Working from home or even running your business from your favorite armchair has a bunch of indisputable benefits. First, you don’t have to attend unnecessary meetings or follow strict schedules. Secondly, you’re the boss of your time while working from the home office.
However, this flexibility and autonomy that the work from home model offers, comes with several unexpected issues you need to consider. One of the burning questions numerous managers and employees struggle with is
How to stay productive and laser-focused on various tasks when working from the home office?
Here, you’ll find several effective strategies you can use to overcome these challenges and boost productivity while enjoying the benefits of the work from a home office.
Develop Energizing Morning Routine
The fact that your office is next to your bedroom, doesn’t mean you don’t have to get out of your pajamas. Not that we have something against you feeling comfortable, however, you need to remember that your home is your office now and dress the part.
Furthermore, try to create a morning routine that will provide you with energy and motivation to go through your day. This said you can dedicate a portion of your morning to doing things you love. You can exercise, do yoga or have the first coffee in peace. Then take a shower, and dress as if you’re getting ready to go to the “real” office. By doing this, you’ll start your day motivated and ready to focus on your daily tasks.
Set Strict Work Hours
Flexibility to work whenever you want to, doing things of your own accord may be one of the greatest advantages that work from home offers. However, this flexibility can lead either to overworking and burnout or to procrastination. To avoid these traps that can make you feel frustrated and unproductive, try setting an eight-hour work schedule similar to the one you’d have in the office.
If you need help to keep track of your work hours, start using the monitoring software for employees. This advanced tool will track your time automatically, without interrupting your workflow, allowing you to stay on schedule and measure your productivity on a daily basis.
Furthermore, you can use data from the employee activity tracker to improve your time management and organize your tasks better. For example, if you see that your productivity peaks in the morning, you may dedicate this time to tackling more complex tasks, leaving the smaller ones for later.
Set Clear Boundaries Between Work and Living Space
One of the disadvantages of working from home may be the array of distractions lurking around, threatening to ruin your focus and productivity. For example, if you work from your kitchen, you may go to the fridge to get some snacks more often than needed, remembering to load the dishwasher while you’re there. These distractions may seriously affect your productivity, keeping you off track of the job that needs to be done.
This is why you need to have a designated workspace, cleared of numerous distractions. Set up your home office separated from the rest of your house, containing only the equipment necessary for a seamless workflow. By creating a distraction-free workspace, you’ll get into “work mode” easily, making the most of your day.
Protect Your Private Time
We’ve already mentioned that people tend to work overtime when they work remotely and that keeping the work/life balance may be a challenging task. Use your set schedule and employee monitoring and time tracking solution to know when it’s time to stop working. Once you shut down your computer for the day, don’t run back to it to check your business email or finish “just one more thing.”
You need to respect your private time if you want others to respect it. If you set a clear line between your work hours and your free time, you’ll be more satisfied and less stressed about your work, becoming more productive over time.
Finally, practicing self-discipline while working from home may be an arduous task. Try following these tips to create an effective workspace with set work hours where you’ll be focused on the ongoing tasks. In this way, you may boost productivity while getting the most of the work from home model.
