13 tips to stay productive when working from home

We all know that working from home requires a lot of discipline and focus, right? In times of social distancing even those who couldn’t fathom having to leave the office have had to adapt. But how to be more productive with all the distractions we have at home?

Household chores, pets, young children, people talking, TV on or even the cell phone. It takes a lot of willpower not to procrastinate. 

If you’re a remote worker or if you’ve recently started working from home and worry about not being productive at home, take a look at our tips and make sure your hard work pays off. 

And now, without further ado, let’s get to the tips!

1. Designate a workspace

One of the biggest temptations when working from home is being able to spend the day as comfortable as possible.

Indeed, starting off the day without having to worry about traffic, bus schedules and even the clothes you’re wearing to work is enough to decrease our usual stress load.

But it doesn’t mean you don’t need to have a specific work environment. Choose a bright, airy room in your house, preferably one where you have privacy.  

Just like in an office, you’ll need a desk with all the essential items to accomplish your tasks, that includes the computer and the phone, both to personal and exclusive use. Remember: you will need the computer constantly to answer emails, have video calls and storage your files.

Regardless of your work environment, make it clear for the people who live with you that you’re working and they can’t come and go as they please.

2. Set a comfortable work environment

The chair you’ll sit on must allow you to work in the correct position and with your feet on the floor.

Don’t even think about working lying down! Using the laptop in bed may affect your breathing, besides causing neck, back, and forearm pain, which has a direct effect on your productivity.

Worrying about your comfort is reasonable since 70% of the population suffers from low back pain due to bad posture according to World Health Organization data. According to the Ipsos Tech Tracker study, 65% of British adults use their electronic devices in the bedroom.

3. Set a routine

In the beginning, it might be difficult to tell your home from your work. That’s why you’ll need to establish a routine, to ensure that you’ll have the necessary time to accomplish all your tasks.

Even if you have flexible hours working from home , it is important to set a time to start your day, every day.

The moment you start to work will set the pace for the rest of your day. 

4. Plan out your work day the day before

Most people only start planning their workday when they arrive at the office in the morning. As a result, they spend a lot of time organizing their tasks instead of rolling up their sleeves and actually start getting some work done. 

So, before going to sleep, take a few minutes to define what things you want or need to do the next day.

That way, you will be more focused and be able to be more productive when you start working.

5.Have daily goals

If you are used to having someone else monitor what you do and giving you direction, you might feel out of place at home by yourself. The lack of authority may be a temptation to procrastinate. 

Something that helps to keep your productivity levels up is establishing daily goals.

Whether it is answering to a certain amount of emails, solving a number of demands, or recording a video a day, for example.

It is important that these goals are constantly evolving. To stay motivated, you can establish small rewards once you reach your goals, such as taking a break to watch a funny video or having some minutes of fun with an online game.

6. Make a list of priorities

However important may all tasks be, there are those that can’t be done later, that demand more time, or that have a greater impact on your business.  

Sometimes, small tasks will have to be put aside in order to dedicate yourself to a more complex activity.

That’s why it’s important to have objective goals, because it’s possible to set a priority apart from an activity that you can do later.

7. Identify your most and least productive hours

Sure enough, people are different. That’s why some of us are more productive at a specific period of the day.

It may seem gibberish, but our creativity and concentration levels alternate throughout the day. That’s why the same task can be finished in different time frames.

If you’re just now starting to work from home, pay attention to the time your work flows easily and when you feel worn out.

These notes will be useful when planning your day and scheduling professional appointments.

8. Do one thing at a time

You start writing an email when you get a call that has to be answered right away while you are talking on the chat.

This tendency, known as multitasking, became popular in the 1960s and for many years professionals assumed that, to have a prominent role in their companies, they needed to do more than one task at a time.

If that’s your case, you may want to reconsider.

Doing more than one thing at the same time may reduce your IQ by 10 points, which is the same as a bad night’s sleep.

This happens because even if the brain has high storage capacity, it can only process pieces of information one at a time.

This means that productivity is not about doing many things at once. But doing one thing at a time and doing it well.

9. Eliminate distractions 

If you know that certain items or activities can distract you from work, the best thing to do is to keep your distance from them.

Social networks, pets, tv, and your phone are some of the things that take the focus off the job.

So if your activity does not require you to be online 100% of the time, how about turning off the internet and your cell phone? That way, you will find that the work will begin to pay off a lot quicker.

10. Try not to postpone any tasks

We know that the desire to postpone some tasks, especially the least urgent ones, is sometimes huge.

Don’t make that mistake! Whenever you think about leaving something for later, try to think about all the extra time you’d have if you didn’t keep on postponing stuff.

You will find that when this practice becomes a habit, you will begin to be more productive than you were before.

11. Use apps to organize your routine

Keeping yourself organized and focused on your work routine may be difficult. Some online tools and apps can help you with this challenge and make sure your work day is more productive.

If you have a Google email you can use Google Calendar to list the week’s tasks in advance. As your appointments approach, you get email notifications.

Evernote and Google Keep are also very used to create to-do lists. There you can register your work advances, post notes, scan documents, insert images, videos, and graphs related to different projects. Check out other apps here.

If you’re not a fan of apps, you can set reminders using your mobile phone. Set alarms in the beginning of the day, so you don’t end up forgetting your tasks.

Another helpful habit is using notepads to write down ideas you can’t put into practice at that moment.

12. Don’t forget to take a break and rest

It may seem contradictory, but resting is necessary to keep your productivity levels up.

For every complete activity “take off” some minutes to do something you enjoy, or just disconnect from work.

Free time is also an opportunity to find external references that can help you to continuously improve your performance.

Besides improving the quality of your work, resting is essential to keep the body healthy.

13. Know when to stop

Working in a non-corporate environment also takes a toll on our concept of time. Especially because the routine of turning off the computer and going home doesn’t exist.

That’s why it’s important to set a time to end up the day. Otherwise, your work will be mixed up with your personal life and you lose one of the biggest advantages of the home office: having more time to yourself.

This rule also applies to emails on the weekends. Never access your email account unless absolutely necessary.

If you have a help desk support service to solve your clients’ demands, it’s likely you won’t need to answer to any emails in your free time.

Align your schedule with those of your suppliers and partners, in a way that communication among you does not harm anyone.

Do you have any other tips to be more productive? Share with us in the comments and follow Hotmart on social media!  

If you enjoyed this post, be sure to check out 33 ideas for making money working from home!