Being productive is anyway not easy – and in a work from home setting, it becomes all the more difficult. The refrigerator with your favourite snack is across the house, and a wonderful, comfortable bed is even nearer – across the room. In this case, how do you stay productive? Here are few practical tips to help you out and tells you how to be productive in work from home setting.
How to be Productive in Work From Home Setting –
Take regular breaks
The biggest drawback of working from home is that the boundaries between work and leisure get blurry. In order to combat this, regular breaks help – they bifurcate time between work and leisure. If you don’t take regular breaks, you are wont to find yourself without focus, drifting away watching a movie or listening to songs while working.
Stare out of the window for 20 seconds every hour
It’s no new News that screen time hampers productivity. And since time spent without screens, as in travel or communication is not present in work from home settings, it becomes important to give yourself a break from the screen. Staring into nothingness, or even out of the window for twenty seconds can break the chain and reset you.
Adhere strictly to your workplace timings
Another way to not let your work and leisure times get blurred is to adhere to workplace timings. This means that you wake up when you normally would, you sit to work at 8 or 9 or whatever time you usually do. You take your lunch break as normal, and stop working at normal times too. This will put you in a workplace mindset and you’ll get more done.
Don’t take calls after work
An extension of the last point – give yourself rest time in order to be productive. If you keep taking calls after work timings even when you’re done with work, it will lead to burnout. It is easier to switch from work to leisure mindset when you actually go somewhere for work, but you need to make a conscious choice to do it when working from home.
Make priority lists
An easy way to get both home and office work done in a productive and efficient way is to create priority lists. These are to do lists, except they are arranged according to urgency and priority. So every day, you decide exactly what and how much is immediate responsibility and needs to get done and work towards accomplishing it. It saves time and gets work done.
Get creative with desk décor
A fun way to feel more productive is to vamp up the space around you. It’s important to design your environment in a way conducive to productivity, and switching up things can help. This should depend on your personal taste – anything from motivational posters to photos of loved ones can help. Even just cleaning and polishing a desk can work wonders.
Get noise cancelling headphones
A major impediment to productivity is noise. And in your home, you may not be able to control it. Kids’ noises, the noises of food cooking in the kitchen, of bathrooms being used – all can disturb you and hamper productivity. Noise cancelling headphones are a good investment, since they help you focus on the work at hand. Or, white noise can help.
Spend some time of the day in exercise or outside the home
It’s easy to get caught up in the rut of home and work when you’re working from home. To give yourself a refresher, you can go to the nearest park, or even just outside. Staying within the four walls of the house is good for neither your mental health nor your productivity. So getting out of the house for a breather can go a long way.
Don’t work on your bed
The golden rule of working from home is to never use the bed to work. It’s a difficult thing to do – beds are cozy and comfy and snuggly. But it is also very important to maintain the boundary between work and sleep. Or else, you’ll never be able to switch mindsets. You’ll keep thinking of work while sleeping, and end up sleeping when you’re supposed to work.
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