7 Tips for Working Remotely from Home

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This article provides invaluable tips for individuals working remotely from home.

A lot of us are working remotely from home, particularly during these ‘Corona / Covid’ times. For many, this is the first time we’ve had to juggle with the new opportunity of working from home. Notice how we call this an opportunity, as with everything new there is opportunity. Further, time is money and money is time so the better you use your time the more value you create in your life.

Working from home often comes with new challenges that take its toll on our productivity and ability to focus. Such as constantly getting up to go to the fridge and snack. Or getting up to do random housework that could have easily waited until the end of the day. When you go to an office every day these tasks are put off until you return home from work.

In this article, we provide seven tips for your home office that will certainly enhance your work from home productivity. Also, these tips keep you focused and even more productive than working in an office.

We saved the best tip for last; read to the bottom so you don’t miss it. Or, scroll down if you’re anxious to see it now.

1. Dedicate Space for Your Home Office

To maintain focus the spaces in your home should be dedicated. What does that mean specifically? This means that sleep space should de separate from lounging space and eating space. The same should apply to the workspace. It’s recommended to dedicate a specific space or room in your home for work. This prevents distractions and unnecessary loss of focus when you work from home. A small space for a desk is enough if you don’t have an entire room to dedicate to a home office.

The idea is to dedicate a small space (or an entire room dedicated to a home office) is used for just work. Nothing else. Therefore, when you do your work your mind doesn’t have any other alternative ideas about what you could be doing. Therefore, you’re focused and at ease, which optimizes work productivity. This is because you know precisely what you are supposed to do when you are at your work desk (or in your office) as you don’t let yourself do anything else.

2. Get Up Every Day and Get Ready for Work

At first working from home might appear to come with its conveniences such as not having to put the extra time in to get ready for work. How convenient does it sound to work in your PJs? However, soon most people realize that they struggle with staying productive and focusing when they simply roll out of bed and start doing their work.

It is important that each day you get up and get ready as if you are going to an office. This gets your mind and body in the right mood and flowing with the right energy. The net effect is that you are more productive and better directed than if you wore the same clothes to work from home that you use to turn your brain off at night to get some zzz’s. So don’t get too lazy about working from home, get up every morning, freshen up, and put on some clothes.

Pro tip: if you have a really important meeting or presentation, even if you’re not going to be seen by anyone, wear an outfit you would normally wear. For example, if you would normally wear a suit for a given meeting, then wear a suit. This aligns your energy and mentality with the type of focus and performance you seek for the task at hand.

3. Establish a Morning Routine

This extends a bit from tip two. When you’re working remotely it is easy to just roll out of bed and get to work. Initially, this might seem like a more productive and time-saving way to be. However, as we have indicated it usually results in a more sluggish and less focused day. Implement a morning routine to start your day right, and on track. This will allow you to transfer from sluggish sleepy, just woken-up energy to more productive work energy.

An example mourning routine could be:

Wake up, brush your teeth
5 minutes meditation
5 minutes to write out your work from home task list for the day.
What needs to get done?
Get dressed

4. Schedule Breaks and Lunch

Schedule a few fifteen to twenty-minute breaks throughout your workday. Go for a walk or do some exercises during your break. Keep light exercise equipment near your office such as light resistance bands or weights to use while you are on your break. The endorphins released while doing even a light amount of activity is good for your body and help you to focus when you return back to work.

Also, a great way to break up your day to get work done and home tasks done without the two intermixing is to use your breaks to complete small home tasks. For example, maybe there are a few dishes that you can wash during a 15-minute break that takes your mind off of work. Or perhaps there is a room that needs a few minutes to tidy up.

A good way to keep all of this organized is to prepare a schedule or to-do list of the things that need to be done around the house. Or even better yet to prepare a schedule of all of the things that you need to do for that day for work as well.

5. Reward Yourself

Give yourself something to look forward to when you have completed a task or a few tasks. For example, reward yourself with reading a few pages of a book you’re reading that you can’t put down. Or, perhaps even better, a cookie or some ice cream.

6. Work from Home with Purpose

When you do something with purpose you do it with determination. You have a goal or an intention. Anything that you do should be done with intention. You should love your work and do it with purpose. You should be goal-driven and determined to do it well. Therefore, it is important to choose something that you enjoy and that you are motivated to do.

Each day make a list of tasks that you need to do and tackle them one by one. Set these tasks as your daily goals and complete them with determination and purpose.

7. Establish a Work from Home Mantra

What is a mantra? A mantra is a word or saying repeated frequently to improve concentration. Create a mantra for your work from home working hours. Write it down. Then, each day before your start working, repeat this mantra three times. Use the same mantra for one day, one week, or year. The point is, change the mantra any time you need. Change it to represent what is important to you and your work focus or needs at any given time. Some examples of work mantras are:

You get what you focus on.
Our intentions create our reality.

Check out this article for more work mantra / motivational mantra inspiration, 25 Motivational Mantras That Actually Work.

This is a very effective way to motivate yourself and to stay motivated. From our experience, this has had the greatest impact on our readers. Try it, and let us know what you think.

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