4 Ways to be More Productive in Your Home Office
We’ve been through so much already working from home. Yes, it may be more productive being totally focused on work with no water cooler chat at the office, but it still kind of gets to you after a while. You can see it in your motivation, productivity and often in your day-to-day communications with colleagues.
We have some bad news, working from home is here to stay. There’s nothing much any of us can do about that. But worry not, for we left no stone unturned to find new ways for you to enjoy working from home as much as possible and maintain motivation and productivity!
Work-Life Balance
The key here is to separate work and life outside of work. Working from home means that when you finish work you are still home, there is no change of environment. Stress causes burnouts, same environment every day, longer days at the office and not letting all of those sensations out. So the first thing you must do to stay productive and motivated is to clear your head and start fresh every day.
This is more than just keeping up with the daily tasks, venting keeps your head in the game and is an essential part of your mental hygiene. So take long walks after work, commit to your passions and hobbies, exercise, try out new things, catch up on your favourite TV show with your loved ones, or if you want to get away from the screen, there has never been a better time to become a bookworm.
Designate a Perfect Place for Work
Another important practice for you is to try and separate work and life under one roof. A practical designated workplace, or a home office if you will, means that you sit in one particular chair at a particular desk at your home when working. When you’re done, you get up and you are off work. This will give you a going-to-work sort of routine and more importantly, get-off-work routine.
This also gives you an amazing opportunity to design your home office for you and only you. Test new things, get a cool chair, as many monitors as you wish, with colours you find stimulating. And best of all, after it’s all done, you get a game room, or a unique study room.
Make Lists and Follow Them
It may seem that you have it all under control when you are working from home, that you can be productive at work and still do things around the house. A common belief is that working from home gives you more time and therefore you can get more done. Everyone who has been working from home for more than 2 months knows this is usually wrong.
After you take into consideration all the problems we have listed above, another phenomenon is that after you are done working the rest of the day goes by at an unbelievable pace. So, organize your time, and stick to the plan! We like being old school about it, so our recommendations are lists. Simple, yet effective. The hard part isn’t making lists but sticking to them, so that will take some effort on your side. Of course, lists are just one option, thankfully technology has given us so many opportunities to go digital when it comes to organizing our time.
Work Outside
We went off the grid on this one. I know it sounds insane, but bear with us. Working from home is just a term for not working at the office. Warm weather is ahead of us, so use it to your advantage. Create a garden or a beautiful landscape that can inspire you. Landscaping Austin TX can create a quiet and peaceful environment to stimulate your creativity and unlock your potential. Furthermore, green is known to be the most motivating and soothing colour.
Another option is to occasionally go and work somewhere else, somewhere with a great view. Just imagine sitting next to a window with an endless garden. Wouldn’t that be amazing? You won’t know if you don’t try! We recommend it!
It is not for us to decide the circumstances which we are in, but it is for us to decide what to do to make the most of it! Just a little outside-of-the-box thinking can make a huge change in our lives, and this working from home situation doesn’t differ. It’s how you do it that makes the difference.
Hope you enjoyed our suggestions. What do you do to keep the motivation high? Tell us in the comment section.