By now, we have adjusted to working from the comforts of our own home and have likely forgotten what it is like to work in an office setting.
We have all experienced the benefits of working from home, but there are also quite a few challenging aspects that most of us didn’t expect.
Some of these challenges include:
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Being at home comes with its own distractions, whether you’re living with friends or family or have the company of your pets they can take away from your focus
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Lack of supervision may make your struggle to be productive difficult
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Mindset – “always-on” can cause people to work too hard or too long with constant access online
Whether you prefer working from home or are missing the office workplace, we have come up with some solutions to keep you focused.
Minimize distractions
Take some time to reflect on the distractions that affect you the most. Once you have outlined those distractions, create ways to minimize their impact on your productivity. Check out this list of tips that will help you take control of your day.
Control your social media
Control, control, and control. We cannot emphasize this enough, especially while working from home. It is so easy to get caught up in the social scroll. Consider muting your notifications or setting timers for an allotted time to minimize distractions.
Don’t get too comfortable
If working from home has done one thing, it has made the effort to get dressed way easier. You don’t have to plan what you are going to wear the next day since you’re working from the comfort of your own home. As nice as this is, don’t get too comfortable with it. Enjoy a day here and there of relaxing, but spend some time dressing up as you would for the office. This will help you motivate yourself and you’ll be more productive in work attire then the same pj’s you wore to bed and got up in!
Reward yourself
The keyword here is treating yourself. Once you have completed a task, allow yourself to do something that is rewarding for you. For example, after you finish a briefing document, take yourself to go get a coffee or go for a nice long walk to refresh yourself.
Motivate yourself
Finding the right technique that works for you can help you boost your productivity and confidence in your job. Here are some self-motivation tips we recommend.
Know your goals
One of the leading factors that assist in knowing your goals is outlining them at the beginning of the week in a planner. That way you can visualize those tasks at hand and work towards them each day without wondering what you need to do next. With your goals and tasks clearly outlined, it will allow you to motivate yourself and do your best work since you’re organized. Don’t forget, setting short-term and long-term goals are both equally important.
Create a workspace that works (with what you have)
In order to stay on track with your goals, you need to ensure you have a workspace that is separated from the rest of your home space. Make sure you have a comfortable chair and if you can isolate it to an individual room where you can close the door, even better. At the very least, ensure that you arrange the workspace area so that the distractions aren’t crossing paths with it (whether that be another partner working from home, etc.).
Regardless of where you are, there are going to be several benefits and challenges to each situation. In order to work successfully from anywhere, it is important to factor in how you can be productive and limit those distractions with the solutions above.