Convert your home into a productive office
‘I can never focus when I work from home. There’s always something that hijacks my attention.’
Or:
‘I miss the hustle and bustle of my office. Now when it’s gone I can’t work productively anymore.’
Are you also struggling with the new work-from-home reality and hope it’s just a temporary solution? Or maybe you’ve already gotten used to it, but you feel you could still upgrade your environment to become more productive?
No matter how much you like or dislike working from home, there’s always something you can tweak to create a constructive and pleasant work space.
Over the last ten years I’ve been working from home, constantly adjusting, testing and improving my setup and my mindset. Let me share with you some tips that may inspire you to work effectively when you’re stuck at home.
Have a morning routine
No matter what’s going on around, you need something that will help you keep sane. That’s where a morning routine steps in. It can give you safety and calm, regardless of what happened a day before or what is about to happen in the next few hours.
For example, you can start your day from drinking a glass of water, going for a short run or stretching exercises. Yoga, meditation, affirmations or visualisations are also great morning routines that will put your body and mind in the right shape. Having a morning routine doesn’t mean waking up at 5 am every day for 2 hours of mind and body practice (although it’s absolutely amazing — I know, because I do it). All you need is 10 minutes of silence to refocus and go inwards.
Just because you can march straight from the bed to your computer doesn’t mean it’s the best way to start a new day.
Build an ergonomic work place
It’s difficult to work productively if your work space is limited to your sofa or a dining table. You don’t need to convert a whole room into your office (although it’s absolutely amazing — I know, because I did it), but you’ll need to have a separate area that switches your mind into the work mode. It could be a corner in your living room where you can place your desk, comfortable chair and a computer screen. If you work on a laptop — connect it to an external keyboard or a bigger screen to increase your comfort. If you choose to work on a PC or Mac, use at least two monitors for better visibility and efficiency.
Your goal is to recreate or enhance your office environment at home to focus on work and forget that you’re still at home.
Turn on the business mode
When everything moves online and your work follows you to your home, it might be tempting to skip most of the preparation and warm-up routines that you’d normally do if you had to go out. Resist that temptation. Take a shower, change your pyjamas into a decent outfit and have a real breakfast. While wearing pyjamas or eating in front of your screen might feel liberating in the first few days, it will make you feel low, unproductive and miserable in the long run (I know because I’ve been there). Just because no one can see you, doesn’t mean you can go wild.
Separate your private life from your business life
Just a quick trip to a kitchen, another short stop at the washing machine or a short break to grab some snacks… Working from home might be dangerous. There’s always something that can hijack your attention, especially if you like to keep your environment clean and tidy. Dusty floor, a sink piling up with dishes, full laundry basket — you could easily end up taking short breaks every hour just to finish ‘one quick little task’. The problem starts where these quick trips and little tasks drag you away from work and suck you into the black hole of household chores (yes, I know how it feels). Don’t let that happen. Arrange a strict work schedule and stick to it. Focus on work, when it’s work time, and do everything else before or after your standard working hours. That’s how you can avoid multitasking and constant interruptions. And that’s also how you can keep your private life separate from your business life, even if you work from home. Every. Single. Day.
Over to you
What else do you think is important to make your home office as productive as possible?
Share your ideas below!
P. S. If you’re looking for more tips on how to use your time wisely when working from home, have a look at my free e-book: How to Make the Best Use of Your Time.
This post first appeared on Dorota’ blog at https://www.dorotapawlak.eu/how-to-work-from-home-effectively/
