Are you doing the home working thing too? Millions of American office workers have been confined to their houses for the best part of a year now, and to be honest, it’s getting a little old.
At first, most of you were probably thinking ‘excellent, time at home!’ and now you’re probably thinking, ‘I am sick of the sight of my house!’
Home Working Monotony
The biggest issue home-workers and remote workers find a loss of momentum. At home, there are plenty of things that can distract us.
A quick detour to put a load of washing on turns into putting it in the dryer, taking it out, folding it, putting it away neatly, rearranging your closet, maybe you should throw out that ugly dress at the back, hey a yard sale would be a great idea…
Distractions are a killer for productivity, but with these five hacks, you can stay on task and get your work done when you need to.
1. Use Your Email Signature Like A Boss
Are you being pestered with endless email chains, especially on your off-hours? Do you feel like you should reply because, well, what else are you doing?
Install some Email signature software for Office 365 right now and make sure your working hours are put right in there to let others know the times you are and the times you are NOT available!
2. Pomodoro Technique Your Time
If you get distracted easily, the Pomodoro technique could be your new best friend!
This technique works to encourage the brain to give you little boosts each time you complete a task, and it does this by putting what you want (some chill-out time) just out of reach until you’ve finished your task.
If your task will take you 25 minutes, take 5 minutes afterward to chill or do a menial task that won’t require much brain function to complete
3. Embrace the Template
If you have a job that is quite repetitive, see if you can supercharge your productivity time by using templates instead.
Templates can take many forms, from documents to spreadsheets, and even video editors have templates for client videos to speed up the process.
4. Set Achievable Goals
Do you love setting goals but rarely achieve them? There’s a great quote from Confucius who said:
“When it is obvious that the goals cannot be reached, don’t adjust the goals, adjust the action steps.“
This means that it’s not the goal that is the issue; it’s the steps you’ve put in place to achieve that goal. Change them or make them smaller to build your motivation to carry on.
5. Create Your Work Zone
Being able to switch off at the end of the day is vital, but did you know it’s just as essential to be able to switch ON at the beginning of the day?
If possible, organize your home area for your ‘office’ and keep it separate from your living space. If this isn’t possible, make sure you switch off your laptop and put it out of sight (in a drawer perhaps) at the end of the day to create that separation.
