How to Be More Productive When Working at Home

How to Increase Productivity at Home

Working at home can be very convenient as opposed to work in an office, but it can also lead to other problems. At home you have your TV, a bed and couch, and many other things that can be a source of distraction or cause inefficiency in your work. Follow these tips to help you be more productive and guarantee that working at home will only bring you positive outcomes.

Start the Day Right

You should start the day by getting up as if you worked at an office. Get up early, get dressed, and eat a nutritious breakfast – it’s the most important meal of the day. This will make sure that you’re refreshed and ready to face the world. It also helps to get you into a “work” mentality which will boost your productivity.

Make a Schedule

Before you go to bed at night, think about what you want to get done the next day. It’s helpful to make yourself a schedule and a to-do list and this forces you to think about how you will spend your time. Make sure to follow your schedule closely and you’ll get a lot of work done. If you keep a to-do list as well, you’ll feel accomplished every time you check something off of it. It will help encourage you to keep working hard. There are plenty of free or inexpensive list and schedule services out there, including the iPhone app Clear and the cross-platform Evernote.

Give Yourself Breaks

Don’t tire out your brain, make sure to give yourself breaks. You want to make sure to maintain a balance though, because if you take breaks that are too long or often then you’re likely to get distracted. The best option is to put your breaks in as part of your schedule, that way you can make sure to get them but not waste too much time.

Limit Your Screen Time

Aside from websites and software that are crucial to your work, keep the electronic devices away. It starts off with “let me check this one Facebook post” and ends two hours later with no work done. If you are on your computer, don’t keep any tabs open on your browser that aren’t related to work. If you have kids or other people that you are responsible for, make sure that you have ringtones for them, their schools, or your spouse that are distinct enough that you’ll know not to ignore them. Except for when you hear these tones, ignore your phone if you get messages. You can set times throughout your day to check your emails and texts, but don’t respond to anything unless it is work related. Save the other emails for breaks and after you’re done with work for the day.

Eat Regularly

Eat regularly and avoid carbs and sugars. This will keep your blood sugar balanced and give you enough energy to last through the day. If you eat sugary things, it will initially give you an energy boost but result in drowsiness later, so stay away from them.

Using these tips, you can make your day more productive. Make a plan and stick to it and you will be more efficient in your work before you know it!

References

• LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20130515130419-5799319-8-things-productive-people-do-during-the-workday

• US News: http://money.usnews.com/money/careers/articles/2012/05/04/10-ways-to-be-more-productive-at-work