Working from home is most average workers’ dream. You don’t have to bounce into other people you don’t like. Your boss doesn’t have to be yelling directly on your face.
Depending on your job, it can seem like it’s way better than having to report to someone every day and handling all the office politics. If you’re an entrepreneur who is mainly working remotely, this can also seem like a convenient solution.
Even though the overall vision of working from home can seem to be practical in theory, it can be way harder if you should actually do it. It took me years to truly understand myself and how to effectively albeit it’s always a work in progress.
I am sure there are others out there who might be experiencing struggles working from home given that this is now a priority in certain fields. I decided to give some tips on how to do just that.
Know Your Working Style
Everyone has different working styles and there are depths and breadth to it. If you don’t have a working style now and you are just winging it, it will be hard working from home.
Every day you are just constantly outing fires and there is no system and order to your life. This chaos will then seep into other areas of your life and that’s when things can spiral out of control.
We all have that one person who is “busy” but is not actually getting anything done. No objectives are being met; they think they are in control but they are actually not in control. In order to have some level of control in your life while working from home, you need to figure out a working style.
What time will you get up every morning? What’s your morning routine like to get you optimized for work? Do you exercise in the morning or evening, or do you do both? Do you work in long stretches of time or do you work in short 30 minutes bursts, rest for 10 minutes and get back on the grinding wheel again?
It’s all about experimentation in the beginning and you have to be self-aware of how you feel while trying out the different routines to see what works for you.
Keep Your Work Environment For Work
Often times we feel like we can trick our brains but we can’t, our subconscious mind already analyzed the environment in space and time before we are even conscious of it.
All the biological calculations are made based which includes external cues, bodily chemicals, etc, on how best to optimize the body based on the environment which includes mainly where we are. I wrote all of that to say this, keep your work environment for work if you want to be super productive.
If you are doing high-quality creative work such as working on a business, creative project, etc, this is crucial. Even if you are working for a company where quality is a must, you need to ensure that you are optimized and you start that off by maintaining a clean and professional environment.
I have to admit, sometimes I am guilty of breaking this rule. Oftentimes, I have all kinds of books on my desk, notes scattered, and a teacup, but I try to at least keep my work environment for work. If you clean out your home office every week or even every day this would ensure that at least you are coming into a clean office.
Lastly, keep your home office for work or the area where you work for work only. Have strict limits on what you can do during work time while working in that specific area. If you slack off and treat it like a place for leisure, your brain will begin to recognize that little area as just another leisure area and will not allocate the mental resources and energy to do serious work.
Reduce Multitasking
It’s easy to feel like we can multitask on social media and juggle work at the same time, but we are only damaging our attention spans when we do this. Multi-task is one of the most misconstrued topics on productivity, the message has also been outplayed on the internet.
It seems cool to have 100 tabs open, listening to podcasts, chatting on the phone, or messaging and juggling work but you are actually not getting much work done.
It might work if you are doing routine work, but if you want to be creative, productive, and effective, you need to focus on one thing at a time and that is the work at hand and nothing more.
It might seem boring in the short term especially if your brain is overstimulated but over time as the neurons in your brain are adjusting to the new environment, it will get easier.
If you need to have your phone on you for emergency purposes that’s okay. But really think deeply if it’s a nice to have or a must-have at all times.
Swallow The Frog
If you really want to start your days with a bang, do the hardest task on your task list first. Just swallow the frog and get over it. Might look ugly, slimy, and gross to do, but just do it and get it over with.
You are not going to die metaphorically if you swallow the frog, which in this case is the hardest work you have on your list. It will make you stronger and reduce the procrastination that we often have in doing certain tasks.
I battled with this for years but I slowly find a way how to do it effectively. As I jump out of bed, I just tackle it immediately and get it over with. I don’t think of anything else; I just get it done and over with. I will sort out everything else later.
Take Meaningful Breaks
Taking breaks from your desk or your work area is super important. This is probably my biggest weakness; I don’t take enough breaks at all. It can do wonders and allow you to decompress even for a few minutes.
Working for long hours at your desk without breaks might seem productive but your cognitive abilities and energy levels are diminishing after a certain point in time.
Go outside in the sun, ensure that you get at least 20 minutes of sunlight a day, it lightens up your mood and revitalizes your body. You might look insane by others who are wondering what the hell are you doing in the sun, but it’s your business, not them. Overall, just take meaningful breaks.
Develop A Wind Down Ritual
Developing a wind-down ritual is crucial, it brings a signal to your brain that you are now finished and it should shut off for the day. You don’t want to be thinking about working around the dinner table or even worse when you are going to bed.
You need some sort of trigger, probably even a mantra, “Okay that’s it for the day”. It could even be a song you play or some activity to just get you away from work until the next day.
What To Do Next
Everything is a work in progress and even though, don’t beat yourself up too much in the beginning. Things will get difficult before it gets easier as you are rewiring your brain and forming new synapses.
You will have a consistent routine and workflow if you stick to it long enough. Being productive is important in today’s world especially when everything and everyone is fighting for our attention.
