If you are like the rest of us, you might have hoped that working from home meant doing less work. Unfortunately, it seems that working from home does actually mean doing just as much as you did in the office. Working without direct supervision has its own set of downsides. You might get overwhelmed, confused without a sense of direction.
Tips for working at home effectively
Setting your priorities are important. As you figure out your workspace and familiarize yourself with the conference call apps, the last thing you want to worry about is how to get organized. Don’t panic because I have 10 tips that will help you to get organized with VERY little effort!
If you don’t have time to implement these suggestions all in one go, that’s OK. Try doing one or two a day until you have a more organized workspace (and mind). Once you start to get into the routine of working from home you will naturally find that you have more headspace and time to be able to put some of these actions into place. So here are our 10 tips to help you stay organized.
1. Schedule Your Day for maximum productivity
For maximum productivity, it is crucial that you schedule your entire day. Especially if you have to run a busy household, have to share the childcare responsibilities or other commitments. Working without a sense of direction will make you feel overwhelmed. Trust me, I’m speaking from experience. Write down your day from when you get up until bedtime. Making sure you allocate enough time to accomplish everything without lagging behind. From breakfast to conference calls, stick it all in the schedule. Keeping track of the time and your daily routine will help you to stay on task and be more motivated.
2. Invest in Your Setup
We strongly believe in an effective work setup, not just for increased productivity but for increased physical health as well. Spending a hundred bucks on an ergonomic chair will save you thousands of dollars on chiropractic bills in the future! Also having the right kind of tech will help to make sure you are doing your job well. Items such as printers might seem like a big expense when you have one at the office, but you’d be surprised by how often you are going to need one, especially if you can work too. This Canon Pixma MG3620 has both a scanner and printer so it is a great investment.
3. Keep Your Home Tidy
Where possible, try to keep your home, and most importantly your workspace, tidy and clean. It can be a real distraction to see dirty plates and untidy surfaces around your home when you are trying to work. Minimize the distractions and tidy your workspace before you begin work. Why not try scheduling your laundry times in with your coffee breaks? That way you’ll be tidying AND utilizing your time wisely.
4. Organize Your Desk
While you might think that an untidy desk is simply “a filing system of your own creation”, it doesn’t do your productivity levels any favors when you can’t find anything. So with this in mind, why not try organizing your desk so that you can have everything to hand straight away? Filing your paperwork in a sensible order, having your pens in a pot within arms reach and keeping spare post-it notes for jotting down ideas will all help you to be more organized AND more productive. This handy little Post It Note Dispenser will definitely help!
5. Time management is crucial. Set Aside Time for Specific Tasks.
Set a specific time of day aside for certain tasks. Most people designate one hour at the beginning of their day to answering their emails. This not only focuses on the mind, but it also means that you don’t spend your whole day sporadically answering emails. Try to be firm with your timings too and don’t let your tasks slip into the rest of your day.
6. Plan Your Chores Around Your Work
Where possible, plan your chores around your work. You could put a load of laundry on when you have your morning cup of coffee or you could put dinner in the crockpot at lunchtime. If you are struggling to find a good Crock Pot then take a look at this one. Fitting in your household chores into your working day will mean that you can keep your evenings for yourself.
7. Keep ONE to Do List
Keeping lists is a good habit when you want to be more organized, but it can be easy to start up several to-do lists and getting confused! Be sure to keep ONE to-do list and don’t be tempted to start a new one until that list is checked off.
8. Use A Whiteboard
Whiteboards are fantastic for keeping your to-do lists, your notes, and other important paperwork all in one place. This Lockways magnetic whiteboard comes with additional pens and magnets so you can use it straight away.
9. Delegate Tasks
OK so you might not be able to delegate out your workload, but you can delegate out other household tasks, even if it is to your Alexa! Assigning tasks between your household (and making sure you take charge of those tasks) will help ease the strain of running a household AND working from home at the same time.
10. Use Apps
During your time working from home, why not take a bit of time to get more acquainted with some apps and handy organizational technology. Online calendars, special team working apps and communication apps will all help you to connect with your team and provide your working day with a bit of routine.
Hopefully, these organizational tips will help you to create a calm environment that will help you to be more productive through the working day and also give you some peace of mind. Remember that if you don’t have time, you don’t need to activate all of these tips in one day. But by ticking them off one at a time, you will start to see the positive impact being organized has on your day.
