Managing your schedule and staying motivated to work can be difficult when you’re not traveling to an office every day. Whether your employer allows you to work remotely or you’re self-employed, staying productive isn’t always the easiest thing to do.
Home is full of distractions, from the kids pestering you to play with them, the pets begging you for food, or the neighbors arguing next door. There is also the temptation to watch television, scroll on your phone, or cook some food when you’re at home, away from the watchful eyes of a manager.
While some people don’t find it difficult to ignore distractions and stay productive during the work day, others find it almost impossible. When your work environment and home become one, it can be tough to separate the two. Your professional life crosses into your personal life and vice versa.
Luckily, there are a few things that you can do to boost your productivity, even when you work from home. Here are some great things to try when you feel your productivity slipping.
Invest in the Right Office Furniture
You might be surprised to hear that the furniture in your office could be the root cause of your low productivity. It’s easy to design your home office to maximize productivity.
When you don’t have a comfortable office chair or your desk is set to the wrong height, it can severely impact your ability to work efficiently. If you’re wondering how to choose a chair for your home office, consider your posture and work setup.
Ideally, you want an office chair that can support your spine from top to bottom and enables you to sit upright for long periods of time without getting any aches and pains. Your office chair should also be correctly adjusted to your height so that you can rest your feet on the ground while sitting down.
Your desk must also be the correct height to position your computer or laptop screen around eye level. This will prevent you from craning your neck to look at your screen throughout the day, which could cause stiffness and tightness in the upper body.
When you are uncomfortable or stiff, it can impact your concentration. As a result, your productivity can take a dip. By investing in the right office furniture, you can keep your body in the optimal position for hours of work.
Minimize Distractions in Your Home
Whether you’re a parent with kids at home, a proud pet owner, or you live with other people who are in the house most of the time, distractions are everywhere. They’re almost impossible to fully remove.
Because there are so many distractions at home, you might find it difficult to sit down and work for long periods of time. Even if you can’t completely eliminate every potential distraction in your home, you can do your best to minimize them.
Here are some quick tips to help you remove distractions while working from home so that you can focus more easily and be productive:
- Choose an office space that is far away from your family or housemates to reduce the noise
- Ask a family member to look after the children for the day
- Work when your pet is asleep or ask a friend to take them out for a few hours
- Play relaxing music to mask any noise coming from outside
- Keep the radio or television off
- Keep your phone on silent or put it in another room
- Keep the room well-ventilated by opening the window or using a fan
Use Online Productivity Tools to Organize Your Calendar
There are plenty of great productivity tools that you can use online to manage your schedule more easily.
For those of you who run a remote business with several employees, you can use your productivity tools to assign tasks to your staff and update projects accordingly. You’ll save time, energy, and resources using a great online platform, and this can significantly boost your productivity.
If your main productivity issue is time management, you’ll find using an online calendar beneficial to organize your tasks and deadlines. Tools like Asana or Google Calendar make it easy to time batch and figure out where to spend your energy.
Productivity tools can also improve your task reporting, performance trafficking, and quality of work. If your co-workers also use the same platforms, you might also be able to communicate directly with them, which increases your team efficiency and workflow.
There are several different productivity platforms available so you might need to try a few different tools, to begin with. Using the wrong platform could damage your productivity more than help it! Don’t be afraid to trial and error a few different tools for a month at a time to determine your preferred platform.
Take Regular Breaks Throughout the Work Day
It might seem better to work as much as possible throughout the day and skip your lunch break. However, doing so could harm your productivity in the long run. If you don’t take enough breaks, you can quickly burn out and work less efficiently.
You should aim to take at least two or three breaks throughout a standard eight-hour work day. They don’t need to be hour-long breaks but it’s important to give your mind a rest when you’re working hard for several hours.
During your break, take a walk around the block to move your body and breathe in the fresh air. Avoid looking at your work emails or responding to messages from your co-workers during your breaks, as this won’t allow your brain to rest.
Taking short breaks regularly throughout the day is one of the best ways to maximize your productivity. By giving your mind a short rest, you’ll feel much more productive when you sit back down at your desk.