Working from home? Let’s get started to be more PRODUCTIVE!
As we all know, most of the us got to work from home as a result of the pandemic. By now it has become a common aspect in most of the industries like IT, education, banking, financial and engineering etc… Since ‘work from home’ concept was apparently new to me those days, I gradually picked up a few effective tips of being more productive to work from home from my own experience. There’re many things to find out on the internet, but here are few tips that actually improved my productivity.
1.Be Prepared
So the very first thing is, be prepared. It is easy to start your day when you’re already prepared for the rest of the day.
- Woking table/desk is one of the most important things that improves your productivity. Always try to keep things that you don’t want from the table away. Keep it as simple, clean and tidy.
- I don’t use lots of devices while working, so I always try to keep the battery level of my MacBook, mouse, keyboard, headset and watch are more than 40%.
- Most importantly, don’t forget to hydrate yourself. So, keep a bottle of water with you and try to drink more than 2L per day. A friend of mine from the university uses a mobile app to remind her to drink water. It was a cool idea too :)
- If you are a coffee or tea person, always try to make your first coffee or tea before you start working. Personally, I believe more caffeine gives you more energy :)
- If you’re a person who likes to have some snacks while working, keep them close to you.
2.Breaks
Everyone can’t focus every minute for working. Everyone needs breaks!
- After every 30 minutes, try to get a 5 minutes break. The period you work (minutes/hours) may depend on your personal choice, it could be 40 mins or 60 mins or so. But try to get some regular breaks while working. Trust me, it improves your productivity!
- Try to get some fresh air and try to walk a few steps during the break.
- When you have a meeting, try to stop all your work 5 minutes before the meeting. Have a quick break, drink some water and prepare for the meeting.
- This point depends on how long you spend for your lunch break. Try to go for a small walk or try to have a quick wash during the break. It will definitely refresh you and enhance your productivity. I have some positive experience of how this habit could solve my programming issues.
3.Reduce Distractions
I’m not sure whether there’s a possibility to reduce distractions 100%. But, we can reduce distractions to a certain extent.
- Turn off your phone notifications while you are at work. Since all the apps we use while working have desktop versions or send notifications through your web browser, we don’t need to use our mobile while we work. You can use it during breaks.
- Close unnecessary web browser windows on your computer.
- Ask your family or housemates not to distract during your work hours unless there’s an emergency or a matter of urgency.
4.Note Taking
- When you work, you get to got solve various problems, you can jot them down on sticky notes and stick them somewhere on the table. You can cut off each task once you are done with it. I have been collecting all my sticky notes since I started working from home :)
- Try to use a personal journal to record important things that you could do/achieve during work. I am sure this would add more excitement and self-esteem to you after a few months :)
5.The Two Minute Rule
This rule was mentioned in the book called ‘Getting Things Done’ by David Allen (2001). The basic idea of this concept is as follows. If there’s something that you need to do and if it takes only less than two minutes, then you should do it now rather than later. For instance, if you get a message from a colleague and it takes only 2 mins for you to reply, then you can do it right now.
6.Music or Podcast
If you’re a multitasker and love to listen to things while working, you can try some relaxation music/instrumental music to improve your productivity. But I do not recommend you to listen to podcasts while working. It will rather distract you instead of improving your productivity :(
7.Prepare Yourself for the Next Day
Finally, after every long day, you still need to get ready for the next day. As I mentioned in the first section, if you really need a good start on the next day, you have to get things done after the day’s work today, i.e., clean the table, charge your electronic devices and give some priority to work you missed during the previous day.
Bravo!
These are only a few tips that I do everyday when I ‘work from home’ to enhance my productivity. I hope that they will help you too in some way or the other. I’ll see you guys in my next post. Until then, keep safe!
