31 Jul How to Stay Productive Working From Home
Many people are now remote working with little to no guidance on how to work from home effectively. Here are some of our tips for staying productive while working from home.
Designated a Work Space
Choosing a space in your home, specifically for work, allows you to create a physical separation from your “work-life” and your “home life.” It also gives you the sense of “going to work,” even if you’re sitting at a different place at your kitchen table than you do to eat your meals. You will learn to associate this area with working, and being in the space will help put you in a workday mindset.
Working from your bed might seem like a great idea (it’s the shortest commute ever). Studies show that doing so negatively affects your sleep because your brain loses the mental association between your bed and relaxation. The more time you spend working from bed, the harder it is to stop thinking about work while there. The same holds for any area in your home where you work, so if there are areas where you don’t want to think about work, make sure you don’t work in those areas.
Create a Daily Schedule
Just like you would have a schedule, if you had to be at an office every morning, you should get into the habit of setting daily schedules to ensure you get your work done efficiently.
Establish a Morning Routine
Establishing a morning routine is essential, whether you’re working from home or leaving the house to work. This will give your brain clear indications that your day is starting and that it’s time to start being productive.
We’ve written another post about morning routine ideas, but when working from home, some of the steps you would take if you were leaving the house, like getting dressed and ready in the mornings, tend to fall to the wayside. Make sure to incorporate everything you would do if you were leaving the house for work into your work-from-home morning routine.
Schedule Working Hours
Whether it’s something as simple as responding to work emails or doing things that are more time-intensive like working on projects, it seems harmless to work a little more or work odd hours while working from home.
Setting working hours, including scheduling breaks and start and stop times, allows you to focus entirely on work. Dedicating time to working minimizes the chance that you will spend all of your time half-focused on work and half-focused on whatever else is going on in your home.
Set Priorities for the Day
Once you’ve decided how long you want to spend working each day, it’s important to set daily priorities to spend this time wisely. Listing out your priorities helps you see what has to happen and what you can do if you have the time to get to them.
Find Tools That Boost Your Productivity
It’s important to be proactive in creating the best environment for yourself. If you notice some things are continually getting in the way of you accomplishing what you need each day, find the right tools to help you manage them. Some examples:
- Does your back hurt from sitting hunched over your kitchen table? Consider getting a standing desk that sits on top of the table instead or purchase an ergonomic chair.
- Can you hear your significant other’s zoom calls or the construction happening next door? Maybe you should invest in a pair of noise-canceling headphones.
- Do your eyes hurt from staring at your computer screen all day? Look into blue-light-blocking glasses or move your workspace into an area with more natural lighting.
How Artful Agenda Can Help
Artful Agenda is a great tool to help you be productive while working from home. It has the perfect features to maximize your efficiency. With Artful Agenda, you can:
- Set your schedule. Use our web and mobile apps to plan out and stick to your daily work schedule, including planning your morning routine and arranging your breaks and meetings.
- Create weekly and daily to-do lists. Artful Agenda allows you to set weekly and daily to-do lists, so you never forget what you have to do. Our Daily view also has a section for Priority Tasks where you can track each day’s most essential items.
- Meal plan. Make your days simpler by planning your meals ahead of time and keeping track of them in your Artful Agenda.
- Track water. Taking care of yourself while working from home is important, and our water tracker helps make sure you drink more than just coffee and stay hydrated.
- Change Your Custom List Section. This is great because you can modify it to meet your particular needs. It can be anything from a Gratitude Journal to a Home Improvement Checklist to a Daily Workout Routine.
- Make Master Lists. Use our List tab to create Master Lists for different areas of your life and work. You can assign items from lists to a specific day, and they will populate under your day view tasks.
Want to see how Artful Agenda can help you be productive?
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