Working from home is many people’s absolute dreams, and it does make a lot of sense for many companies to offer this as an option at least. Working from home cuts out the commute, and allows people to be more relaxed in a space that they enjoy. It also means that they can have a better work-life balance, which will make them happier in general, and also ensure longer-term loyalty to the business amongst other things. However, if you are a homeworker then you will know that although it does sound like a good idea at first, it can sometimes be difficult to be productive. We’ve put some ideas together to help you be much more productive from home and enjoy the best of both worlds.
Start Early
Sometimes the morning commute isn’t such a bad thing. It’s a time when workers can start to wake up and feel more alert so that by the time they get to the office, they are ready to do. At home, it’s a little different. You might get up and have some breakfast, take a shower, put a pot of coffee on, deal with the kids and get them off to school. You might even head out to the grocery store if you’re not only a homeworker but have flexible working hours too.
The problem is that this can all mean that it takes far too long to actually get started, and you run out of time to do things. By the end of the week, you’re scrambling to catch up, and you’ll be working into the evenings and maybe across the weekend too. The key to is start work early; as soon as you get up. Wake up a couple of hours before anyone else, and get straight down to work. Those two hours might prove to be the most productive of the day.
Speak To Your Colleagues
It can feel as though you are quite alone when you work from home, and sometimes that isn’t the most productive feeling in the world. It can make you less keen to get started, and with no one to praise or criticize your working methods, you can easily fall into bad habits. This is why it is important to keep in touch with your colleagues. By using online meeting apps, conference call services, even group emails, you can still feel like you are part of a group. This is useful for running ideas past one another and working collaboratively too.
Have Structure
If you were working in an office, you would have a certain structure to your day. You would sit at your desk, create a to-do list (or look at the one you made the evening before), work for a certain amount of time before you took a break, had lunch, and so on. If you can do this at home as well, then you will be a lot more productive. Having structure to your day means that you will never be at a loss for what to do next, and you can most swiftly and efficiently from one item on your list to the next.
