Working from home has its ups and downs, benefits, and challenges. Sometimes it’s just what you need to finish that project you’ve been working on for the past month. On the other hand, working from home due to safety reasons over extended periods of time can lessen your focus because there are so many distractions. Even though one might think you should be used to this arrangement by now, you might still find it difficult to deal with all distractions.
Define strict work hours
Treat your work from the home schedule as strictly as your regular office hours. You can’t be late to work, so make sure to start your work at the same time every day. Once you finish work, end the day and move to your personal activities. Also, don’t forget to schedule regular breaks into your day. The only difference is the location you’re working from. You’re allowed to take a break to stretch, eat, take a breath of fresh air, check on your kids.
Let people know about your schedule
If you have several family members roaming around your home while you have to work, you need to let them know about your schedule. Write your schedule on a piece of paper so they’ll know the time when you take breaks. You need to set clear rules regarding daily communication and interruptions during your work hours. You can also devise a color system - red means don’t disturb, yellow - knock and ask, green - go ahead. This is a useful system for kids, so they’ll know if it’s okay to interrupt you or not.
Invest in quality headphones
Noise-canceling headphones are another way to grant distraction-free work time at home. Even if you set up some rules with your family members, you can’t force them to be quiet all the time. Especially if your home office is located within a shared space, headphones are your savior. You can listen to some neutral music ideal for work like smooth jazz, ambient or other relaxing tunes.
Establish a strictly work area in your home
In order to concentrate properly on a task at hand, you should establish an office at home. It can consist of a small table in a quiet corner, facing the wall so you won’t be distracted by your family. In case you have a spare room to transform into an office, you’ll have no trouble
Optimize your work area for ultimate productivity
Outside distractions can hinder your productivity by making it harder to focus on the task at hand. If you live on a busy street and your work area is positioned next to a window, you need to limit outside distractions. Motorised blinds by Marlow & Finch can solve this problem with a few simple commands. You can easily control them with a remote controller without standing up to open or close the blinds. This way you’ll control the amount of sunlight, and stop yourself from looking out the window and people walking their dogs and having fun while you have to work.
Plan a to-do list one day ahead
When you plan your work to-do list ahead, you’ll start your day with clearly set goals. Instead of hopping from one thing to the other before completing at least one of them, you’ll focus on one thing. Once you finish one task, you’ll move to the second one on the list and so on. Try writing this to-do list before you finish your workday so you’ll know how to start your next one.
Get every family member involved
Every family member of your household should be involved and included in your new routine. Let them know that you’ll be working from home and that you need some peace and quiet. Set up clear rules and a timetable so they’ll know when you’re working when your taking breaks and whether they should be interrupting you or not.
Eat away from your work area
Taking regular breaks is essential if you want to give your mind a break, reduce eye strain, and improve focus. Thus, eating in front of the screen while you respond to a work-related issue is basically counterproductive. You’ll have split focus, you won’t enjoy your food, nor be as productive as you can be. Take your breaks seriously, eat away from the desk, step outside even if your break is 10-minutes long. Take deep breaths and enjoy the moment before you go back to your desk.
When the workday ends, clock out for real
Having a clear boundary between work at home and personal time makes a lot of difference. When you finish work when you’d usually finish work at the office, you need to step away from your workstation. End your workday properly and never let work hours seep into your personal time. Prioritize your free time so you won’t burn out and lose focus and productivity.
Working from home might be the new normal and it’s up to us to adapt to these new conditions. With a bit of intentional planning, you can limit distractions and maximize productivity and focus.
