Most of us this year found ourselves in a new situation unfamiliar to us, one of staying home full-time or part-time. Whether you started working from home for the first time or are still simply staying home with less work, because of a change of circumstance, there is a key to your success: productivity!
Studies have shown that staying productive is very important to us for many reasons, some of which include reduced stress, increased efficiency, and enhanced confidence and morale. Now that some time has passed, the question may still remain: How can you continue to be productive while working from your home?
This doesn’t necessarily have to mean that you do the same exact thing every day or even every week, but it is beneficial to the human mind and body to at least have a couple aspects of your routine that you do consistently. Even if this just means establishing that every Wednesday, you’ll go for a walk on your lunch break. Or that every Friday night after work, you’ll watch a movie with your family. Or that Tuesdays will be your long secular work-from-home day. That regularity will help you stay productive!
To-do lists can be especially advantageous when trying to increase productivity. Again, your to-do list doesn’t need to be full of only big or serious things. Fill it with anything you hope to accomplish! One tip: Don’t just keep a mental to-do list, but actually write it down somewhere (even on your phone). The physical action of checking these things off will increase your satisfaction and encourage you to keep working through your lists.
Our surroundings have a lot to do with our productivity levels, which means that we must put in effort to establish an appropriate atmosphere for working from home. Just because you are home does not mean that you should be working from bed in your pajamas all the time. Create spaces designated for specific purposes. For example, if you are working from home, make sure you make an appropriate home-office area for yourself. It doesn’t have to be large; it just has to be right for you! Also, make sure it includes anything and everything you usually need nearby at an office, and get yourself in the right frame of mind. Consider your workspace an investment in your career and make it into whatever will help you thrive. For me that means a coffee machine and a candle, for you it may mean something else. Whatever it is, establish it as soon as possible. Also, don’t forget to give yourself a good amount of privacy if that is what you need to maintain focus and stay constructive.
These are just a few tips for how to make the most of your new situation of working from home. When properly executed, you will see that you can not only continue being a productive and positive worker, but you can even become MORE industrious than ever before and find real satisfaction with your secular situation. Productivity truly does lead to positivity!