-home environment. Taking a break will help you feel refreshed and return back to the task at hand with more energy and creativity, which could make all of the difference in completing tasks quickly or not being able to complete them at all due to boredom or exhaustion.

This is especially important if your schedule doesn’t allow for sleeping hours!

Taking short breaks such as going for a walk, doing some stretches or push-ups, getting up and stretching your legs can help stop you from feeling so exhausted.

Taking a break will also keep any feelings of frustration to yourself at bay. You want to make sure that you are taking care of yourself while working from home because this is a time where it is very easy to lose yourself and get frustrated with the lack of structure that you may have had at an office.

Taking a break will not only help you stay more productive, but it will also make your workday feel less tedious in general!

#4. Lastly, Unplugging from work at the end of the day

Unplugging from Work
Illustration by Linda L. via Dribbble

The next step would be unplugging from work when you are done for the day by doing one of two things:

  • Turning off your computer and doing a ritual like brewing tea or stretching to take in the final moments of the day.
  • Scheduling reminders on your phone for what you plan to do tomorrow so that it serves as a gentle reminder that work needs to be done.

Ultimately, find out what works best for you! Remember self-care is important when working from home because this could be where people lose themselves most easily.

Be mindful of how long you are at work each day; make sure not to overwork yourself but also don’t keep checking your inbox thinking “I should really get back into it!

If you boost your productivity in your workplace whether that is at home or in the office, no matter how small an improvement it will benefit you and the business in the future.

The productivity of employees will directly impact the success of the business. If you are a business owner or an employee working for a company, we want you to start considering the future direction of the business and where you would like to be within the industry. Head to our page to start making the best business-related decisions.

About the Author!

Andrew Matherson is an authority in the valuation industry as an expert in residential and commercial properties as well as industrial sites. Andrew’s specialisation in property and real estate has led to his expertise being in demand from Melbourne’s top universities as a guest lecturer and keynote speaker. Andrew is one of the Valuations VIC’s most Senior Valuers and enjoys developing relationships with clients and sharing his knowledge of Melbourne’s property market.
Andrew Matherson – LinkedIn Profile

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2 Comments
  1. […] Low productivity is one of the biggest concerns for employers who opt for a remote model and employees who work from home. You tend to be less productive because of the distractions in your living space. […]

  2. […] up a home office helps to boost productivity. Having a designated place for you to work allows you to “get in the zone” and focus while in […]

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