How to be Productive While Working From Home With These Daily Habits
© Chris Adamus
The perks of working from home are satisfying. There are the warmth and comfort of knowing you’re on your personal space. You don’t get to engage in unnecessary conversations with workmates you don’t like. There’s no supervisor to run their judgmental eyes at your desk – ushering the genesis of panic and discomfort. It’s your laptop and your house all by yourself. It’s an excellent workplace, right?
With all the comfort, you’d expect your productivity levels to shoot higher. However, that’s not the case. As human beings, with the increase in comfort, grows the urge for laxity, hence, laziness. Your productivity, therefore, suffers a blow as you wallow in the new work environment.
However, there are a few daily habits that can help boost your productivity. As they say, habit is second nature. Below is how to get things done – even when the supervisor isn’t picking on you with his eyes.
Decide on a location
The assumption that many people make is that since its home, you can work from anywhere. Working from home requires the ample and serene environment there is in any workplace. You don’t work in the kitchen simply because you’re working from home.
Deciding on a location to complete your tasks is a vital habit. It helps your brain to switch from the thinking of home as a relaxation hub and helps you envision it as a workplace. The location has to be definite. If you choose to dedicate a room within your home as your office, maintain it for every time you’re working on a task. It will easily switch you into the workplace mood, influencing positively on your productivity.
Have a schedule
There are more than enough distractions to stop you from beginning a task on time while at home. You can waste time catching up on the latest episodes of your favorite TV shows, one more minute of sleep, or the temptation to get another cup of coffee. All these minute and routine happenings could cost you a lot of time. And that’s why having a schedule should be your daily habit.
Having a schedule as a habit will help you be time conscious. Without supervision, the success and productivity of working from home depend on your ability to manage time and complete projects before deadlines. It is essential to have most of your projects when you’re productive. Have a schedule that covers the most productive hours’ stick to it, and you’ll be amazed.
Breaks
Too much work without play makes jack a dull boy. Make it a daily habit to plan for breaks in between your work projects. Research shows that there is more productivity after a pause, with a refreshed concentration.
It is easy to take a break while working from home. You want to go outside and take a walk around your block. The air circulation and the break of the monotony of sitting at a desk can help boost your concentration. A clear mind is a significant boost to productivity.
Mute Social Media
Social media can be a significant distraction and a productivity killer whose effects cannot be underestimated. You should cultivate the habit of muting or blocking your social media if you want maximum productivity.
At home, nobody is around to alert you that you’ve spent 45 minutes on Instagram, liking cat photos.
However, there’s a positive side to social media and working from home. Since social media is among one of the basic needs, using them as rewards for tasks completed is efficient. For example, if you have a pitch to write, after completing it, you can reward yourself with 15 minutes of checking threads on Twitter. If you’re unable to limit your use of social media, employ the use of apps that will block all distracting sites.
Resist Chores
Procrastination at the workplace means prolonging the coffee break or chatting with a coworker at the expense of an unfinished project. At home, things are different. Procrastination is likely to come from a social experience since there aren’t any people to chat with over coffee, but household chores are.
The temptation to work on chores first then get back to work is irresistible. If you fall for it, you’ll begin with the chores. By the time you’re done, you’ll be fatigued, influencing profoundly on your productivity unless you’re on human enhancement technology. To boost your productivity, resist chores totally as you train your mind to treat your home as a workplace and delegate writing jobs to the writing sites.
Final thoughts
Working from home can be an easy and productive way if the above habits are installed in place. It could also be superb if the use of human enhancement technologies is embraced to improve productivity – to restore physical and psychological abilities. The practices mostly dwell on discipline now that there’s zero supervision. It also majors on the mindset – the ability to treat your home as a workplace.
It is a superb setting as it allows you to hold accountability for your actions. It helps you to monitor your activities without influence and work at your own pace.