Working at home is not easy as some people think it is. You will be faced with a number of challenges that include unforeseen distractions and a lack of structured time. This is especially true with the coronavirus pandemic where you are forced to stay at home, do your work while taking care of the family.
Here are ways you can improve productivity and get more done when working from home:
- Keep a separate, distinct work area in your home. If you have an office in your home, that will be the best. If not, find an area where you can do your work with as little distraction as possible.
- As your business and personal time mesh, it’s more important than ever to structure your day.
- Plan your day, especially if you are juggling so many roles at the same time.
- Outsource all you can, and streamline your business, making everything as automatic as possible.
- Use technology to your advantage. There are a lot of apps that you can use to boost your productivity, keep away distractions, make it easy to do your work and even help you balance your work and life even in the midst of the pandemic.
- Group your meetings together to allow you to focus on other things you need to do, like caring for your family or even homeschooling your kids.
- Stay focused and make your workspace off-limits to other roommates or family members when you’re working.
- Beware of yappers – friends and family who simply loves to chat with you. Tell them in a nice way that you’d love to chat but you need to complete some assignments that you need for your work or business.
- Keep track of your moods and productivity compared with the time of day.
- To bring out your best work, make your environment perfect for YOU, whether that means soft music or ergonomic chair.
- Find some places you can do work when you need a change of scenery, like take a walk but keeping the safety distance recommended by the government.
- Break for people and arrange for at least one social break during the week. In-person meetings and interactions are not possible now, but you can call on the phone or chat via Facetime or Skype.
Originally published on October 20, 2010. Updated on April 4, 2020.
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Oh yippee. I have been struggling to get the very basics of working from home established especially being left alone to work. It has been an uphill struggle especially with sulks because I chase family out of my office while I am working so this included about 5 of your points listed in your excellent article. I am so glad you are writing from experience (I can tell by trhe way you write) and that I can learn from you
Kind Regards
Ivan Kukard
Cape Town
PS. My email addy etc are for real