9 Tips that can help you in making your Work From Home more fruitful and productive

9 Tips that can help you in making your Work From Home more fruitful and productive

Thanks to technology, a concept was introduced known as “work from home”. Till now it was just a concept for most and a dream for me as my office is really far and the commute was killing me. But the outbreak of the corona has now forced many to work from home. I hope you are also staying at your home and if possible you are working from there only. 

A great person has said that a show must go on and so our work should also go on. But working from home comes with its fair share of advantages and disadvantages. They are as follows:

ADVANTAGES:

• Flexible work schedules
• Saves travel time
• Time for family emergencies
• Avoid office politics
• Perfectly plan all day routine
• No manager standing all day over your head

DISADVANTAGES:

• Sense of physical interaction with peers
• Time zone differences lead to odd work schedules
• Working alone is boring
• Network downtimes
• Distractions from family

But as I started writing this blog, one question was stuck on my mind, that from the day I started working from my home, I feel that I have become more productive, so why do people want hacks to be more productive from home? I mean as I feel more productive, people should also feel the same, right?

As I was searching for the answer, I came across a study that found that if a person is doing a creative task, like creating content, music, etc. they became 20% more productive and for people that were doing recurring tasks, they were 30% less productive. The reason is simple as you are not being forced to work as you were in the office, and if you get bored, you will get distracted as there are unlimited sources of distraction at your home. 

Therefore, if you are doing some creative work, this blog is not for you. If you think that you are less productive by working from home, you just need to find some inspiration for your work. 

But, if your work is not based on creativity, and the disadvantages of work from home are overtaking the advantages and are making you less productive, don’t worry, we have simple solutions for you. You won’t believe how much you can achieve from working from your home, you just need to clear your objectives and have proper scheduling.

Here are some hacks that can help you in increasing your work from home productivity and make it fruitful:

1.Collaborate to gather work requirements:

I believe a simple office works by one rule that when the employee comes, they are paid and if they don’t their leave is deducted from their salary. But how can this be maintained if no one comes to the office, which is the case of work from home?

You are paid according to the work you do. Well if you are not paid this way, then also your lower productivity will lead you to some consequences. Sooner or later, the boss will notice this and there will be consequences. To save yourself from this, you should prepare a proper schedule. i.e you should define your goals for what you will do today, this week and this month. 

This is to create much-needed pressure on you that will ensure that you reach your daily target and that you are working productively. 

2.Customize your home office:

The environment has a huge effect on your activity.

No one can be productive lying in their beds in their pajamas. Your situation has the biggest effect on your productivity. So why don’t we just change that?

Create an inspiring work environment in your home. You can never achieve productivity by sitting anywhere in the room. A desk and a chair are two essentials along with your laptop/desktop and an uninterrupted internet connection. Choose the quietest room in your home. My office timing was 11-7 therefore at 11 I lock myself in my room and I stop working as soon as its 7. Successful execution requires your full attention and input. As you prepare your schedule, consider the following points:

• When your boss or team members need you to be available
• Time of the day when you are most productive
• Communication with the customers or your co-workers

Another point that you should consider here is that you should keep your work time and personal time separate. Consider yourself as a phone, after you work, you need some me time and rest to charge. If you start working at your personal time this will just bore you and it will increase your fatigue and this will definitely lead to lower productivity the other day. 

3.Dress like you are at work:

Your mind is a small child and you should treat it like one. You can easily fool it and this is what we will do in this trick.

At your work time, dress like you usually dress when you used to go to the office. Your comfortable clothes make you sleepy, sluggish and unmotivated. This is a trick that will have incredible results. You won’t believe how much difference your clothes can make. 

Get up from your bed, brush your teeth, give yourself a shower, and wear your formals. This will send signals to your brain that this is work time, not relaxation time, and you will feel more energized. Please don’t act lazy on this advice as this will have a direct effect on your productivity. 

4.Tune in to inspiration:

The biggest enemy of productivity is boredom and in this case, the best friend is some music. 

In my case, I cannot work if I am not listening to some music. The biggest advantage that you have while you are working from home is that anything that you do will not distract your co-workers. Now you can even listen to music at full volume on your JBL. You can go loud and proud and no one will bother you, other than your family of course. 

Spotify does have some playlists that are great for listening while working. Try some soothing soundtrack, instrumental music, or just open your windows and let nature sing to you. Do whatever makes you feel motivated to stay on your track and helps you in enjoying your work. 

PS: Avoid music that has lyrics as you will end up singing it and your work will suffer.

5.Stay away from social media:

Well there are some do’s and there are some don’t’s and this is a don’t. Avoid your phone and especially social media and in my case it’s PUBG. 

Exploring a little is of no harm, but the charm of social media is so great that you will end up wasting many working hours surfing the internet. If you use it a lot, this is the biggest roadblock that you have to overcome. You should understand that working from home requires you to separate your personal and work time and by using social media, you are doing exactly the opposite. 

One more thing that I have noticed is the lunch break. You can go and watch TV while you are on your lunch break, but you should get up as soon as your lunch is finished. Don’t be seated there to complete the episode or wait till your food is digested. 

6.Make use of the time that you save:

A benefit of work from home is that you are saved from the time that was wasted on commuting to the workplace. Now that you have that extra time, why don’t you utilize this to do what you wanted to do from a long time or exercise, or improve your skills?

My office was 45 minutes away and thus I am saving one and a half hour each day, and I always felt that this commuting is such a waste of my time and thus now, I use this time to exercise and gain some muscles as I wanted to build my body from such a long time, but due to the packed schedule I was not able to do so. 

You should see this saved time as a benefit and you should use this wisely. Use this time to improve yourself or your skills. Don’t waste your time on chatting and social media as this is just a distraction and temporary thing, but the skills that you will gain in this time will stay with you forever. 

7.Enjoy your work:

In work from home situations, you are the one that is managing you. You can never achieve your full productivity unless you are enjoying what you are doing. And why should you do something that you don’t enjoy? Give this question a thought. 

Love your work and stay disciplined and you will see results that you would have never imagined that you will get from yourself. 

8.Forget Multitasking:

According to a study by Harvard Business Review, multitasking is impossible and you should probably stop trying to do it. Multitasking leads to as much as a 40% drop in productivity, increased stress, and a 10% drop in IQ.

Believing that you can do more work if you do multitasking is just like believing that you should be a good child if you want Santa Claus to give you a gift on Christmas, you know what I mean. 

A task needs your focus and skills to be completed, and when you are doing more than one task at a time, you are focusing on none of the tasks. When a task is done with 100% focus, it can be completed far faster than when you try to multitask.

While multitasking, you are doing nothing other than just quickly shifting between incomplete tasks. 

To avoid multitasking try the following tips listed below:

• Don’t look at your phone while working
• Eliminate outside distractions
• Provide yourself some time for outside distractions
• List your priorities and work according to your schedule
• Be mindful (Be physically and mentally present)
• Don’t be afraid to say NO
• Keep your desk area/office clean
• Strengthen your focus
• Uni-task for your most important work during your prime time
• Use multi-tasking apps to avoid distractions.

9.Work in 90-minute sprints:

Human alertness is limited to 90-120 minutes at a time before it needs a break and if you will keep working, then you are just losing your productivity. After 90 minutes, your mind needs rest and for it, your mind will start distracting you and you won’t be able to work with full concentration. This is called “Ultradian Rhythm”. 

After 90-minutes of an intensive working session, give yourself a 10-minute break to recharge and to keep your mind fresh during a day.