4 Tips on Boosting Productivity While Working at Home

It doesn't matter whether you are working from home while juggling two jobs or whether you are doing your own thing such as shipping household goods overseas; you have to ensure that your productivity and focus remain high so you can make the utmost of the day. You might have heard before that you have to seize the day, so the day doesn't seize you. Have you recently been struggling with staying productive and not getting distracted? If the answer is yes, then consider this list of four tips on boosting productivity and staying focused while working at home.

Keep Regular Working Hours

Many people fail to strike a healthy work and life balance when they are working from home. However, if you really want to make the most of your hours, you ought to know that the underlying trick is setting regular working hours for your day. When working from home, you can fundamentally work whenever you want. But the bottom line is that if you succeed at keeping regular working hours, you won't only succeed at keeping a good schedule, but it will also enable you to know the start and stop time for each day. You should aim to start working roughly at the same time every day and end the shift at the same time. Once you start doing this, you will see that you will start accomplishing more during that set window, which will enable you to end your shift earlier as you won't be creating more work for yourself. Try using applications or tools like Kanban method that will help you organize your tasks and manage your working hours. Besides, you will likely feel very accomplished and not have the urge to carry the work pressure with you into the remaining day.

Do the Creative Work First

Work can be challenging and tedious; so whenever you start your workday at home, plan to skip the maintenance mode and focus on the creative side of your work first. The maintenance aspect of your work will include social media updates, checking emails (responding to emails), administration, and so on. The moment your work morning starts, you might want to brew yourself a nice cup of coffee and get your creative work out of the way first while your mind is nice and clear and not so foggy. Perhaps, you would kick-start your workday by recording a podcast or putting together content for some video course that you might be producing soon. If you are a writer, you might want to focus on working on the e-book first before you do other things. Once you are done with the creative work, you can tune into the more admin-related/maintenance tasks.

Take Regular Breaks

Another thing you might want to focus on while working at home is taking regular breaks. Don't become the guy who never leaves his desk by working from morning until the evening. It is very important to take regular breaks. You don't necessarily have to take hour-long breaks; even ten-minute breaks can allow your mind to rejuvenate so you can get back to work with a refreshed mindset. When it comes to taking breaks, you might want to leave your desk, go down to your kitchen and have a glass of water. Go to your living room, sit on the couch, and maybe watch a bit of television. You could also lay down on your bed for ten minutes and do nothing but relax and empty your mind a bit. The bottom line is to regularly have a little bit of downtime after every few hours. Make sure that you enjoy that downtime and truly relax. If you take a break in the afternoon, you can also opt for a power nap of twenty minutes which can allow your mind to freshen up and get back to work more empowered and with a clear focus.

Avoid Distractions

While it is important to set up a dedicated workspace when you are working at home, it is equally important to avoid distractions that hinder your productivity and focus. Only keep tech gadgets nearby if they are related to the work needs, as everything else should be put aside or turned off altogether. Believe it or not, distractions can be a key enemy to productivity. By avoiding distractions, you will be doing yourself a great favor.