Working from home – 10 tips to boost up your productivity

Remote work sounds like a dream job to many of us because it has a lot of great advantages. For instance, you don’t have to wake up earlier in the morning in order to prepare yourself to go out and commute to work. And you don’t have to waste time getting stuck in traffic while going back home after work. Working remotely saves you time for your own hobbies, your family, rest or anything else you wish. It also saves you the money which you would need to spend for bus tickets or fuel. But working from home has some disadvantages too.

I have been working remotely for over two years now and I know how easily you can get distracted in your own house. I always dreamed of remote work and it was my choice to work from home. I never thought it might be that challenging though. For the first weeks or even months I was struggling with laziness, procrastination, loneliness and needed to deal with tons of issues on my own. That was really difficult and nothing like I had expected it to be. But I didn’t give up and started to learn remote work and how to become a better employee in general from different books, movies and from observing my own ups and downs. It was a long way but I can confidently say that a lot has changed in my attitude to work. Now working is not only much more efficient but also easier and brings more joy. In this article, I would like to share with you my tips on how to make the most of remote work and boost up your productivity and efficiency. I use them myself, so I know they work.

My ten tips that will help you boost up your productivity at work:

1. Plan your day up-front in detail
2. Prepare for the next day
3. Take breaks
4. Eat well
5. Stay hydrated
6. Sleep well
7. Avoid doing your personal stuff during working hours
8. Upskill 
9. Remove all distractions
10. Find a hobby

1. Plan your day up-front in detail

In order to be productive, you need some discipline. I can’t imagine that someone who is constantly checking his phone can be very productive at work. If it happens to you, then probably you lack some discipline. In order to be disciplined, you need a plan. It’s impossible to be disciplined if you don’t know the rules that you have to follow. I could compare it to baking a cake without knowing the instructions. That would be quite difficult, wouldn’t it? But if we somehow made the cake, it might not taste good. In another scenario, where you know the instructions very well, it would be much more effortless to bake the cake and it would most probably be very tasty.

Imagine now that your work can also be either a bad cake or a good cake. Which one would you prefer to serve? Or to eat? I believe that the second one. If so, my recommendation is to plan your day so you know exactly what you have to do and what’s higher and what’s lower priority. 

You can make the plan on your computer, on the phone, but my suggestion is to do it simply on a piece of paper that you can put on your desk. That will help you to stick to the plan and you will always see the progress you’re making every time you uncheck something from the list. It will also give you satisfaction which will make you feel that the effort pays off.

The plan should be solid and detailed. Plan as much as you can. Since you wake up till you go to sleep. A well known neuroscientist, dr. Andrew Huberman, says that the first hour of the morning is crucial for your productivity for the rest of the day. This is something I totally agree with. Your morning routine reflects on how the whole day will look like. So better not spend the time on social media but rather take a walk, exercise, read a book, have a healthy breakfast and get ready for work.

2. Prepare for the next day

Plan is not enough, unfortunately. Let’s go back to the cake. You finally got the instructions and started baking, but you realize you have no milk at home. The oven is already warming up and you are standing with your hands dirty with dough. Great, now you have to go to the grocery store. Wouldn’t it be better to go there before you even started baking? That applies to work too. Imagine having plans to have lunch at 11 am and it turns out you have no food in the refrigerator. That will force you to order something or to eat out, which will ruin everything. To avoid this scenario, you need to be prepared. Cook or order something the day before so you know exactly what you will eat at what time. 

Prepare your outfit too. Do not wear pajamas at work. You wouldn’t wear it in the office, right? Prepare yourself some clothes that will make you feel comfortable and in which you will look good. Dressing up for work can make you feel more professional, increase your self-confidence and subconsciously inform your brain “it’s time for work, stay focused!” This way you will also avoid answering an unexpected video call from your client forgetting that you are in your pajamas.

Make your workplace clean. It’s very easy to get distracted when you work in a place that looks like after a hurricane. Clean up your home office to make yourself feel well and professional.

Planning should aid in organizing your day wisely in detail and not forgetting about anything that you need to do. On the other hand, preparing will help you to stick to your plan and will make things easier for you. Isn’t it nice to have a good meal waiting for you whenever you get hungry? Or to have your clothes ironed and ready to put on when you are too lazy to get up early that day?

3. Take breaks

Sometimes we are working so hard for many hours straight focused on one task that we lose the sense of time. But it’s good to take breaks. I recommend taking a 5-minute break after every hour of work to just stand up, stretch a little, walk around your house or even dance if no one is watching. This will improve your blood circulation, make your eyes rest, prevent you from getting a hump on your back and refresh your mind. This will definitely help you solve issues that you could spend hours on without the break.

My other recommendation is to take one longer break (up to 15 minutes) and go out for a walk. Take one round around your block or go to a park if there is one in your neighborhood. Getting some fresh air should come in handy to reset a little bit and to look at everything from a different perspective. You are more likely to come up with some ideas while walking. That would make you more creative at work too.

It is also a good idea to take a break when you feel like you need it because maybe you got stuck in your task. A little break might help to move on with it.

If you feel that the breaks took you too long, you can add this amount of time to your working schedule and finish a little bit later that day. But do not skip breaks in order to do more work or to finish earlier. Taking breaks is as important as working.

4. Eat well 

I have already mentioned that food should be prepared up-front but also remember to do it wisely. If you are working mentally, you need to feed your brain appropriately. Eating too much sugar, fat and processed food is not good for your body or your productivity, therefore you should avoid that kind of food. Eat healthy and nutritious dishes instead. There are a lot of resources from which you can gain the knowledge of what to eat to stay focused and be more efficient, so you can easily search them up. A better idea would be to visit your physician or even a dietician who will prepare a well balanced diet for you. But in general, it is healthy to eat a lot of fresh vegetables and fruit, fish, nuts, wholemeal bread and groats. 

Another very important thing is to not skip meals during the day. Always eat breakfast before work and lunch in the middle. If you get hungry in between, grab some healthy snacks, such as sandwiches, delicacies, apples, bananas, carrots, etc. 

And the crucial thing: Do not starve yourself. Staying hungry for a long time will definitely lower down your productivity. You need the fuel in order to think clearly and be able to solve problems.

5. Stay hydrated

When you are planning your diet, do not forget about liquids as well. Staying hydrated is even more relevant than eating. Everyone knows that a human being can last longer without food than without water. If you are dehydrated, your body is not functioning well, including your brain. You need around 2 liters of liquids a day, so remember to always have a glass of water, fresh juice, green tea or coffee on your desk so you can sip it all the time during work.

Avoid drinking coke, soda or energetic drinks with tons of sugar in excess — instead choose healthier drinks in order to stay focused. I highly recommend water because it is the best thirst quencher and is good for your health.

6. Sleep well

Getting enough sleep is crucial for your productivity at work. Give yourself a good rest by sleeping for 6–8 hours a day. 

It’s also good to go to bed and wake up at the same time every day.

Take care of your sleeping comfort. Do not use your phone, computer or tablet before bed. The blue light from the screen and information overload can cause many sleeping problems or even insomnia. My recommendation is to read a book or listen to calm music before sleep in order to get better rest.

7. Avoid doing your personal stuff during working hours

Spend the working time working. That sounds obvious but do you remember how many times you went to the dentist or simply answered your phone during work? It’s all good since you probably worked after hours to make it up but it definitely lowered your productivity that day. In order to keep your productivity up, avoid distractions and mixing up personal affairs with your working time.

Plan your appointments before or after work. Do not do laundry during your shift. Avoid small talk with your housemates. Share your daily schedule with them so they can be aware of when you are busy.

This is what being committed and serious about work is all about. Having that attitude improves relationships with work which will result in better productivity.

Another thing is that if you spend the time focusing only on work, you will keep your concentration level up. On the other hand, with each distraction, such as going shopping, the level drops and it’s hard to build it up again.

8. Upskill

The world is changing very fast because of the incessant growth in every industry. No wonder a few years ago we didn’t have to know as much as we do now. No matter what your profession is, it will never stop changing and it’s good to be flexible to easily adapt.

In order to be good at what you’re doing and do your tasks properly, you need to upskill yourself. Being up to date with what is new and trendy right now will definitely improve your productivity and creativity at work.

Remember — knowledge is power — so keep yourself updated by doing extra courses, reading news about your field and connecting with people from your industry on social media to cooperate and share knowledge with one another.

9. Remove all distractions

You know well the distractions at your own house. Try to get rid of them. Turn off your private phone or leave it in another room. Close the windows if you can hear distracting noises from down the street or just use good headphones. Do not listen to music too loud or even at all if it is distracting you. There are plenty of music recordings for work and better concentration, so you can try them out. I wouldn’t recommend you to listen to your favorite songs during work unless it really helps you; but if you end up singing and dancing, I don’t think it is the type of music that improves concentration. 

If for some reason your place is just not made for home office, try some co-workings around your area. There may be a library near your house. Go there and see if it works for you.  

10. Find a hobby

Hobby doesn’t seem to be work-related, but somehow, if you are working from home, you actually live at work. Sounds depressing, I know, but it is what it is. I mentioned at the beginning that among all the assets there are some disadvantages of remote work too. One of them is spending 24/7 at work. Having a hobby can make it easier to separate work from your private life. 

Whenever you finish work, turn off your office computer and notifications from chat and forget that you even work anywhere. Start enjoying the rest of the day with your friends, family or on your own. 

Why is it good to have a hobby? Well, it is always great to have something apart from work that you are also good at and that makes you feel fulfilled and happy. It will also help you not to constantly think about your job when it’s not the time for it. Another thing is that if there is something you can’t wait to start doing after work, you will be more energized and excited during the day, which may in turn boost your productivity. 

Conclusion

Those were my ten tips that I personally use every day and that helped me to overcome laziness and procrastination. It changed me from a chaotic and miserable person into a well organized one who enjoys working remotely. 

I wouldn’t suggest you try them all at once but rather one at a time. For example, you can add one each week into your life and see how it goes. Do not force yourself if you feel that something is not for you. Everyone is different and not everything will work for everyone.

Apart from all those recommendations, there is one golden rule that makes working easier in general and the rule is to love your job. If you don’t like your current job, then it’s a problem that you should try to solve as soon as possible instead of ignoring it. Find the reason why you don’t enjoy your work. Maybe you need a vacation to think things through. Or try some charity work — for example in a dog shelter — to look at your life from a new perspective and maybe find your vocation again. If you don’t feel part of the company you work for, you could take the initiative to do something meaningful together, for instance, plant trees or clean the forest, to get to know each other better. It may be burnout and you need to change your environment for some time to rest your mind from your responsibilities. There might be many different reasons and sometimes it is not that obvious what makes you dislike your job. But if you find the reason, it will be much easier to solve the problem. Don’t be afraid of changes and have your mind open because sometimes the best solution for you might be to rebrand and start over.