For many of us, working from home has become our “new normal.”
Before COVID-19, we would wake up in the morning, get ready for the day, travel to the office, and sit down for a day of work. However, because of quarantine restrictions and the need to socially distance, we now must get our work done from home.
Even though it sounds wonderful to work from home, it can also be difficult to maximize productivity and stay on task. When our work and home lives blend together it becomes difficult not to get distracted or off task.
To cope with this issue, here are five tips to help you maximize productivity.
1. Create Your Own Work Routine
At the office, there is a set schedule to follow. Some tasks might actually need to be accomplished at specific times. With working from home, that office schedule has been thrown out the window. Now, it’s necessary to recreate a routine that works for you.
For example:
- Having a designated start and end time for your workday
- Maintaining regularly scheduled appointments
- Completing tasks on time
You can do this by utilizing the same tools that you would use at the office. A calendar (paper, digital, or both) and a dry-erase board to list tasks might be all that you need to stay organized. Post your daily schedule on a wall as a reminder.
2. Designate Your Own Workspace
To have a wall to hang your daily schedule, you need your own workspace! This is an important point in order to maximize productivity.
When the pandemic started, you were probably working anywhere you could find some spare space in your house: the kitchen table, a couch, even the back deck! However, it’s best to have a place that’s meant for just your work. Ideally, it’s a spare room in your house, such as a guestroom or a room you were using for storage.
Give it an office makeover by turning it into a workable space by, for instance:
- Putting up a desk
- Hanging artwork and décor that you would have in your office
- Arranging the background for video conferencing
- Bringing any equipment that you might need to complete your work from your office (if you can)
One big advantage of having a separate room as your office is that it creates separation. At the end of the day, you can close the door and be done with work until tomorrow.
3. Take Breaks Often
When you were at the office, you would take breaks to go to the bathroom or refill your water bottle. Now, at home, it’s tempting to just stay glued to your computer screen all day. But that would be a mistake. You need to take breaks when working from home too.
Some ideas include:
- Take a break in between tasks to clear your head and refocus
- Give yourself a lunch break (you deserve it!)
- Take care of your basic needs
4. Chat with Your Coworkers—Virtually!
One of the wonderful things about working in an office environment is collaboration. There are also informal moments, not in the conference room but during break times or when having a quick chat. These are times to socialize that we just don’t get anymore.
So, turn to virtual tools such as video conferencing or message boards to communicate. Schedule a time to meet and label it as “water cooler time” to just chat. You’ll find that this will actually help with maximizing productivity.
5. Make Sure You Have an End to the Workday
Always feeling like you are “on” for work may have been a problem for many years for you. You feel obligated to respond to every text message from your boss immediately. Or you have a client that demands your attention 24-hours a day. Yet, this is all completely unnecessary and unhealthy.
With COVID-19, everyone is feeling more stressed out. One way to mitigate that stress is by having a firm end to your workday. This is when you not only just close the door to your home office, but you also turn off your devices and stop checking your messages. It’s time to focus on the things that really matter!
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It is possible to maximize productivity when working from home. But it’s all about finding that balance between your work life and personal life. COVID-19 may have also caused you to feel more pressure to perform and get work done.
If you are struggling with finding this work/home balance, or you just need some support during this time, feel free to contact me to see how I can help.
