How to stay Productive While Working from Home
Do you ever listen to those people who boast about working from home and wish it was you? Do you imagine them wandering around their homes in their loungewear, sipping on coffees and leisurely getting around to answering those emails? Well now that you are working from home too, I’m guessing that you’ve realized that working from home is NOT all it’s cracked up to be! Doing the same amount of work in a brand new environment (one that might not be set up properly) is no easy task, which is why you need to ensure you stay productive and motivated while working from home.
So, what can we do to stay motivated and productive? Luckily, we have some top tips for you to use now that you are working from home. These tips will help you to keep your eyes on the prize and not end up working long into the night. So, let’s begin with how to stay motivated.
How to Stay Motivated
- Set Yourself Mini Goals
We know it’s hard to look at a full 8 hours’ worth of work and feel like you have to tackle the whole thing. It can be overwhelming and daunting, like it’s an enormous mountain that needs to be scaled every, dang, day. So instead of looking at your mammoth workload, why not break it down into more manageable chunks? By taking smaller parts of a task and seeing them through in a short space of time, your workload will look and feel much smaller and easier. Plus, once you achieve your first or second mini goal, you will have the sense of achievement that will spur you on to tackle the rest.
2. Create Small Rewards
If you are really struggling with finding the motivation to get through your workload, even after you have broken it down into smaller, more achievable goals, why not create a little reward system for yourself? We’re not talking about a sticker chart (I mean unless you want to), but more of a personal reward to yourself for a good hour of work or chunk of workload ticked off. Your reward could be as simple as getting up from your desk for a walk around or it could be an extra 10 minutes on social media. Rewarding hard work is a great way to keep your motivation, especially if it’s the right kind of reward!
3. Set Yourself Deadlines
A motivated mind is a focused mind, and this saying really does ring true when it comes to trying to stay motivated through your work. Setting yourself a deadline to get your task finished in such as 1 hour from now or by lunchtime, will help you to stay focused and get your work done. In some cases, you might find it useful to have a timer sat on your desk so that you can see the time count down. It will help you to gauge whether you have the time to have a quick 5 minutes browse on Amazon or whether you need to get your head down!
4. Realign Your Expectations
OK so yes you are working from home, and yes you need to do your job, but let’s face it no one imagined working from home for a sustained period of time such as this. So instead of feeling pressured that you need to be producing as much work as you would in the office, cut yourself some slack. It’s likely that you don’t have the setup that you would in your office, you don’t have the normal equipment to hand, and you don’t have the usual people to keep you going! By realigning your expectations, you should be able to stay motivated and not feel overwhelmed by your situation. I hope these tips help.
Keeping Your Productivity Levels High
Staying productive when you are working from home isn’t easy. Along with keeping motivated, keeping productive is a key factor in staying sane while working from home. So here are some handy tips on how to do just that.
- Schedule Your Day
Just as we discussed in our motivational tips, breaking down a project or days workload into mini goals is a good way to feel that it’s more manageable. Along with this, scheduling your day will also help you to keep productive, especially when you can clearly see that a different challenge is scheduled next or better still, lunch! We have found some great desk planners that will help you to schedule your day and keep your productivity up.
This pretty planner pad will help you set out your day and your week ahead.
This planner is straight forward and to the point, just what you need when you’re trying to concentrate!
2. Create Quality Not Quantity
It can be tempting to rush through your work so that you can get on with that boxset or get the washing done, but quality should prevail in all your work. Just because you aren’t in the office doesn’t mean that you can’t provide quality work. Plus, by rushing through your work just to get it out of the way, you’re more likely to have to do it over again. So high quality should always be your goal.
3. Keep Your Creative Juices Flowing
If you are looking at the same 4 walls day in and day out, then the chances are that you are going to get bored. This boredom may show in your work, and we really don’t want that. So instead of getting yourself into a rut, try to keep your creative juices flowing. Whether that is picking up your musical instrument for 20 minutes a day, doing some creative writing or simply listening to a TEDx video, keep your brain whirring and your creativity engaged.
If you’d like to try being creative at home but don’t know where to start, then why not check out some of these ideas?
Beginners Guitar Kit For Adults
Complete Creative Writing Course
We really hope that these tips have helped and that you find the right motivation to help you work from home without it affecting your productivity. Remember to cut yourself some slack and try keep utilising your mind for more than just work!
