Top Tips for Staying Productive When Working from Home

Have you recently started working from home?  Have you been searching to find a list of top tips for staying productive when working from home?  Look no further.

Since the outbreak of COVID-19, 86% of people in employment have seen themselves having to work from home.

While working from home is the norm for many self-employed individuals, for those that usually work in an office, adjusting to working from home has been quite a transition.

If you find yourself scouring the internet for top tips for staying productive when working from home, we have just the thing for you

Whether you are looking to work more effectively from your new home office, or you are hoping to improve your work efficiency, we have put together a list of our top six ways for staying productive when working from home.

1. Take Regular Breaks

A recent survey conducted by WildGoose has highlighted that 36% of employees working from home are not taking regular breaks throughout the day.  Not only does this lead to an increase in the number of hours worked, but it can heighten unproductivity.

To ensure you remain productive when working from home, it is advised that you take regular short breaks.  This could be as simple as taking five minutes to make a fresh cup of coffee to allow you to have some time away from your screen.

 2. Make Sure Your Workspace Is Comfortable and Separate from Your Living Space

45% of individuals working from home have reported that they feel less productive as their workspace at home is uncomfortable.  If you can resonate with this, it may be time to invest in comfortable furniture such as a supportive office chair and a suitable desk.

Although you may feel you are unable to justify spending money on your work from home set up as you are hoping to return to the office sooner rather than later, as it remains uncertain as to how long you will need to work from home for, it may be worth the investment.

In addition, creating a designated working space in your home will aid your productivity.  This space, if possible, should be separate from your living and sleeping space. Not only will this help you to switch off from work and stop your mind from going into overdrive, but it will prevent you from becoming distracted by things around you at home.

3. Keep A To-Do List

Keeping a to-do list may seem like a no brainer.  Chances are you do this regardless of whether you are working from home or not.  However, as you settle into your new home office, you’ll begin to truly appreciate the benefits of keeping a to-do list.

In addition to helping you stay productive when working from home, your list will prevent you from feeling overwhelmed.  A to-do list will also help you organise and prioritise the tasks you need to complete throughout the day.

4. Create A Daily Routine

Similar to keeping a to-do list, creating a daily routine will ensure that you stay on track when working from home.  Although you may think that your daily routine should only consider any tasks that you need to complete for work, we would highly recommend also factoring in any time for yourself.  This could include a designated time to exercise or have lunch.

Out of the number of people that have found themselves working from home over the last few months, approximately 30% of individuals have reported that they have worked more hours than usual.  When working from home, it can be somewhat difficult to prevent this; however, implementing and following a daily routine will ensure that you do not work exceptionally long hours.

In addition to ensuring that you only work your contracted hours, creating a daily routine will prevent you from feeling overwhelmed.

5. Check Your Emails at Designated Times

Did you know that consistently checking your emails throughout the day can decrease your productivity in the workplace?  Like many people, you may find yourself scratching your head and wondering why.  Afterall, as you work from home, emails will be one of the main forms of communication employed to stay up to date with your colleagues.

However, consistently clicking refresh on your inbox will eventually reduce the amount of time you spend focusing on any tasks that you should be completing.

With this in mind, we highly recommend setting designated times during the day for you to check and reply to any new emails you have.  For example, you could initially check your emails when your working day starts, just before your lunch break and mid-afternoon.

Although you have made a plan of action to only check your emails at designated times, when a notification pops up to tell you that a colleague has sent you an email, it can be somewhat testing to leave the email unread.  Considering this, we would also advise that you turn off any work-related notifications when your working day ends.

6.  Limit the Amount of Time You Spend on Your Mobile Phone

Are you one of the 78% of employees that use their mobile phones throughout the working day?  Are you aware that in doing so, you waste hundreds of hours worth of productivity each year?

To increase your productivity during your working hours, it may be worth considering temporarily turning off any unnecessary notifications from social media platforms or instant messaging accounts.  While limiting the time you spend on your phone may seem impossible, you could factor in ‘phone time’ to your daily schedule.  This would provide you with a window to read and reply to any messages you may have.

With an ever-growing list of distractions, working from home can be difficult.  However, when you take advantage of our top tips for staying productive when working from home, you will be sure to find yourself working more efficiently in no time.

Posted on Thursday, October 29th, 2020 in Latest News.