Are you struggling to stay productive while working from home? Don’t worry, you are not alone! Since 2020, so many people started working from home for the first time, and for some, it’s been really hard to adjust. That’s why I wanted to share my own tips and hacks to help you in this area and be more efficient with your time at home.
I’m personally someone that is a lot more productive at home rather than when in an office or workspace of any sort. To give you a quick, little background, I started working from home back in 2019. It was the first job I had as a freelancer, and never really went into full-time employment, though I did have some other side hustles going on at the time.
Although I’ve never had a 9-5, I did go to University for 3 years, and we had to attend seminars, do group projects, and we were always encouraged to do our assignments there.
Unfortunately, my performance in those times was VERY poor, and I could barely get any work done. But as soon as I stepped out of there and went back home, words would start to flow for my essays, or I would have great ideas for my marketing projects.
However, I know that many people are the complete opposite of me, and I would love to be able to help you be more productive while you work at home, so I hope my tips will be helpful for you.
Whether you have children to homeschool while you work, you live by yourself, or with family/housemates, I want to share a few tips with you to help you ease yourself into this new way of living/working, and help you become more productive and do your job well. You can apply them to whatever job you do, because I’m not going to be talking about any job specifically, but rather about your environment and small habits that have an impact on your working life.
5 tips to boost your productivity when working from home
Here they are, my 5, very simple and easy to implement tips to help you become more productive when working from home.
1. PUT NORMAL CLOTHES ON
Yes, this is the first and most important step. Way too many times I said I’d start working in my PJ’s and have a shower later in the morning, only to arrive at dinner time still in the same PJ’s and looking like a mess. Plus, I think it’s good for your body and mind to try and establish some sort of routine, which also involves putting normal clothes on instead of being around in your pajamas the whole day. I’m not saying you need to put on a smart office outfit, just choose something comfortable as long as it’s different than what you wear to go to bed. The benefits of having a routine are too many, and if you think you need one, then you should check out this post where I share exactly how you can create a routine for your day.
2. GET OUT OF YOUR BEDROOM
Another important thing to do is to leave your bedroom; only use it to go to sleep but don’t work in there. I don’t know about you but I think it’s too cozy in there and the risk to get sleepy and take a nap is too high. I’m actually guilty of spending a lot of time working from my room, but that’s also because I live in a shared house and I don’t want to take full control of the living room. I know that some renters don’t even have a living room in their homes, but if you are lucky to have one, then use it. You need to separate your workspace from the “chilling” space, even if it’s in the same four walls. In normal times, I used to go to a library, a coffee shop, and then only use my bedroom for my downtime.
3. DON’T SKIP YOUR MEALS!
You may be tempted to skip breakfast or lunch, especially when your whole routine is messed up, but I encourage you not to do it. Have a good breakfast before you start working and eat your lunch during your lunch break as you would do in the office. Your brain needs energy to work and be productive, so don’t deprive it of its fuel. Drink your water, eat your food, and enjoy a good quality of work. If you are short on time even though you are at home, and you think that you’re not able to cook every meal from scratch, then I recommend you check out this post to help you start meal planning for the week, even if you are a complete beginner.
4. HAVE REGULAR BREAKS.
Yes, even if you are in the house and can’t go anywhere, have regular breaks. They help you restore your energy, have more clarity, and be more productive. It can be as little as 5 to 10 minutes, do a quick stretch, stare outside the window doing absolutely nothing or make a cup of tea. Your brain will thank you.
If you don’t believe me, I suggest you read this interesting article from Psychology Today, where they talk all about breaks, how important they are, and how they actually contribute to increasing your productivity.
5. SWITCH OFF WHEN THE DAY IS DONE.
You may be wondering what this has to do with productivity, but knowing that you have a certain amount of hours to focus on work only and then enjoy your time, will actually push you to work hard during those hours and complete your tasks on time so that you won’t let “work time” intrude into “me time”. Establish clear boundaries, remove the distractions around you and be productive, and then switch off when your workday is over.
That’s it, I kept it short and simple and I tried to make it as practical as possible.
You might also be interested in reading these related productivity articles:
Maybe you thought that achieving productivity at home was much harder than this, or you thought you’d have to change your whole life to do it. But as I said, the purpose of this blog is to share easy tips with you, and honestly, that’s all you need. Nothing fancy or extra complicated, just a few good tips that will dramatically boost your productivity!
