Working from home has its perks; a small lie-in, no travelling and being able to answer the door to collect your post for once – no more Missed Parcel slips, hurrah! However, there are downsides to working from home too – staying motivated.
It’s inevitable for you to feel like you’re procrastinating at times, as it’s easy to get side-tracked, but there are ways to help you be more productive when working from home – so listen up.
Create a schedule (& stick to it)
As blissful as a lie-in is, working from home doesn’t mean you get to catch up on all the beauty sleep.
It’s easy to get side-tracked at home, so this is where a schedule works out nicely. Set yourself time frames throughout the day and ensure work is what you’re doing – not staring out the window or scrolling through your news feed.
Clean the flat/house
This may not apply to everyone, but knowing a couple of dishes need washing or the rug requires a quick hoover drives me insane. I need to have a clean and tidy flat to function. Yes, that’s down to a little OCD, but it helps me focus on my work if I know everything around me is how it should be. So if you’re similar to me in that aspect, get your rubber gloves on and get cracking before your working day starts.
You may feel that you don’t have enough time to clean your home, especially if you have a lot of work to do. Why not get a professional cleaning company to do it for you. This will save you time as well as ease your stress, creating a better environment to work in.
Go for a walk
Now I don’t mean walk to town, do a little shopping, maybe grab a Starbucks and return for an afternoon of reading magazines whilst sipping on a latte.
No.
Simply get some fresh air and have a change of scenery for 15 minutes to help clear your head and make sure you’re keeping active. It’ll do you the world of good, especially if you work from home frequently or are sat down a lot for your day job.
Create a workspace
Now I’ve relocated for a new job, I’ve gone from having a workspace in the lounge of my 1-bed flat to now being in a house-share where my workspace is in my room. So for me, it’s now extra important to create a productive workspace to blog, study and work when necessary. Creating a good working environment is useful for helping you feel more productive, even when at home because you know that space is for work purposes only.
Yes, it’s lovely to be able to sit in bed with your laptop, but it’s not going to help you focus. This is one of my reasons for buying a desktop (my sexy looking iMac in other words), because there’s no way then that I can be tempted to sit in bed.
One of the most beneficial things I did to make my comfortable working environment more productive was installing custom blinds to manage the lighting coming into my room and more importantly block out distractions. I found that working in a more comfortable environment meant that I was easily distracted, particularly daydreaming and looking out of my window.
By installing custom made Venetian blinds, to fit my windows and room design, I have found that I can concentrate better and am therefore more productive, which may be something to consider if you too find you are easily distracted