Indeed, working from home has its perks, but it also can be distracting. You might have noticed a huge mountain of dirty dishes in the sink or maybe a pile of dirty laundry in the basket. All these endless household chores, family members, pets and even TV – can all prevent you from completing your work tasks, making it crucial to find ways to maintain balance and stay productive. Let’s dig into the seven ways to become successful in leading a more efficient remote-work life.
Create “Start The Day” Triggers For Your Brain
Working in an office usually means that you have the daily ritual of getting ready and commuting that helps your brain prepare for the new workday. However, since remote working is becoming a ‘new normal’, you can create “work” triggers that prepare your head for work in a similar way. This can be as simple as practising activities like exercising, reading the news, making a cup of coffee or walking your dog before sitting down to work.
Your working space can also be key. If you just can sit down at your couch or bag chair and be productive anywhere, that is great. However, in case you are the kind of person that needs more structure, consider establishing a dedicated workspace – whether it is a separate room, a fully stocked desk, or just a clean part of the table in your kitchen. A designated working area can help tell your brain that you are in a place where you work productively and without distraction.
Make A To-Do List
Even though it may seem like an obvious tip, a simple to-do list with your priorities, tasks, and deadlines can do wonders for keeping you organised, motivated, and productive while you work from home.
When creating your list, think about large, long-term goals, such as completing a project, as well as small goals, such as accomplishing all the tasks that contribute to that big goal. By crossing these smaller goals off your list, you will know that you are making progress, which will give you positive reinforcement throughout your workday. Plus, work seems a lot more doable when it is not just one giant task.
Make sure to write your to-do list on a piece of paper or plan out your day with a note-taking app instead of just keeping it in your head. This way, you won’t have to spend time constantly remembering what you have to do, while the pleasure of checking tasks off your list can help keep you motivated.
Maintain Regular Work Hours
We know, it might be tempting to wake up in the afternoon, do some chores around the house, check your email, catch up with your friends and then get back to work. But such a daily routine makes it harder to distinguish when the workday starts and when it ends. This will not only distract you from starting and finishing tasks on time but also break down the boundaries between your professional and personal life, contributing to burnout.
Thus, consider making a working schedule and try to stick to it. Having a clear idea of when to work and to call it a day allows you to plan the day around your working hours and helps maintain a healthy work-life balance.
Add CBD Products To Your Daily Routine
This natural supplement can be a useful addition to your workday. With its promising pain-relieving, anti-anxiety and calming effects, CBD oil can provide the needed relief from your ailments and other discomforts, which helps improve your overall well-being.
CBD (stands for cannabidiol) is one of over 100 chemical, active compounds that are thought to interact with certain receptors in the endocannabinoid cell-signalling system responsible for many bodily processes such as sleep, appetite, memory, pain, stress and others. Positive effect on this system means that taking oral CBD infused tinctures, chewing edibles like CBD gummies or inhaling CBD oil through a vaping device can help reduce stress levels, diminish pain and promote rest – all of which can increase focus, energy levels and help you perform better at work.
Tune Into Inspiration
Since we have got amazing technology at hand, we should use them to our advantage! With no distractions from co-workers and excessive office noise, remote working can be a perfect opportunity to sign up for the webinars and online training courses that you have been wanting to schedule in. Also, if you are doing repetitive tasks, a great audiobook or podcast might even be what you need to keep moving forward.
Alternatively, you can just turn on your favourite radio station or a music playlist to help boost your mood as well as stay motivated to complete your work. There are also great TV and news channels that you can play in the background to keep you alert or just open the windows to let noise from the streets come in. Try a few things to identify what works for you to help improve concentration and productivity.If you tend to find new locations around the house to work, then investing in a personalised lap tray will make sure that your chosen workspace is level and secure.
Schedule Frequent Breaks
Without short, frequent breaks, our minds simply cannot stop thinking clearly, which negatively affects our ability to concentrate and stay energised and efficient during work hours. Consider taking regular breaks to allow your brain to relax and return to your work desk refreshed and ready to finish your tasks.
You can use your breaks to have a glass of water and a quick healthy snack, call a friend for a chat, stretch your body or just enjoy your coffee break.
Or Go Outside
As far as allowed and safe during the current pandemic, try to get out of your home and move your body a little to get your blood circulating and help you avoid an extremely sedentary lifestyle. Plus, natural light and fresh air will help to restore your inner batteries, which in turn will help improve your concentration and productivity. Ideally, make sure to go outside before, during and after your workday, even just for a few minutes.
