words Al Woods
Working from home can come with many perks. First, you have all the freedom in the world to work when and where you want. You can wear whatever clothes or shoes feel good at that moment, take breaks whenever they’re needed, eat what your body wants, watch TV during lunchtime or whatever suits your fancy.
All of these perks come with a bonus: no commute time wasted from getting dressed up to sit behind a desk for 8 hours straight. However, you need to have good discipline and find the right things to maintain your productivity consistently. Here are 5 tips to help you.
Designate Your Workspace
If you want to stay productive, you need to have your own space devoted to work. If this is not possible, try rearranging the furniture in your living room to serve as a temporary workspace for you to use at home.
You can set the table behind a couch or put two chairs back to back, and so on. If you have no other choice but to work from the comfort of your bed, try putting up a portable desk in your lap or find a laptop stand so that your neck won’t hurt when you look down at the screen now and then.
Allow Maximum Lighting to Your Home Office
Another thing that you want to do is make sure that your home office has the best lighting possible. One tip for this is to make sure there are no windows near where you’ll sit down to work.
Placing a window right behind you will only allow sunlight at certain times of the day, not giving you enough consistent lighting throughout your workday.
Think also of artificial lighting at your place as this will help whenever natural light is not enough. There are times when it’s cloudy and rainy; hence turning to a LED retrofit bulb becomes an option.
The quality of the light matters a lot to your eye comfort, especially when the bulbs are on for extensive hours. Thus, buy quality lighting systems.
Take Breaks When Needed
Some people hardly take breaks. For them, working is almost like breathing–they do it without even consciously thinking about it. However, taking breaks can work wonders for your productivity because this will allow you to recharge so that you’ll be able to continue working with vigor and speed after a short break. If possible, try taking a break in between tasks to help you stay focused.
You may also take breaks when your eyes begin to hurt after looking at the computer screen for so long. As much as possible, do not overdo anything; you only end up wasting time if you’re doing this.
Minimize Distractions When Working
Make it a point to avoid distractions when you are working. Taking breaks is the best time for this, but if possible, you can also minimize distractions during your work hours by blocking social media sites on your computers or cell phones that draw your attention away from work.
You can even find websites that will block these sites if they keep distracting you; this will force you to finish your work without any distractions.
Create a Schedule for the Day
Making a schedule for the day is one of the best ways to stay productive when working from home. Update your “to do” list before you start working, then stick with it because this will help you focus on what needs to be done first.
It can be hard at first, but if possible, update your list every hour so that you can stay focused without having to wonder about what you need to do next.
Working from home can be beneficial when you do it right. There are some ways to ensure that your productivity is always at the top and constant. This may include designating a working space and investing in lighting systems.
