Today lots of people work or have started a (successful) business from home. There are many jobs you can do from home , you can start a blog,launch an e-commerce ,do your office tasks from home and so on and so forth. Some people might think that this is easier and more convenient than having a “normal job”, you can work in pajamas, not necessarily need someone who cares about your kids and you don’t need to eat your lunch out everyday. However this means that you have more distractions and concentration drops more easily, in fact working from home perhaps requires more commitment than working from a office, you do not have fixed hours to respect so this could end up working also during the night and weekend and since there are no colleagues looking at what you’re doing it’s easier to lose the focus. So how to be more productive working from home ?Here are 5 tips (that I also personally follow) to be more productive and to stay focused when working from home:
1. Create a To-Do List
It may sound trivial, but having a list of the things that we have to do written and under our eyes really helps. Prepare a scheme with activities to follow and check them every time they’re completed, this will boost your concentration . If you set the time required for each activities you will double the concentration. For example if on my To-Do list I have Emails and I have 30 minutes to do that, this means that I know that for those 30 minutes I will be focused on just emails and the end of time I will have completed the task and I’ll be ready to start the next one. This helps to perform a task at a time and to not focus on different things at the same time threatening to leave them all (or almost) uncompleted at the end of the day.
2. Create your own workspace
Reserving a room or a corner of the house for your work station can help you to be more productive when working from home. This will help you to know that if you are sitting at your desk you are there for working . Walking around the house with an iPad in one hand for working and doing your laundry with the other hand does not reflect the ultimate in productivity and, even if it is true that working from home is often related with working from the comfort of a couch, this is definitely not the best way to be more productive. Let be the time you’re on the couch that when you dedicate to yourself, you relax and have some online shopping 😉 The work area must also be inspiring and there must be the right accessories to motivate you and be more focused. I like to decorate my desk with vases, candles, pens, notebooks, my lists of things to do and some motivational prints that always help . The stimulating environment helps concentration 🙂
3. Give yourself schedules
Even if you do not have fixed schedules, establishing a timetable helps to stay focused during those hours and enjoy the breaks and your free time. Working from home may seem like you are working all day, so separate your work activities with your personal activities to get the best of both. You also need to have your lunch away from the screen, get away to recharge during the break so you’ll start again at your best
4. Once change the air
No chatter and coffee breaks with colleagues and no-one around you when you work from home. Although there is the benefit of not having any distractions, this can make you feel alone sometimes, so once week or even just some hours go out and work from a coffee shop or a library. This day will boost your motivation and will increase the inspiration 😉
5. No pajamas
Although the idea of working from home in pajamas is more tempting, actually dressing helps motivation and concentration 😉 You do not need to dress formal like you’re in a office,gym clothes are enough.
Ooop, I’m sitting here doing work at home in my pyjamas! They’re just so comfortable, I find it hard to take them off when I’m doing a long day of work. Guilty!
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I work from home so these tips are extremely helpful! I am traveling through Europe right now so unfortunately when I move every month I have a different workspace and that throws me off. But I agree, the to-do list certainly does help!
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