7 Productivity Tips in the Era of Home Office

If you are reading this, you have probably just started working from home. Yes, I know it’s great! Be mindful, however, that there are traps along the way that you should avoid in order to stay productive. Here are the golden nuggets from personal experience.  

#1 Pick your spot wisely

Right off the bat, avoid high trafficked areas of the house and stay away from your family members, especially kids, spouses and roommates. Try also to avoid places with a lot of background noise such as coffee shops or parks. It looks great in the movies but there are very few that can be productive with noise all day long. If you feel like giving a try at public spaces, don’t forget to take your headphones with you, they work like a charm.  

#2 Make it cozy

Regarding the set-up, invest in a good office chair and make sure it’s on the right angle, with your computer at the correct height. You will thank me later for this. If you are not an office person, try a couch or a stool, surprisingly there are many fanatics on both solutions. Always remember that comfortable is good, while nappy is very very bad for performance. Oh, and always keep your space and surroundings clean and tidy as you simply can’t work productively in a mess, it’s no science just common sense.      

#3 Create a routine

Now this is easier said than done. Working from home might mean starting earlier due to lack of transportation to the workplace but on the contrary it might also mean procrastinating around the clock. You must be very disciplined when it comes to working hours. You can agree (with yourself) to work from 9 to 6 with two 30’ breaks for lunch and exercise. Stick to that.     

Another important thing in order to keep yourself alerted is to continue your daily routine as if you have to go to the office. If you have breakfast, shower and shave every morning, continue doing so, it will work marvels when it comes to performance as your mind will be wired as if you are heading to your workplace. Of course, if you want to wear something more comfortable than your normal suit, that’s fine as long as you don’t stay in your pyjamas all day.   

#4 Build a to-do list

Probably the most important element of the list for home office workers. Having your living room and bedroom some steps away, it’s easy to sideline your working day. In order to stay focused, a to-do list needs to be in place every afternoon so as to be very clear what needs to be done taking into account your next day meetings, deadlines and tasks.  

#5 Be accessible and proactive

As you might have teleconferences instead of face to face meetings, create multiple accounts on corresponding software providers to make yourself accessible by a lot of people. I personally give a choice between Skype, Zoom and Hangouts and although I do have a favourite, I don’t force anyone into it. 

Also, follow up on the attendees one hour prior to your teleconference as people tend to give less attention to teleconferences than face to face meetings. It will only take a minute to give your counterpart a heads up instead of frustrate yourself from a no-show. 

#6 Avoid prolonged lunch breaks

Again, having your kitchen within grasp is a distraction trap. Don’t go out of your way to cook lunch and ideally prepare something the day before. If this kind of planning ain’t going to happen, think in advance what kind of snack would be quick and easy to prepare and make sure you have all the ingredients from the previous day. Remember, the clock is ticking and you have a schedule to keep to (see point No2). 

#7 Exercise daily

With a minimum investment for resistance bands, light weights and a yoga (nothing else) mattress, you can skip the gym if you practice for 30’ per day and work on this beach body you were dreaming of! On top of that it boosts work productivity too. There are practically one million virtual gym training sessions online for free, on youtube and other apps. Who says that the work office doesn’t have a silver lining?

Well, that's it! If you think this list is too stiff for you, I can tell you right from the start that everybody is slacking when working from home, so it’s better to start on a high discipline mode to keep this slippage to a minimum. As they say: if you aim for the moon, you will probably land on the stars!

About the author: Born and raised in Greece, Thomas Katakis is a business executive with 15 years of experience in 5 blue-chip companies and an insatiable lust for art, sailing, history and travel.