Working from home for many sounds like a dream! We all dream of meetings in pyjamas, setting your own schedule and doing what you need to do whenever wherever, however, what most of us don’t realise when we make that move is that working from home is hard.
Distractions are everywhere! … Washing to do, dinner to make, cleaning to do, children to appease, dogs to walk, and of course, Netflix! … It never ends.
So how do you stay focused while working from home? Here are 5 excellent tips that make working from home easy.
1. Have a place to work – When you are working from home it is extremely important that you treat it the same way as working at work. So, take the time to set yourself up properly. Make sure you have a desk, a comfortable chair and the equipment you need to enable you to do your job properly. There is no way your boss would let you take your bed to your office to work on, so why should you work on your bed at home?
If you don’t have the correct equipment, ask your employer how they can help. Most employers want you to be successful, so it is in their (and your) interest to ensure that your home office is perfect for working at home.
2. Get Dressed for Success – People imagine that working at home means long days in pyjamas. While this may be true for some people, studies show that people who are the most successful in staying focused when working from home are those who get up every morning, follow their normal morning routine, get dressed into their work clothes and sit down at their desk at their normal time to start their day. Getting dressed in the morning not only a good thing to do, it also tells your body that you are following the same routine and are ready to have a productive workday.
3. Have breaks – Some people, when working from home, feel that if they are not working nonstop all day, then they are not working. This is simply not true. No decent employer would ever expect their employees to work nonstop for 8 hours. They don’t expect you to do it at work, so why do it at home? Take your normal breaks at, if you can, your normal times. Do what you normally do during your breaks when you are at work. Go for a walk, have your lunch, or do whatever you would normally do. This ensures that you keep your work routine and keep motivated while you are at work.
4. Stay off social media – Social media is an excellent distraction and this is the reason you should stay away from it. You are working from home for a reason and that reason, unless it’s your job to work on it, does not include social media. By all means, check your phone when you are on your break, but try to keep away from social media while you are working to ensure you can get the work you need to do done!
5. Household work can wait – While it may seem like a great idea to get all your washing done while you are working from home, it can also be a major distraction to you and your focus. Avoid all household work if you can. It can wait – it always has waited when you were going to work. This doesn’t mean you should do nothing, but don’t give yourself expectations that you can’t keep.
Keeping motivated while working from home is hard. There are many distractions, but if you focus on what you need to do and stay away from the distractions, working home can be a very productive thing for both you and your employer.
