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prasadkvs · 3 years

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Tips To Improve Productivity While Working From Home

Corporations across the world are forced to shut down operations from offices due to the novel COVID-19 pandemic and employees persuaded to opt for working from their homes to ensure minimum physical contact. This could lead to detrimental consequences, but with the right planning and preparation, this might just be the solution to avoid mass scale epidemics from spreading. In such circumstances, as humans, the feeling of indolence and procrastination is only natural. Hence, it is imperative to practice productivity to avoid lethargy from taking over.

Honestly, working at home for extended periods can become frustrating, especially with the distractions that come with remote working. The reality of working from home isn’t merely about complications brought about by a new work-life led by teleconferencing from your computer but lies in the overall environment and the challenges influencing your productivity and creativity.

In this article, we are sharing some thoughts to help you optimize your efficiency and boost your productivity. This will not only assist you through your work-from-home phase during the COVID-19 quarantine but make you a better professional suited to the remote working role.

1. SCHEDULING AND ORGANIZING YOUR WORK FROM HOME MORNINGS

“When I work from home, I wake up, put on a pot of coffee, and start working immediately — much earlier normal working hours. I only start making breakfast once I’ve hit a wall or need a break. I’m a morning person and find I can get a ton done in the early morning hours, so this works really well for me.” – Lindsay Kolowich

Your morning commute to the office prepared you for your morning routine right from waking to getting ready for the upcoming workday. So you have a schedule and organized routine, which needs to be adapted to the new home office routine. At home, initially, the transition from your bed to your desk in a short span of time can be problematic. Working from home requires setting yourself for a routine and ensure that you stick to it. Waking up and spending 10 mins practicing breathing techniques and welcoming the day with a smile will be a good start. Some warm-up exercises are useful to wake up your body if you are not a fitness person, but if you are someone who likes to keep fit, this is the best time to complete the exercise regimen. Follow this with a getting-ready-for-work routine, have a coffee or protein shake, a balanced breakfast and hit your work from home desk with a killer instinct to get cracking on the day’s tasks.

Implementing a routine can help you retain focus and productivity throughout the day. An imbalanced or changing routine can cause you to become slouchy and influence your productivity.

Sleeping on time and getting good 7-8 hours of sleep is essential to proper work from home success.

2. CREATE A TO-DO LIST AND ACHIEVE MORE REMOTELY

“Subtracting from your list of priorities is as important as adding to it.” – Frank Sonnenberg

When working from home, you might feel like your own boss, which you are no doubt. But remember you are an employee too and responsible for the delivery of work assigned to you. A To-Do list will go a long way in ensuring that you complete your official tasks on time, thus having enough time for personal work and chores. Working from home does not mean you don’t have a personal life so ensure you keep the separation alive.

Keeping track of what you do, when you do it, and how long it takes you to do it, can benefit you in many ways. Furthermore, you will be more willing to focus on priorities once you understand your own success at making lists and achieving the tasks within a timeline successfully.

There are many ways to approach a to-do list, and all have the same objective – to help you get through a tough, dull, monotonous day with the least stress. Some amazing to-do lists are available as mobile apps such as 24me, todoist, remember the milk and more.

You can just download the app and start listing down your tasks. For eg: ‘To complete three website content writing projects by 7pm today’. And you are sorted with the to-do list for that day. Isn't it easy? This is how most digital marketing agencies, corporate and successful working individuals complete their tasks efficiently and effectively.

3. OPT FOR A DEDICATED WORKSPACE AT HOME – ITS YOUR OFFICE AFTER ALL

“Have a place you go specifically to work. It could be a certain table, chair, local coffee shop – someplace that’s consistently your ‘workspace’. It helps you get into the right frame of mind.” – Sam Mallikarjunan

Wooden-desk-with-rolling-chair-and-shelves-near-window what makes you more productive at the office? The office environment, of course. If you work from home, it doesn’t mean that you can’t have an office. The whole premise of remote working is that you WORK FROM HOME. The challenge is to create a space similar to an office, where the HR dept keeps playing with the space to keep it exciting and live all the time. A dedicated workspace to get started with can aid you in being more focused and productive. No Beds and Couches, please.

Embrace a particular space of your house for official chores, and you will notice that you are more attentive and determined. Keep making minor changes every weekend and you will find it pleasing to be at work every day. Your home office needs to set up and our article on 7 Essential Components to Create the Best Work From Home Office will help you deliver amazing results.

4. UNPLUG YOURSELF FROM DISTRACTIONS – YOU ARE AT WORK

“I remove all social networks from my toolbar bookmarks. Even if I don’t mean to browse them, some uncontrollable impulse subconsciously clicks on them when I experience downtime. You can get sucked in without knowing it (or even intending to), so eliminating the gateway to those networks keeps me on track.” – Alec Biedrzycki

Technology has become a significant aspect of our everyday lives, and similarly, a distraction from routine errands. Remind yourself to take a break from the hassles of your phone – turn off your phone, unplug your television, and log-out of social media before starting your work.

You will feel more focused, which will directly influence your productivity. As such, you will be able to get your work through on time and efficiently.

5. USE NATURE TO YOUR ADVANTAGE

Due to the COVID-19 outbreak, going outside of your house is not an option, but that doesn’t mean you cannot embrace nature and gain from its goodness. Connecting with nature is vital for your productivity – sit in your garden, balcony, or position plants beside your workplace or on your work desk.

Studies have proven that plants, such as Peace Lily and Golden Pothos, tend to improve productivity by improving an individual’s focus and stimulating tranquillity. A Harvard research found that working in a green building improved awareness by a whopping 26%, decreased sick leaves by 30%, and improved quality of sleep by 6%.

Do you remember all the offices and workplaces you like? now think about the greenery, plants and flowers and you will realise that every cool office has some greens.

6. SLEEPING FOR SUCCESS

“Three meals plus bedtime make 4 sure blessings each day.” – Mason Cooley

It is no surprise that sleep is a crucial factor for, not only our well-being but improved productivity as well. A survey conducted on employees of four corporations in the United States found, not getting enough sleep can make you lethargic and weary, hence, influence your productivity destructively throughout the day.

While sleep is important, maintaining a body clock is important too. This requires sleeping at the same time daily and waking up at the same time every day. Once the body clock is set you will not need any alarms. This might seem difficult at first but is a super tip for high productivity.

While 6 hours work for some and some vouch for the 8-hour sleep cycle, you will find many who can work wonderfully with short power naps in-between. If your work commences late in the evening, a minor nap would be refreshing before working on assignments.

7. START YOUR WORKDAY WITH A BALANCED BREAKFAST

“Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, and I definitely have a hearty breakfast before I do anything.” – Mayer Hawthorne

A happy and successful power day needs energy coupled with exercise. You can’t hope to get work done with an empty stomach, as you will be constantly hungry and salvaging through the kitchen for a morsel of food. And the kitchen being so accessible and you being the boss of the kitchen, can lead to health complications due to overeating and eating irregularly. A balanced and nutritious breakfast is an important meal of the day for many.

Commence your day correctly by consuming a proper breakfast to provide your body with ample energy – this involves proteins, carbohydrates, and fats! For instance, eggs and toast have both fats and proteins, hence can be a part of your daily power breakfast. And if you are calorie conscious check out this recipe for the egg white frittata. Then there’s the all-time favourite Oats and Bananas you cannot stay away from. To make this, mash up half of a banana, and combine it with ½ cup of rolled oats, ½ cup skim milk, one teaspoon of vanilla (optional), 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon, and 1 tablespoon of maple syrup. Stir the ingredients together in a jar, seal, and refrigerate overnight. Serve hot or cold in the morning topped with chopped nuts like almonds, pistachios and walnuts.

8. LISTEN TO MUSIC TO KEEP YOURSELF RECHARGED

“Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything.” – Plato

It might seem clichéd, but it’s true! And there’s Research to prove that music can improve cognition and productivity by reducing anxiety levels. Create a playlist with soundtracks that relate to your emotions and tasks, such as soothing tunes. Don’t go for dull or overtly relaxing music you turn to in the evenings when with your loved ones. You can search for words like “Calm Music’, “Music for Focus” etc on youtube and find some really good music that will help you become a better work from home employee.

Take video games or movies as an example; they use music during distinct scenes to increase focus. Hence, it is only logical that music can improve concentration during work, therefore, improving productivity.

9. DONT MISS TAKING SHORT BREAKS AND THE ODD LONG BREAK

Breaks are essential because they allow for motor functions to return to normal, thus avoiding aches and pains. Additionally & scientifically speaking breaks help your prefrontal cortex rest and recharge so you can stay focused on what matters most.

Working for long stretches (which is typical these days) without breaks leads to stress and exhaustion. You need to refresh your mind, replenish your mental resources, and help keep the creative juices going for the rest of the workday.

The good news that when you work from a home office, you have better control over your break times. What does a break from work mean? A brief walk, watch a few DIY videos, going to your reading list to read a few articles, hit the news app and get yourself up to date, and then return to your task rejuvenated.

What is the ideal length of the short breaks from work? SHORT breaks of 5 to 15 minutes every hour work best to take you through a workday smoothly. Take a more extended break of 30-45 minutes every 3 to 4 hours. Remember your lunch is part of the long extended break.

Several surveys have concluded how working from the comfort of your house can affect productivity. For instance, a 2012 research observed how telecommunication influenced productivity can, principally, make an employee “dull”. Yes, all is not hunky-dory about working from home, but it’s not that bad, if, if you are committed to succeeding and implement the above tips to work from home. It’s about you ultimately.

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