Last week, we posted a blog about the concept of keeping your work-from-home life exciting. We listed such tips as being clear with your family about your work hours. That way, you can refrain from being distracted in order to handle your tasks efficiently.
We also suggested dressing up for work. By doing so, you’ll feel like a professional and not a slug. Finally we advised you to interact with other humans. This ensures you don’t get overwhelmed with feelings of isolation. What other steps can you take to ensure that you remain productive while working at home?
De-clutter your home office.
Just because you’re working from home, it doesn’t have to look like it. Sometimes, the comforts of home can lull us into complacency and even laziness. Tidy up your work area and remove unnecessary distractions. Place an emphasis on “tidy” and make sure your work station is organized. As Caroline Castrillon informs us on Forbes.com, a cluttered work area can clutter the brain.
“A study conducted by researchers at UCLA’s Center on Everyday Lives of Families (CELF) identified a direct link between the stress hormone cortisol and clutter,” she writes, “And another report found that people with extremely cluttered homes are 77% more likely to be overweight. Organize your home office by getting rid of paper, trash, and any other unnecessary items.”
Prepare meals the night before.
Who doesn’t love a good time-saving tip? By preparing your meals the night before, you won’t have to take up any of your work day with cooking. When your meals need to be made, they cut into your non-working hours, giving you less of a break. It will provide you with tremendous ease to simply be able to eat, and not cook, during your lunch break.
“When you’re in your own home, it can be tempting to spend time preparing a nice breakfast and lunch for yourself, chopping and cooking included,” admits Erik Devaney on HubSpot.com, “Don’t use precious minutes making your food the day of work — cook it the night before. Preparing food ahead of time ensures you can use your meal times to eat and that you aren’t performing non-work tasks that spend energy better used at your desk.”
Take regular breaks.
By no means are we suggesting that you use your ability to work from home to slack off. However, it’s important that we remind the busy-body in you that you need to take breaks. Many remote workers assume that, since they have no defined schedule, they can charge through the day in order to complete work early. This can lead to burn out. Castrillon stresses that working non-stop make you feel drained.
“Not taking frequent breaks can cause muscle and joint problems and even cause repetitive strain injuries,” she explains, “Pausing throughout the day boosts our energy, improves our focus, increases our motivation and makes us more effective. Get in the routine of taking a 5 to 7-minute break every hour. Then focus on an activity that allows you to disconnect from your computer mentally and physically.”
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