Staying productive while working from home
With more and more of us working from home, and our living spaces being hard to disassociate from our working space and vice versa, being productive can be hard to “achieve” when the lines are blurred. Check out our tips for staying productive!
- Separate the spaces
The first and most important thing you need to do is create a workspace that isn’t part of your living space. While many of us may not be fortunate enough to have a spare room that we can double up as a home office, “creating” an office space should be top of your to do list. Whether that’s a desk in the corner or putting a table and chair in the hall to work from, having a clearly defined work space that you don’t associate with your living space will help you get in to work mode,.
- Routine
When you worked from a physical office space, you had a routine didn’t you? From your morning coffee, to the colleague you took lunch with, these things all shaped part of your day and most likely aided productivity in the process. Set your routine and make sure you stick to it, having routine creates discipline and as such puts you in a good position to achieve everything you intend to in your day.
- Out of sight, out of mind
It is so important for your mental health to be able to physically and mentally switch off at the end of the day. When you have finished your working day, tidy your work space and get it ready for the next day – or cover it up completely. If you can still see
- Stretch!
When you’re in an office you don’t just sit for the whole time, you’re getting up often at regular intervals – walking over to colleagues desks, making coffee, going to the shop……all these things that when you’re in the confines of your own home you don’t think to do. Schedule instances where you will get up and walk around.
- Make your lunch ahead of time!
It might not sound like rocket science but make your lunch ahead of time the way you would if you were physically going to an office. That way you get to spend your whole lunch hour doing exactly what you want to.
- Take your breaks!
It can be easy to get in to a routine of not taking breaks or having guilt about it – but news for you, breaks are important. Schedule your breaks for a specific time every day and make sure you take your entire break, Whether that’s reading for an hour while you have your lunch or catching a few episodes of Friends to help you switch off.