Hello everyone! I hope you are all having a great start to your week!
I thought I would post a reader request today. This one came from one of my lovely blog readers, Chrissy Grace, who requested that I blogged about some of my tips on working from home and actually being productive whilst doing it.
Over the past year I worked from home a lot whilst writing my thesis and it was difficult at first trying to get the balance of homely comfort and working hard right, but I definitely got the hang of it mid-way through. I wrote my whole thesis from home and actually found that I got more done at home than in the library or designated office at university.
So here’s a few of my tips which helped me have a productive working day productive at home:
Structure and plan your day- generally my work day is pretty regimented and tends to follow the same structure everyday. For me having a schedule for my day to day activity helps me to be more productive and there is less opportunity that my concentration will waiver. Having set deadlines throughout the day may not work for everyone but helps me stay focused on tasks at hand.
Take breaks- It’s so easy to feel guilty that you are in your favourite joggers or pj’s and in the comfort of your own home and still able to do your work. With this in mind taking breaks may make you feel like you are taking liberty’s but there are such an important part of any working routine. Going for a walk or even just having a mug of tea and having a nic e lunch can work wonders to give your brain a rest. I always found that stepping away from your work for a short while refreshed my brain and usually brought on a spurt of light bulb moments….go me! =)
Have a designated work space- at home it is very easy to get lost in the comfort of your own home. A lot of the time I was writing legs stretched out on my sofa with my laptop on my lap, albeit extremely comfortable but I probably didn’t get as much work done as I should have on these occasions. I turned my dinning room into a make-shift office to replicate a working environment and found that this helped my productivity loads!
Make a list- I’m a big fan and maybe a bit OCD about having a to-do list. To be honest I don’t think and would never get the amount of things done in a day without them. I like to make my lists very early on in the morning or the night before so I know what tasks that I have to tackle ahead. They defintiely keep me on track for sure and there is nothing more satisfying than crossing things off a to-do list!
Turn off social networking sites- sometimes smartphones can be a pain for sending you notifications and updates about your social networking sites and it is very tempting to be drawn in. I found the best way to combat his was hid my phine is a draw for a while so that I didn’t become distracted. I also made sure that I didn’t log on to Twitter or Facebook unless I was on a break too.
Well I hope some of you found these tips uselful this approach really worked for me, but I know it work for everyone. I was so lucky that I was able to work from home, I loved it!
Do you work from home?
Do you have any tips that you would like to share about being productive at home?
Are you a to-do list fiend like me?
