7 Ways to Be More Productive When You Work from Home

When you work from home it can be harder to be consistently productive. There are numerous distractions that crop up, from social media notifications, telephone calls through to tv programs, that can all take our focus away from the work. In this blog I aim to show you how creating the right environment and developing good habits can help you maintain your productivity.

Create a designated workspace

Having a specific area that you associate with work can help you stay focused and productive. Whether it's a separate room or just a designated corner of a room, make sure it's a quiet and comfortable space that allows you to concentrate. Have everything you need to hand and don’t forget that H&S still applies at home, so make sure you use a good chair, correct lighting, and think about getting a monitor to create an ergonomic sitting posture while working.

Set clear goals/tasks for the day

Start your day by setting clear goals and prioritizing your tasks. Ask yourself what you need to get done that day. If it’s a big task, then just limit yourself to the one task. If it’s small more manageable tasks, then go with three max and work on the essential tasks first.

Stick to a routine!

This sounds boring but it’s actually a great way to get stuff done efficiently! Work out which parts of the day you are most productive as this will help you schedule the more complex tasks. Are there routine tasks that you do on a regular basis? If so, consider scheduling those in for set times of the day/week/month.

Set regular work hours and try to stick to them as closely as possible, and make sure to take regular breaks and step away from your computer screen periodically.

Use technology

There are so many free apps available to us now to help with our productivity, focus and to help us to stay organised.

Software like Trello and Asana are tasks management apps can help keep your tasks, ideas and thoughts organised.  This type of software is also great when collaborating with other people as you can share projects, tasks and updates.

Use a calendar to schedule calls, meetings, deadlines and tasks.

Note-taking apps are useful if you have a lot of ideas. This article from Zapier provides a review of the best – paid and free.

Think about automating tasks wherever possible. Automation software like Zapier can increase efficiency and productivity, reduce costs, and improve the level of service you deliver. You can read more about this in my blog post.

Limit distractions

This is a big one and having a dedicated room to work in helps as you can shut the door and work in private. You might not be fortunate to have a dedicated home office room but there are other ways you can limit distractions. As mentioned above, having a dedicated desk will help with organisation and structure, and act as a reminder to others that you are in work time. During work time, turn off your TV, close unnecessary tabs on your computer, switch off social media notifications on your phone and use headphones if the house is noisy.

Some people work best in short bursts so using the Pomodoro Technique might work well for you. It involves working for 25-minute focused sessions followed by five-minute breaks. This means zero distractions during this time (including not checking emails when you hear the ping!). There are numerous apps that can help facilitate this including Be Focused for iOS and this really simple website app from Pomodor.

Take breaks

Taking breaks is important for productivity, it can be too easy to keep working but regular breaks can help you to stay refreshed, maintain focus, and avoid burnout. Take short breaks every hour or two, and longer breaks throughout the day to recharge. This is an interesting article from Psychology Today on the importance of taking breaks and the different type of breaks.

Get organised

A cluttered workspace can be distracting, decrease productivity and increase stress levels, especially if you’re trying to find notes etc.  Get organized by decluttering your workspace, keeping your files and documents in order, and using tools like file folders and labels to keep everything in its place. This will help you to stay focused and work more efficiently.

We can all be busy. The key difference here is that by creating the right environment, limiting distractions and prioritising & focusing on what we need to achieve for the day, will help us increase our productivity. In turn, this will also enable us to be more efficient and ultimately have a better work/life balance.