We are in the work-from-home post-pandemic era. The COVID-19 global pandemic taught us as a society the importance of being able to work from home and also how beneficial working from home can be for both the employee and the employer. However, when working from home, it can be easy to fall into a lack of productivity. There are so many temptations when working from home that aren’t there when working in an office, such as opening Netflix with the push of a button or just taking a “quick” midday nap that turns into a three-hour slumber. Even in spite of these distractions, it is possible to have a productive work-from-home work day, and we’re here today to show you how to have one. To learn all about how to maximize your productivity at home, put on some nice clothes and a pair of computer glasses and keep on reading.
1. Set a Routine
The very first tip is to set a routine. This is absolutely key to having a productive work day at home. You should have a set time that you start your work every day, no matter how much you may not want to that day. If you don’t set a routine for when you start work, you’ll get into the alternative habit of pushing back your work further and further each day until it’s 6:00 p.m. and you realize you haven’t done a single productive thing. If you decide to start your work day at 9:00 a.m., make it a habit and stick to it. It’ll help you be so much more productive, and you’ll thank yourself later when you’ve accomplished everything you need to by the end of the work day, even if you weren’t too eager to start at 9:00 that morning.
2. Start With a Productive Morning
The next tip is to start with a productive morning, or start your day with an activity that makes you feel productive. It could be something as simple as making your bed or more engaging like doing a quick session of morning pilates. By accomplishing an activity like one of these, you’ll feel productive to start your day, and that feeling will motivate you to be productive during work.
3. Put on Nice Clothes
The clothes you wear during your work-from-home work day can make or break your productivity. If you’re wearing pajamas while working from home, your mind will remain in that mindset, and you’ll feel lazy and unproductive. On the other hand, if you put on professional clothes that you’d wear if you were going into an office, your mind will manifest that mindset, and you’ll feel substantially more productive and want to accomplish all your tasks. It’s astonishing how much of a difference clothes can make.
4. Use Computer Glasses
As you go about your work day, you might find it difficult to be as productive as possible because of migraines or difficulty reading small text on your screen. If this is applicable to you or you feel like your eyes are tired after a full day or staring at your laptop screen, then you should consider getting a pair of computer glasses. Computer glasses are unique glasses made with lenses that filter out blue light, which is the culprit of eye fatigue and migraines so commonly experienced by professionals who work from home. By wearing computer glasses during work, you can maximize your productivity and avoid the irritating consequences of exposing your eyes to too much screen time.
5. Set App Limits
One of the biggest reasons why people who work from home get distracted easily is because of how easy it is to get on social media and other distracting apps during work. Thankfully, most smartphones allow you to set app limits for specific apps during certain times of the day. If you struggle with easily getting distracted by apps on your phone, set app limits for those apps during the time you’ve set as your work day. This will help you remain focused and keep your productivity levels high.
6. Fully Stop at the End of the Day
Our sixth and final tip is to fully stop working at the end of your work day. Similar to how you should set a routine for when you start work, you should also set a time to stop working. If you continually work well into the evening, you’ll feel like every day is full of work and nothing else, diminishing your productivity during the day. However, if you set a time to stop work, say 5:00 p.m., you’ll feel extra motivated to finish everything by that time, and then you’ll be happy to do other non-work activities with the remaining time you have left in the day. Setting an end time is critical to maximum work-from-home productivity.
Conclusion
We hope these six tips were helpful for you as you work from home. By following these tips, you’ll experience the most productivity you ever had while working from home, and your work life will be better than ever.
Photo by Jason Strull on Unsplash