Nov 18, 2020
It seems as though most of the world are working from home right now, so in this post and podcast, we wanted to share some tips on how to be more productive.
How to get stuff done.
So that you don't sit in your pyjamas all day, stroking the cat and staring at the countdown timer on the tumble drier.
Working From Home
Working from home might be a completely new experience for you.
It certainly is for Brian (my husband) and I.
Brian was a tradie, and for the past twenty years has left the house at 8 and returned home at 6. I owned and ran a cafe back in the UK, and then we made the move to New Zealand, and I homeschooled my kids for ten years.
It's only in the last two years, having had a mini mid-life crisis and deciding that we wanted to become groovy digital nomads and have location independent jobs, that we find ourselves working from home full time.
And like you, we are constantly striving for ways in which to improve our productivity.
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Being Productive When Working From Home
The trouble with working from home is it sometimes feels like a bit of a cop-out.
You try to become super-efficient and aim to do everything.
Everything other than what you are supposed to be doing.
All of a sudden very it's essential that you empty the contents of the kitchen drawer and reorganise the big knives from the chopsticks.
But while this kind of procrastination scratches a small itch, you end your week feeling guilty and cheated and tell yourself that things would be better if you had a proper office to go to.
As a side note, working from home has been the best thing that has ever happened to me. I absolutely love it. And I think you will too.
Especially if you put these productivity tips and techniques in place.
Staying Productive While Working From Home. 7 Tips
1: Make a Space
Even if you are working from home and home is one bedroom flat, try your hardest to craft out a little space that is yours.
My space is wherever my foldup camp table will fit. This can be in the garden, behind the couch, in the corner of the family room, or sometimes, I have been known to set up camp at the foot of my bed.
It's not about physical space, it's more about mental space.
Create a space that represents productivity. When you sit down in that space, you are working.
Don't try and perch oat the edge of the breakfast bar surrounded by cups and dirty dishes; your mind won't know where to focus. I've tried that and it doesn't work.
2: Chore Chart
Earlier this years I found myself in a position where there were three other adults and me (ok, one 16-year-old but old enough to pull her weight) and it was always down to me to dish out the jobs and ask for their help.
What's that all about?
I get it. It's easy to believe that when you are working from home then that's all you are doing.
That because you are working the house will take care of itself.
The fairies will somehow take care of the cleaning and the cooking.
Wrong.
By creating a routine in the way of a chore chart I found that household chores get done (outside of work time), But they WILL get done. End of problem.
Do the same.
Make a chore chart that everyone has to be part of. It will give everyone (mostly you) peace of mind to know that those things will be dealt with at an allocated time.
3: Take Regular Breaks
If tI can give you one tip that will increase your productivity while working from home, it is to take regular breaks.
And I don't just mean breakfast, lunch and dinner breaks.
The Pomodoro technique is something that I have been using for the past year or so while working at home, and I absolutely love it.
This technique encourages you to work in twenty-five-minute increments and then take a break.
The break must be for at least five minutes and you move away from your place of work, stretch your legs and your eyes.
If you haven't tried it then I really suggest you do so - it works!
4: Make Things Pretty
As I said in the podcast episode, I cannot work (or let's say don't work as productively) unless the space around me is calm and preferably pretty!
This is easily achieved by placing a small vase of flowers by your workspace or something else that symbolises calm.
Seriously, you don't have to run to the florist, a single dandelion or a daisy in a glass will suffice.
As long as you don't have any reactions to essential oils I would also recommend burning peppermint oil in a oil burner in the room where you intend to work. Not only does it smell divine, but it also has a magic way of making you focus!
5: Work in a Café
Once the world returns to normal and we are let out into the open, working in a café is a must!
This is a practice that I have only recently adopted (actually, when my husband came to work at home and I needed some space to write), but I love it.
Find a café that caters for those who work online, one with good wifi and plenty of outlet sockets and then take yourself off and treat it as an office.
By having the option to take a day (or even a half-day) a week to work in a café, your mood, your focus and your productivity will improve tenfold.
Remember, a change is as good as a rest, and if you are working around other people who are there for the same reason as you (to work), then you are more likely to buckle down and be productive.
6: Focus on one task at a time
It is so easy when working from home to start the day off by writing a list the length of your arm.
Only to get to midday and realise that all you have done is check Facebook and empty the bathroom bin.
Brian gave a brilliant tip for all those working from home; before you open your laptop of fire up your computer, ask your self what task is it that you want to achieve in the next hour?
Write that task down and then set about doing it.
Remember, give your entire focus to that one task and don't let anything else distract you. If that means unplugging while you work then so be it.
7: Be Realistic
Last but not least. Tip number seven for those working from home is to be realistic.
We all hear about how, by not driving to the office every day we save hours in commute time, and then there's the chat at the water cooler and taking photos of your bum with the photocopier.
By working from home, you will have more time and therefore be able to get stacks more done than normal.
Not true.
You are only human. Working from home comes with other distractions and doing your job from home doesn't suddenly mean that you will because super-efficient and churn out the goods.
Write a list at the start of the day and then half it. Half today, half tomorrow.
Remember: quality far outweighs quantity.
Do what you can manage and do it well.
Other things/links we talked about in this week's working from home podcast episode:
How to adapt to working from home (especially if you've been used to being out of the house for most of your working life)
I talk about burning peppermint oil in my burner and how it improves my focus tremendously. You can get the same peppermint oil that I use here.
Why (gentle) exercise is even more important when you work from home.
Today we were drinking this gorgeous cinnamon spiced tea.
Did you enjoy this week's podcast on Tips For Working From Home?
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