8 Working from Home Tips | Bring Up Work from Home Productivity Today
As a freelance writer, I started working from home years ago.
Since then I’ve picked up some work from home tips and tricks I’d like to share with you today.
It afforded my wife and I the flexibility we wanted during the first years of our marriage to travel a bit and experience different places.
We made many sacrifices, but all in all I would say it was well worth it. We never made it big or became wealthy. We just lived and tried to do what was important to us.
One thing I didn’t realize until later, (hindsight is 20/20) is that it took me about two years, maybe even more, to figure out working from home productivity and a good work/life balance.
That realization surprised me.
It took that long to feel like I had an effective schedule?! Absolutely.
And some days still feel inefficient.
Now, suddenly, with the pandemic 😷 , it feels like the entire world has joined me in working from home.
The amount of online working from home jobs has skyrocketed. I used to feel like an oddball. Now I feel like saying, “Welcome to the club!”
And you might be feeling like you’re being less productive at home, but check this out.
“A recent study by Stanford of 16,000 workers over 9 months found that working from home increased productivity by 13%. This increase in performance was due to more calls per minute attributed to a quieter more convenient working environment and working more minutes per shift because of fewer breaks and sick days.” – Source.
I really enjoy working from home. I like to be able to choose what projects I take on. I can listen to music or have the TV on in the background while I accomplish them (even if it takes more time and when I’m not working for a client of course).
I like to choose which days I allow myself to work in pajamas. I like being able to choose where I get work done in the house. I like to choose when my lunch break is or if to skip it and keep working.
Basically, I enjoy being able to choose right now.
And who knows what will happen in the future, but right now these are some of the things I enjoy.
Things I don’t love about working from home:
I don’t do much client work right now, but when I did, I didn’t always enjoy wondering where each paycheck would come from.
I don’t always enjoy working alone. I miss the ability to work with others sometimes, but to be honest I work pretty hard to have a better social life because I work from home and make up for that.
I didn’t enjoy the feeling of performing for different clients and wondering if they were going to like my work every day.
If I’m honest, most of what I didn’t enjoy about working from home stemmed from client work. Now that I have my own blog and I’m writing for myself, most of the things I didn’t like are gone.
But something that took me A LOT longer than I would have otherwise expected was a good work from home/life balance. This directly ties into being productive at home and working from home.
When you work from home, if you’re not careful, it can be very easy to muddle it all together and be less productive.
So here are some working from home tips that I hope help you learn how to be productive at home and sort through it better and faster than I did.
Hopefully this helps your work from home productivity go up!
1. Create a Separated Place
If you really want to work from home effectively you MUST create a separate space to do that work.
It is ever so tempting to try to work from the couch in front of the TV. Bad idea, soon it’ll be 3 hours later and you’ll only be 30 minutes into your project. Instead of enjoying work from home, it’ll make it feel as though the workday never ends.
There is a work from home negative phenomenon that occurs when you try to do things you enjoy too much while working too. This leaves us with negative emotions/feelings of loss instead of what we would think would be feelings of enjoyment and success.
It’s better just to go somewhere else and get the work done fast. You will feel the highs of accomplishment and then you will feel the freedom of enjoying a good book, show, or whatever after.
Separate your space of work from everything else going on in the house if you can.
2. Schedule Out No Interruption Time
In the workplace, it mostly makes sense that you can get your work done and most people won’t interrupt you because everyone is working too.
When you work from home, this ideology fragments and changes radically.
The people who are able to contact you are your family (spouse, kids, people that knock on your door, kids’ friends, extended family, etc.)
These kinds of friendly interruptions can really mess with your work from home productivity.
This situation is helped by having a separate place for work, but what is also more necessary than you might think is a slot of time; otherwise, the people near you won’t know your expectations.
To work from home effectively listen to this.
Take a spouse relationship for example. Normally a spouse is at home, you’re at work, the microwave busts and they wait till you get home to tell you about it.
Well, now you’re just in the other room. All they have to do is walk over and tell you. This can create unnecessary tension if you’re both expecting something different.
So instead just make the expectation clear. Say, “from 1-5 p.m. I can’t be interrupted,” or something like that.
I used to have to take client calls and I figured out that was a bad time to be interrupted, thus I would say something cheeky like, “I have a client call at 1, so I’ll see ya later! Love you! Bye!” And then walked upstairs as I had left the building.
Similarly, when we lived in a villa in Florida, the space was small and open. My work spot was set up in the same room as the TV but in a spot that couldn’t see the TV. If I had a project where I was paid for time instead of a flat fee, I would say something like, “I have to work for two hours, I’ll see you later.” Then pop on noise-canceling headphones. This really helped me get work done effectively.
We would both pretend I wasn’t there, even though we could literally see each other.
Finding ways to separate workspace and work time will benefit you tremendously in the long run if you make the habit and expectation at the beginning rather than being passive about it.
Don’t be passive about work from home expectations. If you live with others make sure to talk about what is going to help you all balance your work from home effectiveness and daily life expectations at home.
3. Finding It Difficult to Stay Focused
Let’s just be upfront and honest. Yes, the temptation to be distracted will never go away and you will have to continue to fight it. Your work from home productivity depends on it.
And for this reason alone, working from home isn’t the solution for everyone.
But there are some ways to help yourself stay focused depending on your line of work.
A. Hard candy
Having a bag of jolly ranchers or other hard candy is actually surprisingly helpful when it comes to staying focused.
They aren’t great for your teeth though, so watch out 🦷
B. Listen to wordless music
Listening to music without words can trick your brain into staying on task and enjoying the task more than just having silence.
Thankfully the world has created more study music than just Mozart.
C. There’s an App for That
There are many apps that create focus sounds and music that you can try out and see what helps you.
D. Exercise and healthy snacks
Boo! We don’t want to hear it!
I know, I know, we don’t want it to be true but the science is out and the truth is if you have a regular 30 minutes a day exercise and enjoy healthy snacks like carrots and apples these things will help your brain stay more focused throughout the day and less foggy.
Snacking between meals can create hours of productivity where we aren’t distracted by hunger.
And “one study showed that workday exercise, not only improves well-being but participants noted a 72 percent improvement in time management and workload completed on days when they exercised.” Also, “Low-intensity aerobic exercise is more effective than high-intensity exercise for improving productivity.” Source.
(Don’t shoot! I’m just the messenger! And look I brought snacks 👉🍏🥕 😁)
4. Take Field Trip
You: “To the Zoo?!” 😀
Me: “No.”
“To the library or local coffee shop to work.”
“I shouldn’t have to remind you, this isn’t a post about fun things to do with your family. It’s a post about working better from home.”
You: “Oh…right.”
Seriously though, it is so helpful sometimes to just get out of the house and find somewhere else to do work around other humans who are also working.
Coffee shops are great. Libraries are slightly better (in my opinion) for productivity.
Coffee shops are great because the environment can make you feel good. You feel less lonely. You can order a drink and sip in the warmth and environment as you pluck away at your keyboard.
Libraries are better because the environment is much less distracting. You are with other people, but they are all quiet. In college, I didn’t want to always work alone so I spent lots of crucial time finishing projects in the library.
As a freelance writer, I found it very enjoyable to work from coffee shops with headphones to change things up and get out of the monotony of working from the same space alone all the time.
5. I Feel Lonely Working From Home
This is a real problem that a lot of people are working through right now.
I already mentioned some ideas that will help but I wanted to bring up the problem because it’s a big one and it’s prevalent.
Not everyone can go to a coffee shop right now.
Reach out to others however you can in your specific situation.
Because of the pandemic, I recently connected with friends over Marco Polo, the video app and we’ve kept it going ever since. I’m really grateful for that.
Reach out to people on Reddit, in Facebook groups, at coffee shops, online, however, you can. You’d be surprised at how the world is reacting.
I was just reading a Reddit post the other day where someone was asking for book ideas when you’re falling lonely and the response was extremely encouraging. Some people were even offering to be Reddit pen pals just so others won’t feel lonely during these times.
One of the biggest health problems with working from home will be mental loneliness. Find ways to fight against that as best you can. I can say from personal experience that it is painfully true and I had to do things to try and not feel lonely even before the pandemic hit.
Going to coffee shops and reaching out to people helped me. I don’t know what’ll work best for you, but hopefully, this at least lets you know you’re not alone and that you can and should reach out to people.
If you or someone you know is fighting loneliness, especially during the Pandemic this offers some help: Fighting Loneliness in the Coronavirus Outbreak
6. Make Long Term and Short Term Goals
Many businesses are just now figuring out what it means to have employees working from home.
This means they have no clue how to give their people tasks and keep them motivated to do them.
For those that aren’t naturally self-disciplined or learn better from human interaction and hands-on teaching, this is going to be a huge hurdle for the business and the workers.
For your own projects, if your company hasn’t gone ahead and set up goals for yourself.
A. Set up long term goals
I want to have this project finished within 6 months.
So the next question is, how do I break this project into parts so that I have it finished by then?
B. Set up medium term goals
Work your way back wards and figure out how many weeks and days it’ll take to finish.
If I wanted to write 100,000 words in the next 3 months I’d have to write about 33,333 words a month.
C. Set up short term goals or daily goals
If I want to write 33,333 words a month I need to write about 1,111 words a day.
By setting up goals this way now I can know what I need to get done each day. I know how much I need to catch up if I get behind.
At my month’s end, I can re-evaluate where I am at and how things went on a daily basis.
I can say whether I can easily achieve more words a day or if I’m being unrealistic with my 6-month goal and I need to rethink my daily goals.
This way is an easy way to know where you’re at and where you need to be. You can easily assess progress and evaluate. You can feel good about what you get done on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis.
You can address problems on a daily basis that will immediately affect your long term strategy.
7. Wellness Tips While Working from Home
Be to get regular exercise and eat healthy snacks to keep your brain sharp and your stress levels down.
Having clear expectations set out at the beginning will help keep stress levels down with spouses and children. (Of course, there will be moments and days and even weeks where those expectations won’t work out.) Keep that in mind and push forward. What works for others might not work for you and your family. But do take time to figure it out so that unnecessary stress can hopefully be avoided.
Loneliness is definitely something to watch out for. When you work from home, seeing your team over Zoom isn’t the same as actual face to face human interaction. Do yourself a wellness favor and get out of the house and work somewhere around other humans on certain days. When you have time, go out for dinner with someone or find communities to be able to get human interaction. It is shocking how much this changes when you stop working in a space with other people.
We take for granted working with others until there is no one around and this can directly affect your emotional well-being.
8. Consider Your Back
If you work from home now or you’ve worked in an office chair for any amount of time, you already know where I’m headed with this.
You might want to consider getting an ergonomic chair or an ergonomic mouse. (Logitech is my favorite brand so far.)
You might also want to consider investing in a standing desk. One that moves up or down with you would be ideal. Standing once an hour or every two hours can really help with your blood flow, overall feelings, and posture.
If you are able to keep your back from hurting (which is quite the battle) it will definitely affect your work from home productivity.
Final thoughts:
One of the biggest challenges of working from home is being able to separate work time from home time.
When you’re working just work then when you’re done turn work off and just be at home.
When you’re working don’t have social media and other tabs open on your computer. Close those out.
When you’re working turn off non-work notifications. Don’t let your computer and phone ping you whenever they feel like it.
Don’t fall into the trap of thinking you can enjoy all the comforts of home and work t at the exact same time.
If you try to do everything at once you will be left feeling lousy, unaccomplished, and unmotivated.
Whereas on the other hand if we just force ourselves to separate our work and home life we will feel that much more accomplished and better about our work-life balance
Even though we work from home let’s not fall into the trap of thinking we can work and home at the same time.
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Hope this helps!
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