Working from home is all fun and games until your cat yarfs all over your keyboard or you get to the end of your day and discover you got net zero work done. Why? You couldn’t keep your phone down or your eyes off the TV. Face it, if you’re going to work from home, you need a battle plan. That’s why today’s article will be covering the 13 best never-fail tips that will help you work efficiently and effectively from home.
1. Set Boundaries With Everyone at Home
Okay, maybe this tip won’t work with your cat because it’s a cat, and cats listen to no one. But with the other more appeasable entities like your family members or roommates, for instance, communicate expectations.
Let everyone know that you might be working from home but you’re not exactly home. You’re at work and, therefore, won’t be available to do stuff you wouldn’t have been called on to do had you been at your physical office.
2. Have an Actual Office
The key to working efficiently from home is to have an “at work” mentality. And if you want to get into that zone, one helpful thing you can do is to set up an actual office area.
Don’t just work from your office or your bedroom. Have a work table, get a work chair, and let your workspace be separated from whatever room it’s in. It’s not just great for your mind, but it’s great for your body too.
And since we’re on this point, try to dress up. I know, I know. This is specifically why you wanted to work from home: to be able to work in your pajamas all day and not bother with personal hygiene.
But remember, the goal is to get in the zone. So, maybe consider getting up early, showering, and putting on some nice clothes. As a plus, this way, if a call comes in suddenly, you don’t have to start scrambling. You’d be all dressed and ready to jump on it.
3. Have Defined Work Hours
Tell me if you’ve heard this one before: “Working from home will help you create a better work-life balance.” Lol. If only someone had told you earlier, right?
If you’ve been doing this for a while now, you probably know that working from home is more like playing in a casino. If you’re not careful, you’re never going to stop. Your work life will literally bleed into your personal life.
So, to keep you straight, have a clearly defined work time. It can be anything: 9 am to 5 pm, 8 am to 4 pm, 10 am to 6 pm, whatever. But don’t forget to include breaks as well.
Also, try using alarms to remind your brain when to shift gears. Even if you don’t take your break or close at that time, at least you can start mentally preparing yourself for the mid-day break or close of business.
4. Social Media Is Your Worst Enemy
Now, say that after me. Technology has made it possible for us to work from home but it has also put social media at our fingertips. And while that can be good for raising awareness about police brutality, it is terrible for your goal to work effectively from home.
So, what can you do? Hey now, it’s gonna be hard but remember, you have to be strong.
First, log out of all your social media accounts and remove all the shortcuts on your computer. For an extra punch, consider working in Incognito mode. This way, your web searches don’t autocomplete, and you’re not tempted into taking more social breaks than necessary.
One more thing, you can shut off all your notifications during your work hours. Again, might be difficult, but you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do. By the way, check out these tools: Freedom and StayFocusd to help block distracting apps.
5. Have a Plan
It’s always great to have a plan for your day the day before, as it helps you to hit the ground running when you wake in the morning. This does not mean you’re tethered to your agenda for better or worse. So, feel free to make changes if absolutely necessary. But it is super important to have a to-do list for each day.
Now, when you write your agenda is as important as writing it at all. As I said earlier, you should create your schedule a day before. And this is not just arbitrary timing.
If you create your schedule for your day on the day, you’re more likely not to keep to it. On the one hand, it will use up so much productive time creating the schedule. On the other hand, because you’ve created the schedule so recently, you’re way more likely to be tempted to change your schedule on the fly.
This is why the best time to create your schedule will always be the day before.
6. Music Is the Soundtrack to Your Career
I know it sounds cheesy, but it’s actually true. Listening to music can help you maintain the energy you need to complete your tasks.
But to take things up a notch, try creating a diverse range of playlists to match different work modes. Maybe some high-energy music like rap, for instance, when powering through your inbox. And then, when you start writing or crunching the numbers, you could switch to lyric-free lofi music.
Try it. You’d be surprised how much music can jack up your work-from-home productivity.
One thing, though. When you find the playlists that work for your different work modes, maybe try not to switch them up. Stick to your playlists and turn things around at your work-from-home job.
7. Exercise
Before you say I suck, think about your life expectancy.
Working from home is an express ticket to becoming a couch potato, and that’s not good for your body or your mind. Now you no longer have to make the commute to work. So, instead of using those minutes to get some extra molecules of sleep, why not try waking early and getting some exercise in?
When you were going to work at the office, you said you didn’t have time. Now, you work from home. What’s your excuse? Take care of your health, friend.
Conclusion
And that’s about it! I hope you found these tips helpful. Let me know by dropping a comment below. And don’t forget. We have all the very best work-from-home opportunities on our site. So, click here to check out our exhaustive list.