Step 1: Throw your family out of the house.
Wait sorry, that was in our heads. We weren’t supposed to say that out loud.
Work-from-home. This cool arrangement where you pretend to be busy while you’re Netflixing in bed. But are you like us, struggling to be productive? Struggling to get things done without being distracted? We’ve got your back on the days when you’d rather not be putting on pants and sitting in front of your computer for 8 hours.
Tip #1 - DON’T work from your bed
You will hardly get things done if you’re not in the right environment. If you’re in bed, there’s a tendency to relax and take it easy and eventually even feel sleepy. Make sure you’re mostly working at a desk or table where you won’t have the temptation to chill or fall asleep.
Tip #2 - Have a clean workspace
If you have a cluttered workspace like me, that might be the one thing that is hindering your productivity. You can be easily distracted by what’s around you, but having a clean and organized space will help you focus.
Tip #3 - Snooze your phone for a few hours
It’s always good to decide which time slots of the day you’re going to be completely switched on for. If you say you can start really working by 9 am, then as long as you don’t need your phone for work, we suggest putting it on silent and keeping it far away from you. In my experience, when I decide to focus I need to put my phone away and turn on ‘Do not disturb' mode so that I don’t get distracted by social media notifications. As long as your phone is nearby, you may find that you’re just struggling to get work done, instead, you may find yourself in a blackhole of TikTok, memes, and Reddit…
Tip #4 - Have fixed working hours
We live in a corporate world where people are expected to always be on the go. But one of the worst things about working remotely is that people expect you to be available whenever. You know the type - the clients, the suppliers, the customers who say ‘I need this and I need it now’. If it exceeds your work timings and you’re not saving lives, try and ignore it until the next day. You’ll find that often when people say they need things right away they actually don’t - they’re just putting pressure.
You need to maintain a healthy work-life balance. When you’re in the office, you would usually be expected to work a 9-5 so make sure you adopt the same mindset of fixed timings and structure. You need to have your personal life, too.
Tip #5 - Rely on weekly schedules and planners like they’re your PA.
Don’t have a PA? Have a massive calendar hanging on your wall - use sticky notes for meetings, use to-do lists for each day, and use planners to keep track of your workload so that emails aren’t getting lost in your inbox and tasks aren’t being forgotten.
We hope these 5 tips will help you stay sane, productive, and efficient while we all slave away during the week. You’re welcome.
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