You may be one month into working from home and wondering how you can remain productive or even improve your productivity. Working from home can naturally increase your productivity because you don’t have to worry about a commute. You can now put that time into focusing on the tasks at hand. Second, you may have a natural inclination to be more productive because fewer teammates are asking questions throughout the day. This may be true.
However, on the flip side, you may see productivity dips because a news article or social media piece catches your eye. Like me, you may have a few kids running around. Or, you may have roommates that are not working and want to spend time together.
Whatever your situation is, here are 4 unique ways that I have developed to remain productive while working from home.
1) Separate yourself from the distractions
Phyllis Korkki, in her New York Times article, stated that the best environment is one where you do one task at a time, called monotasking. She stated, “Actively resist the urge to check unrelated social media while you are working on a task.”
In my experience, there are two types of distractions to avoid. First, the distraction of outside forces such as roommates. You may have to find an area to separate yourself from these distractions.
Second, there are distractions while at your computer or laptop. To avoid these distractions, you may have to set purposeful breaks or arrange your calendar in such a way that provides outlets for these distractions when it’s the right time. Prioritizing distractions can be a good way to avoid a long period of distraction.
2) Take Purposeful Breaks
It’s important to take breaks as “it is during a break that you consolidate ideas and memories to enhance learning.” When you take purposeful breaks, you allow yourself to refocus and avoid burnout.
You can also use these purposeful breaks to utilize distractions. If you plan distractions for your breaks, you may be less likely to get sucked into distractions during work hours. The amount of time for each break is up to you. The goal of the break is to be refreshed to remain productive for your next set of work and to finish the day without being burnt out.
3) Engage with friends and family
One good way to take purposeful breaks while working at home is to engage with your friends and family. In her Psychology Today article. Emma Seppälä Ph.D. states that “Social connection improves health, well-being, and longevity.”
When you are able to take your mind off work during a purposeful break, you are allowing yourself a time to focus on the more important things of life. Engaging with friends and family during breaks will allow you to be refreshed. When you get back to work, you will now be in a better mood to tackle the next problem and be productive for the rest of the day.
4) Set A Schedule That Maximizes Productivity
You may be wondering what it means to create a schedule that maximizes productivity. One of the benefits of working from home is often that we may have more flexibility around our work schedule. As such, you will be best to determine your most productive work hours during the day.
You may work hours that are less traditional but maximize productivity for you. For example, if you are like me with small kids, you may try getting up extra early to start your day and get some work in before the kids get up. Or, if you work better in the evenings, you may structure your day that takes care of chores earlier in the day, so that you have uninterrupted work time later in the day.
Ben Tejes is the Co-Founder and CEO of Ascend Finance, a platform to help people achieve self-improvement in the area of personal finance. He is a also a writer for the Inbound Sales and BCAB Blog where he writes on topics such as Florida Chapter 13 or 7 bankruptcy, Chapter 13 bankruptcy Wisconsin and Filing Chapter 13 Bankruptcy in Arizona to help people get out of debt and experience financial freedom.
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