If you’ve had to made the transition to working from home during this time, it can be difficult to adjust to this new routine. From getting distracted easily, to forgetting to take a break, it’s easy to slip into bad habits, especially when you are feeling stressed. Luckily, we’ve had some experience working from home and we’re ready to share these 9 tips with you to make sure you still have a productive working week!
Get A Restful Sleep
One bright side about working from home, is you may not have to wake up as early as you usually would to go on a long commute to your office. However, try not to take this as an excuse to stay up past midnight every night and end up feeling groggy in the morning. We’d recommend still setting an alarm, but give yourself at least an hour to get ready before starting your work day. Try and make your bed as soon as you can too, even if you don’t plan on working there for the day. This way, you can already feel productive, even from the moment you get out of bed.
Create A New Morning Ritual
For those of us who used to commute, no matter how much we often disliked it, it was still a morning routine that made us feel safe and normal. Just because you now work from home, doesn’t mean you have to completely throw your old routine out of the window. As said before, we’d recommend giving yourself at least an hour to get ready for your day, from treating yourself to a large breakfast, to picking out an outfit for the day or even taking the time to listen to your favourite podcast that you would usually tune in to on the train. These small things can help normalise working from home and get your mind prepared for your day ahead.
Create A Distinct Workspace
This can be either in a home office, a desk in your bedroom, the dining room table or even your bedside table: any flat surface can be a workspace! If you can, try your best to avoid working in your bed, or if you have no other space, try changing position and sitting more upright - this includes avoiding the temptation to snuggle under the covers - as this will put you in a better work mindset. Whatever workspace you choose, try to keep it as minimal and clean as possible. We really believe in a tidy room equals a tidy mind! By keeping your workspace clear, it creates less distractions and can often make you feel calmer. If you can, we’d also recommend facing a window, as natural light can lift your mood and even give you the brief illusion that you’re outside! If you want to take your workspace a step further, you could even place your laptop or monitor on an elevated platform or stand to help with your posture.
Use A Planner And Write Out Your Day
Planning your day out is arguably more crucial than ever now that you work from home. Whether it’s a crisp new planner you've been dying to break out or simply a notepad and pen, we’d highly recommend writing out a comprehensive to do list for the day. You can make this solely work things, or even expand it to household tasks too like cleaning and doing laundry. If you have a big task to do, such as completing a project or presentation, breaking this down into bitesize tasks can be a great way of getting that sense of progress. The main reason we love to do lists is having the satisfaction of ticking off a task that you have completed, as it will make you feel more motivated and determined to make your day as productive as it can be. If you’re craving a little more structure, you can go further and plan out your day by the hour. This could be great for those who have hourly deadlines or want to schedule breaks as you can easily prioritise certain tasks.
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Minimise Distractions As Much As Possible
Thought getting distracted by your coworkers was a problem in the office? Working from home is a whole different playing field! For those of us used to working in an office, it is hard to work at home, a place you usually associate with relaxing and having fun. Some of the ways you can minimise your distractions as much as possible is use headphones. Unless you have kids at home to keep an ear out for, headphones can be a great way to zone in on a task, whether it's to listen to some calming music or even just have nothing playing, having the headphones on will be another indicator you’re working and that, in order to stop working, you’ll have to take them off.
For most people, their biggest distraction can be their phone. If you don’t have to use your phone for work, there are some great productivity apps out there to help you stay focused, with one example being Forest, where if you don’t click out of the app for a certain amount of time, then it will grow a tree! If you don’t want to use these apps, you can simply turn your phone off and put it in another room. The key point here is move any potential distractions away from your workspace, that way if you want to use them you have to physically get up, making them less tempting to turn to.
Don’t Forget To Take Breaks
For you workaholics out there, this is for you: remember to take a break! With the opportunity to go out for lunch with your coworkers taken away, it can be difficult to remember you still deserve a break. As we mentioned before, you can schedule breaks into your timed schedule and even set an alarm on your phone so you don’t get carried away with the time. Equally, we’d suggest setting a timer for an hour or however long you usually take a lunch break to make sure you don’t get distracted and get back to work when you’re done. If you are socially distancing, rather than completely self-isolating, you could go out for a short walk and get some fresh air. If you are self-isolating, you can even walk around the garden if you have one. The most important thing is to try to have your break away from your workspace, where there’s no temptation to check your emails or work.
Try To Keep Moving
You may have noticed already that working from home can quickly make you feel sluggish. There're so many ways to be active whilst staying at home, like utilizing an outdoor space like a garden or even doing circuits up and around the house. Even whilst working from home, you can still stick to your routine; if you usually go to the gym after work, try an exercise video and work out at home! Whether it’s a hardcore abs workout, a sooting yoga session or even a shameless dance party, anything to keep you moving will keep you healthy and happy.
Working With Others
If you are working from home alongside your spouse, roommate or family member, it can be difficult to remember that ideal working environment for you, may not be the same for your partner. The important thing to keep in mind here is compromise. If your partner works best with music, but you concentrate best in silence, it's making adjustments like asking your partner to put headphones on that can prevent a lot of arguments. To avoid distractions and the temptation to chat, we suggest making sure you and your partner have separate workspaces if possible, that way when you do come together at the end of the day, it will be more valuable time spent chatting. These situations are all about working together, even if you work apart.
Give Yourself Something To Look Forward To
It’s just as important to finish on time as it is to start on time. If you work a 9-5 at the office, remember this can be done at home too. Workaholics may find it tricky to clock out at their usual time when they’re not at the office and we think planning out your free time like you do your work day can help. Say you know your work day should finish at 5, plan something like watching your favourite movie or video chatting a friend for this time. This way you have something to work towards and look forward to at the end of the day.
This refers to Parkinson’s Law, which is that work expands to fill the time available for its completion. This is the theory that, if you associate the time you get up from the time you go to sleep as time where work could be done, then whilst you could spend all day technically working, it won’t be productive and instead you will get easily distracted. This is because your brain will not see the work as a priority because you haven’t given yourself a stopping time. This stopping time would be where you have other, downtime plans that work cannot interrupt. So take planning out your free time as seriously as you would planning out your work time.
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