Working at home sounds good and yet involves a LOT of planning to be done properly. If done unmindfully, tasks will start to pile up. There will be a muddle of papers in your working area and eventually you become sluggish, mediocre and unproductive. The quality of work will be affected. Since working from home can entail various distractions, how do you conquer those challenges? Take a conscious effort in reading the following suggestions.
Stay Excellent While Working from Home with These Productivity Tips
One of the common challenges when working from home is the difficulty to stay focused and become productive. So here are some helpful productivity tips you can prepare them ahead of time if you are planning to bake that will help every home-based worker can try.
#1. WORK WITH A TIMER
Lost in time? You will always be when you are unaware and unmindful of how you manage and use your time to your advantage. Lack of time management can result in a waste of resources and poor work performance. Home office workers always have a lot of things to do and if you do not prioritize it according to necessity and urgency you will never get a task finished with quality and on time.
That is why priority is never 'priorities'. it is always ONE priority task at a time.
That is why it is important to complete your job one task at a time.
So how do you effectively manage your time? By using a timer. Yes, a timer! And NO, you can't use your smartphone. If you do, you may end up browsing and checking your Facebook, Instagram, and the likes and thus forget to pull off your assignments and work tasks.
Buy a timer, it will cost you cents but it will cost you more by achieving more. After, you can start your day by allotting 10 – 15 minutes of exercise, yoga or meditation to keep you alert, happy and energetic.
You can also use a time tracking tool to evaluate your work productivity.
A maximum of 10 minutes for trivial matters like your social media accounts (YES – I understand you need to be updated, or take a break and watch the latest cute kitten video), another 10 minutes to read and reply to emails and perhaps another 15 – 20 minutes to receive and make significant calls.
The use of a timer will significantly boost your productivity, enhance your focus and step-up your finished assignments and reports.
#2. USE A STANDING DESK AND USE IT PROPERLY FOR THE TASK AT HAND
You may already know by now that sitting for a long period of time causes obesity, increases the risk of cardiovascular diseases and even increases the likelihood of depression. The American Medical Association (AMA) agrees that sitting for extended periods of time can be bad for personal health. Their policy recommends organizations offer sitting alternatives, including standing desks.
The Standing Desk is a new product making waves recently (Yahoo called 2015 'The Year of The Standing Desk'). Basically, a standing desk (aka a 'sit-stand desk' or a 'sit to stand desk'), is a desk and you can adjust the height by clicking a button. One of the basic advantages is obviously you can modify the height at which you can work while moving in between standing and or sitting.
This will also provide the necessary movement to avoid a harmful sedentary lifestyle. I’m sure there are days when while working, you will need to make a call or reply to an email. Or attend a teleconference or have some presentations online.
What will you do when sitting down is not an option? The solution is to match your desk to the task at hand. Can't afford a full-sized standing desk? You can start small and inexpensive with a trial product like the AnthroDesk laptop stand. Adjust the height up, put it on your desk with your laptop on it, and Voila! You have now joined the standing revolution.
I know by this time you are curious, you can find out more on the AnthroDesk website, which gives you the best options available for a height-adjustable standing desk.
Working while standing and or sitting, having a snack on the go and making a call is manageable this time. Working at home becomes a lot more productive and healthier with products from Anthrodesk.
#3. CREATE A WEEKLY MEAL PLAN
Food is a major distraction at home. Not only are snacks constantly available, but there are so many decisions you can make about what food to eat/makes, how to make it when to eat. And eating out while working from home? Even if it is an option for you, you will waste a LOT of time, and are far more likely to eat unhealthy food if you eat out.
Think that 'fast food' is saving you time? WRONG! It will make you sluggish and unproductive today, not to mention affect long-term health. It's far better to eat at home.
BUT, you need to SIMPLIFY and ELIMINATE the decisions available so you can focus on work. One of the best things about working at home is you can plan and create your meals.
Not only will there be fewer decisions you need to make, but it will also be far more efficient, far more healthy, and take into consideration your family (if you have one), budget, time and availability. Start by checking for free downloadable meal plans that are healthy, with easy storage and readily available ingredients.
You can buy storage containers fairly inexpensively and use markers and labels (pro tip: label makers are AWESOME).
During your free time or non-working days, you can start slicing or chop the vegetables and fish, chicken or meat according to the menu and store them in plastic bags or wares. Pull them out when it is time to cook.
For measured ingredients like flour and sugar, if you are planning to bake, you can prepare them ahead of time. Label your containers properly, like Tuesday – dinner, Thursday – Snacks.
Organization matters, a lot and preparing meals can be time wasters if not done appropriately.
And remember those timers we mentioned in Tip #1? You can also use them when preparing your meals and snacks at home. Having a weekly meal plan gives you variety and healthy options and enough extra quality time well spent with your family/friends.
