Tackling Home Productivity

Recently, traffic here in Seattle has become a bit of a squeeze again – enough to make some of us who typically work in the office wonder about maybe working from home more than we do. There will be distractions at home that we cannot control, such as pets, children, the noise of the outside world, and so forth. However, we can still control how we approach working at home and create a creative workplace by taking control of our schedule and setting. We have gathered some tips on how to best transition in and out of your workday at home for better productivity.

Starting at the beginning, it helps to give ourselves a set morning routine before we start working. If we were to drive into the office, we'd get up at a set time, refresh and dress up, maybe grab breakfast and a coffee, and get settled in at our desk after commuting in some form. While it can be very tempting to cut these habits short or shift them to a later time in the day, keeping them in place as if we set out to drive to work is a significant benefit.

Also, before you sit down to work, handle all the urgent non-work-related matters first. This can be quite a list for someone working from home: Taking care of children and pets, calling the doctor for that appointment, starting the dishwasher we prepared – whichever it is, tackle it first to clear your head!

Our commute to and from home used to be the way we bookend our days, decompress, and mentally prepare. Leaving our home to commute to school or work would generally be when we shift our focus into work mode. It can add a layer of mental preparation to give yourself a brief 'commute' when working from home as well. Taking your dog for a walk before work, driving the kids to school, taking a quick stroll outside, working out, or meditation can all be used to transition from casual to business mode.

To stay in work mode, try to have a designated space for work. While not everyone has the ability to have a whole room designated as an office, it can be as simple as a desk facing a wall that has been turned into a notice board with sticky notes. If you are very limited in space, make sure you do not face a TV, window, or other sources of easy distractions. If your bedroom is also your office, straighten the room, make your bed, and give the room a professional feeling – even if you made sure your camera does not point at anything private. Your work area should allow you to sit down and flick into working mode easily. (See also our Spring Cleaning tip from earlier in the year and our tips on creating a safe and ergonomic desk at home.)

Start on a positive note. After clocking out the previous day, there might have been tasks left undone, a new problem might have cropped up, or that pesky bug in the code hasn't budged in two days. While it is energizing for some to jump right into solving problems, many workers can feel discouraged if their day starts with upset, stress, or frustration. Try to turn things around by starting with a win. That can be a good review you got the other day, exchanging motivational messages with coworkers, or exploring the wins another team just celebrated. It can be easy to get stuck in negativity, especially when your job is to manage or negate problems as a team lead or manager. Since your mood can directly impact your team, try to be mindful of the energy you absorb and project.

Many of us are used to quite a bit of noise in offices. While some have worn headphones in the office for years to listen to music – a ubiquitous sight in gaming companies worldwide – others miss simpler things like the kicking of keyboards, people muttering a few desks over, coffee mugs clinking, and so on. As a result, sitting at home can feel very quiet, making us feel alone and isolated. To combat this, you could turn on your own background noise. Rediscover your local radio stations and get a mix of music and local news. Or turn to platforms like YouTube, where you can find hours of office ambiance videos that will provide you with artificial coworkers.

Setting boundaries at home is also essential to be successful at working remotely. If you are living together with others, enforce the understanding that just because you might have been home all day, those previous nine hours weren't used to scrub the shower, clean dishes, or vacuum the living room. You are at work, even if you might be working from home, and there should be no added expectation that you have gained a lot more time for housework, minding the children, or entertaining pets. If you live by yourself, you can have the same discussion, by the way! Do not expect yourself to have a spotless home suddenly. You will still work, you will still feel exhaustion, and you will still not have large amounts of spare time. Do not feel guilt over 'ignoring' housework as you work from home.

It can be tempting to ignore breaks. Grabbing a sandwich and sitting back down at the desk is so much easier at home, right? But remember that breaks are needed to help our bodies and mind stay fit. Especially office jobs need our mental energy and focus. Stepping away from our desks to reset our brains every so often is still needed. And enjoying a calm lunch break away from 'office distractions' will help us reenergize.

If you still find yourself drifting in and out of focus, split your work hours using a time management tool called the Pomodoro method. Francesco Cirillo created the Pomodoro Technique - the term Pomodoro, meaning tomato, came from a tomato-shaped kitchen timer that Mister Cirillo first used. The core idea is to structure work or study time into smaller segments, allowing for a more productive way to work and study. The technique uses a timer to break work down into intervals, traditionally twenty-five minutes in length, separated by short breaks. Websites, such as https://pomofocus.io/ offer timers that have settings to help you stay on track.

Set yourself a time when you intend to stop working. It is fine to work a bit longer if you're in the flow of things, or maybe you took a longer lunch you wish to balance out. However, keeping an eye on when you start and end work each day helps your body keep an even rhythm that will preserve your energy and help you enter and exit the 'work mode' you have established.

Once the workday is over, transition out. Close all work-related programs and connections. Leave your office area, and make a point not to return to it for a while. Maybe spend some time on chores, prepare yourself some dinner, or interact with others in your household. Taking another walk to have a form of commute can also help refresh you. Whichever way of leaving work you choose, try to ensure it is always around the same time of the day and in the same steps. Of course, you can return to your office area after a while, but make sure you do not pick up more work when you do.

We wish everyone a wonderful weekend and hope you all have successfully left the office for the next few days!