Top tips on how I stay productive while working from home
May 03, 2016
A regular job gives you structure and accountability. It is severely limiting and not fun. However, it means you have set hours and a schedule. On weekends you shouldn’t be working and during the week you should be working for about eight hours a day.
In the past I found it hard to stay productive at home. When you aren’t used to working at home it is easy to treat it in such a way that you are less productive. When I first started working from home I found myself easily distracted and having a bit too much fun during the day. 😉
I now have shifted the other direction. I am overly productive during the week and even into the weekend. I am now actively trying to find a bit more work/life balance.
Here are the top tips on how I have become (overly) productive from home:
- Dedicated office – Having this helps me to minimize distractions and to get up to speed faster. I could never work for long in a coffee shop.
- Great equipment – Equipment is cheap when compared against your most valuable asset (time). It’s a no brainer to max out your equipment to increase your efficiency. I have two large 27 inch monitors that I have hooked up to my MacBook Pro. This means I save time because I can have open multiple apps and windows at one time. I can do more work since I don’t have to switch between apps.
- Accountability (to yourself – not a boss) – This is my most important change. I make daily and weekly goals that I treat as an absolute.
- Block distractions – I use hey focus on my computer. It allows me to block (blacklist) any sites I don’t want to visit. I can also set times where those sites are automatically blocked. If I work at the same times every day I can make sure I can’t browse Reddit, FaceWallPage or any other distracting site when I am working.
- Set and keep a routine – I have a daily routine that gives me some structure but enough flexibility that I can still have fun.
- Exercise daily – I lift 5-6 times a week. I also added cardio to my daily routine. When I exercise I find that I have more energy and I am more focused.
- Find balance – Lately, I have been too productive. 🙂 I have been working hard during the workday and then continuing to work on both nights and weekends. I am actively trying to find more work/life balance.