How to Stay Productive at Home

Yet another lockdown is in full swing with many of us working from home again. I’m one of those many, as I’m currently writing this blog in my bedroom sat in my joggers and dressing gown! The added distractions from working at home, aka the dog and the biscuit jar, makes productivity hard to achieve. So, I thought I’d share my tips on how I stay productive whilst working from home.

1. Create a To-Do list

Every morning start with creating a To-Do list of tasks you want to complete by the end of the day. You can create the list in order of urgency – what tasks need to be completed first, which will help you stay organized and focused. How the list is created is completely up to you, whether this is simply on paper or using one of the many free apps available to create a personalized To-Do list – I’d recommend Tiimo. Be realistic though, don’t set a high number of tasks to be completed, as if these aren’t completed you may feel deflated and ruin your sense of productivity; try setting 3 – 5 tasks to be completed daily instead.

2. Have a dedicated workspace

Working from home can ruin your ‘work, life’ divide, but by dedicating a room or area within your home this will help keep a balance. Think in terms of your job, by assessing and planning where would be the best place within your home to carry out your work duties. Do you deal with customer’s personal information? Yes? Then you must ensure the room is secure and safe. Will you be carrying out or joining in on meetings online? Yes? Then ensure your workspace is presentable, as this is now the new face of the business.

My recommended workspace to you, should be an area that has:

Good lighting
Internet connection/Wi-Fi
Desk/table
A comfortable chair
Minimum distractions, quietness
A door, so at the end of your working day you can close the door and ‘leave behind work’.

3. Give yourself deadlines

Setting yourself deadlines ensures you’re managing your time and duties, which is key to successful productivity! Create deadlines in order of priority but also the length of completion – don’t create short deadlines for tasks which take a little bit longer.

Sidenote: Use Teams for collaboration

Deadlines are also useful when a team is working collaboratively, as it ensures there are set plans and expectations, so every individual is clear on the tasks they need to complete. Microsoft Teams is a great way to keep up to date with the whole team’s progress. This includes the video, call and chats function but also the ability to share and edit documents and files.

4. Take many mini-breaks

I’d recommend taking 3 mini-breaks of 15 minutes every working day, to stay motivated and for your brain to effectively function not frazzle! Make sure you’re taking these breaks away from your workspace.

What to do on your mini-breaks:

Take a short walk
Make yourself your favourite drink, a hot choc, latte, tea, the list goes on…
Watch a short YouTube video
Whip up a snack to eat
Read an article from a magazine you enjoy
Or just do nothing!

I hope you found these tips useful and they’ll help with your at home productivity. Contact us through our socials (located at the bottom of this page) to let us know how you stay productive when working from home – we’d love to hear from you!