Working from home is a blessing for some, but for others, it’s been a challenge. But eventually, when you start working from home full-time, the real problems start coming up when your mom starts calling you to bring groceries right in the middle of your workflow!
Of course, there is no hard and fast rule about whether working from home is good or not, but what matters is you get things done efficiently. And that’s what we will be covering today, how to increase productivity while working from home!
What you will learn today:
- Most significant advantages of working from home
- Factors that increase your productivity
- How to plan your day to be more productive
- Easy methods to increase productivity
- 3 tools you should use to stay organized
- Bonus tips to increase productivity
Most significant Advantage of Working From Home
Working from home might seem overwhelming for many people in the beginning, but if done right, your work efficiency can shoot up, because you have flexible work hours and the environment!
This is by far the biggest advantage of working remotely. You don’t need to worry about putting in the exact number of hours you put in an office. If you can increase your work efficiency, you can squeeze more hours out of the day for yourself!
Factors that Increase your Productivity
Before knowing how to increase productivity, we first have to understand the factors that influence your productivity. So here are the three main factors:
- The efficiency of your systems: Your workflow systems, tools, computers, everything affects your productivity. Higher the efficiency of your systems, the higher the productivity.
- Goals and deadlines: If you don’t have daily or weekly goals or realistic deadlines, then it’s highly likely that you will slack off, hence hampering your productivity.
- Workspace and work conditions: This is the most important one, and a majority of people mess up this. A messy workspace can profoundly impact your productivity, and you won’t get even know-how.
How to plan your day to be more productive
Now that we know what factors can increase your productivity, let’s dive deep into the plan for your day. So, what’s the best time to plan out your day?
It’s best to plan your day the night before. Yes!
It can save hours of chaos in your morning, and you will wake up knowing what you need to do in the day. Structure your day as if you would be in your office. It’s particularly important because you don’t have anyone else other than yourselves to have an eye on you.
The best practice here is to build a to-do list and block times out of the day for work and other tasks beforehand in your calendar app. This will help in having clarity of work and hours you need to get it done.
Pro Tip: Have a dedicated workspace. Yes, working on your bed in your comfies sounds good, but it’s the worst thing to do for their work efficiency. It’s much more comfortable to procrastinate when you are in bed. Have a specific workspace, a room, or a table where you do nothing else.
Easy Methods to Increase Productivity
Use “THE BIG THREE” Method of Prioritization
Prioritizing tasks is essential so that you don’t get caught in random work and couldn’t complete the main task in hand. This is where the method comes in. You need to find three tasks out of your list, which will make your entire day if completed!
Use Batching
When we talked about using a calendar, this is what I was talking about. If possible, try to batch out similar tasks into time slots.
Let’s Take an Example
Designate a specific timeframe for checking all your emails and replying to them.
Batch out all your calls, your social media usage, your team meetings, and other tasks to a specific time frame to put your focus into one job and get it done faster without worrying about the different tasks.
Time-Blocking Method of Elon Musk
I mainly use this every single day. Here all you have to do is block out every hour of your calendar into different tasks beforehand.
For instance:
Workout timing is from 4:00 PM – 5:00 PM.
Morning routine is from 7:00 AM – 8 00 AM.
Family time is from 6:00 PM – 10:00 PM.
Fill out all the boxes on your calendar with meetings, tasks, and work you need to do throughout your calendar. I use both time-blocking and batching together, and it can give you immense clarity about your work for the day.
3 Tools You Should Use to Stay Organized
- A To-do List App/ Project Management App:
Todoist
Trello - A Note Taking app:
Evernote
Google Keep - A Calendar App:
Google Calendar
You need a to-do list app to check off all the things you need to get done, a calendar app to stay on top of your day and schedule important work, and a note-taking app to note down daily thoughts and essential stuff!
These are pretty much all the tools you need. I use Todoist, Google Keep, and Google Calendar. You can use the alternatives as well. They are equally compelling!
Bonus Tips to Increase Productivity
Take Breaks in Between and Go for Walks
When we work from home, we just sit idle in our chairs and work. I won’t recommend this to anyone. You should move your body every once in a while throughout the day. A bit of stretching and walking is all you need.
Set Boundaries
This is where working from home becomes difficult for many people. When working from the office, you have your co-workers distract you every once in a while, but when working from home, it gets even worse because you cannot set boundaries between your work time and family/friends time.
The best you can do is make it clear for them what priorities and times are when you are available. It could be uncomfortable talking about it at first, but it eventually becomes more manageable, but definitely, the problem can’t go away from the roots!
Do Exercise or Yoga
While working from home we just get complacent or lazy with the tasks we have in hand. To bring back that energy in your body, you should try exercising or doing yoga for not more than 15-20 minutes a day. If you do this for the next two weeks, you will see a massive surge in your productivity levels!
Conclusion
Although working from home is challenging for many people, it’s the need of the hour. If you start implementing the strategies given here, you can increase your productivity by at least 2x.
And finding remote jobs hasn’t been more accessible than today. So, if you are someone who wants to know how to find remote jobs and from where to find legit opportunities, then login to our website and find the best job for you!