We've all experienced a bad day while working from home.
You begin your day on a positive note. However, the deadline for a large project is approaching, and you don't have time to complete it. So, instead of staying on track and getting an early start, you get distracted by anything but work.
The majority of your workday is spent on Twitter, Slack, and LinkedIn. We won't even talk about email. So those ambitions of completing the assignment before lunch become far away.
You aren't alone: office workers spend 28% of their time on unnecessary distractions. In addition to this, an average of five hours are spent each week visiting non-work-related websites.
As soon as you put those useless distractions aside, you're hit by midday hunger pangs, and all you want is food. As a result of wasting your whole morning, your mind explodes into a frenzy, and your anxious afternoon transforms into an evening full of stress.
Try to imagine what it would be like if you had a productive workday every day; imagine what it would be like if it became a habit.
At first, you will need to put in more time and effort. Our recommendations, however, may be helpful for long-term adjustments in your work routine with a bit of self-reflection and forward thinking.
Starting Your Day
A day's work can be set in stone within its first hour. But, with a couple of mistakes, you will find it's already 11 a.m., having no idea where the first two hours of your day went.
Morning productivity is all about developing habits that will last. So if you're looking for something to do on Monday, instead of opening Facebook, open Google Docs instead.
A Few Things To Start With
Starting your day with a nutritious meal will set you up for success. Dietary choices affect your productivity at work, as they provide everything your mind body soul needs.
It is recommended to consume low-glycemic carbohydrate diets throughout the day to maintain consistent energy levels. For those of us who aren't nutritionists, this means lots of fruits and vegetables. In addition, an egg, banana, yogurt, or blueberry breakfast may improve memory and relieve stress.
You should resist the urge to look at your e-mail when you first arrive at your workstation. You might lose your most valuable thinking hours early in the morning if you start your day reading, responding, and sorting your inbox.
The constant checking of your email will also become a habit. Reading your email while you commute to work is an excellent idea if you don't drive to work. If you have any important to-do items to check in your email before heading out to work, allocate five to ten minutes for them.
Once you have inspected it briefly, please turn it off. You will notice the difference in your productivity.
"Productivity is never an accident. It is always the result of a commitment to excellence, intelligent planning, and focused effort." - Paul J. Meyer
The Little Things
Do you still want to open Gmail? You can achieve productivity goals most easily by developing "tiny habits." Tiny habits are simple, ongoing activities that create long-term behavioural changes.
For new behaviours to stick, consider the following factors:
1. Motivating factors that may assist in changing a habit.
2. Acts that make the new habit easy to form.
3. A stimulus that results in an action.
If you know that email is a huge distraction for you, schedule times to check it. Then, treat yourself to a snack break if you finish it in less than 15 minutes. Try this strategy for any habit you wish to create, such as reading or meditating, and you will have a perfect work life balance.
Setting Priorities
It may not be ideal for everyone to have an organised to-do list, but we could all benefit from it. First, sort chores into priority levels and categorise them accordingly. Prioritising the simplest chores is tempting, but setting priority levels will remind you to focus on the bigger tasks first.
Identify Your Distractions
A diagnosis is essential to administering the correct treatment in medicine. In addition, it is essential to understand what precisely distracts you if you want to establish productive habits that last months, not days.
Using time tracking software or good old-fashioned pen and paper, keep track of how you spend your time for a week. Record when you encounter distractions and what they are during the process.
Review your work time at the end of each week. Analyse patterns of cause and effect. For example, you may fall victim to reading the news while working. Then you scroll for 30 minutes on social media after checking your email.
The process of documenting your week may seem overwhelming to many people. They may claim that it will take a considerable amount of time. But don't ignore this one. You might have more work for one week, but you'll save hundreds of hours later.
A Remote Work Environment
Nowadays, more and more people work from home. Indeed, you're not distracted by co-workers at home, but that doesn't mean you're untouched by distractions. Homeworkers often become their own worst enemies when working from home.
Conclusion
Whenever possible, try to replicate your regular weekday on your off-days. A regular schedule of waking up, showering, and dressing as if you were going to work is important. Working from home doesn't mean staying at home all day.
Go to a coffee shop to avoid the temptation to clean the bathroom or organise your bookcases. Instead, commit to accomplishing more - preferably ahead of the weekly demands - when you work from home.
