Working from gained popularity when COVID-19 hit the world and even post-COVID. Many companies have gracefully embarrassed the work-from-home policies. To deliver results while working from home, we have researched useful tips for staying focused while working from home.
Working from home has numerous benefits and advantages, one of which includes relieving the stress of commuting every day to and from the office.
What Does It Mean To Work From Home
Working from home implies working remotely from anywhere outside the office setting. When employees work from home, they are allowed to work virtually from anywhere of their choice without visiting the office.
The COVID-19 pandemic paved the way for employees to work from home. However, it has been embraced by many companies across the globe.
Working from home is best appreciated by people in the tech space and freelancers.
The Benefits Of Working From Home
No Commuting To Work
For remote workers, little or no time is spent on the road commuting to work. The travel time for a remote worker to his office is less than two minutes as he is only required to “commute” from his bedroom to his home workspace.
Working from home eliminates the struggle of waiting for a bus or wasting valuable time in traffic which can be used to achieve something great.
Increased Productivity
Working from home guarantees an increase in productivity. As a remote worker, you have enough time to deliver on tasks and focus on achieving key results to drive business growth and objectives.
An Opportunity To Create A Work-Life Balance
Working from home offers the opportunity to create a work-life balance that allows you to give maximum attention to other areas of your life. ‘
Due to its flexibility and work schedule, you can still create time to attend to family affairs, attend social activities and still be a great employee.
Personalized Work Environment
When working from home, you choose what kind of environment you want to work from. You do not have to deal with the toxicity of office politics, annoying co-workers or a monitoring boss. Your workplace atmosphere is solely decided by you at any time.
You can organize your workspace by decorating a corner of your house with some work inspiration to drive motivation.
Healthy Lifestyle
Working from home offers the opportunity to create a healthy lifestyle by taking regular breaks and coffee.
For instance, during your break, you can choose to do some Yoga, take a work or meditate to prevent creative blocks.
Working from home gives you ample time to prepare your meals and snacks compared to eating junk if you work from the office. This would improve your diet and enhance a prolonged lifespan.
Save Cost
People who work virtually tend to save more money compared to their colleagues who work from the office. The money which is supposed to be spent on fuel, gas, transportation, lunch. And other utilities to commute to work can be added to push for other financial goals.
You can save a great amount of money from home to realize financial independence sooner than expected.
Less Unproductive Time
Apart from stand-ups or other check-ins, working from home prevents spending valuable time on meetings to discuss things that could easily be communicated via email to slack channels.
The less time is spent on unproductive meetings, the more time employees have to work on delivering key results and objectives.
Change Of Environment
When you work remotely, it means that you can choose to work from anywhere at any time. This means that you can choose to work from your bed on Monday, from your verandah on Tuesday, your kitchen on Wednesday. Or even decide to work from a shared workspace in the neighbourhood.
Changing the work environment at intervals can be a great source to shop for work inspirations and creative ideas.
No Need To Call In Sick
Commuting to the office while being sick can worsen your sickness and going to work sick can create discomfort for your co-workers. But with working from home, there is no need to call in sick as you are already home and neither would your co-workers feel nauseating at the sight of your sick face.
Tips For Staying Focused While Working From Home: An Ultimate Guide
Working from home has enormous benefits as listed above, but how do you stay focused to deliver on your task and boost productivity?
We have highlighted valuable tips for staying focused while working from home:
Create Boundaries
To harness the benefits of working from home, you need to create clear boundaries between work and personal activities. This would help eliminate distractions and create a sense of focus. Creating boundaries between work and personal activities has been proven over time to be one of the tips for staying focused while working from home.
Create A Special Place For Work
One of the tips for staying focused while working from home is to create a special workplace. This could be designating a corner in your bedroom, sitting or veranda to be your home office.
That you are working from home does not mean you should be nonchalant about creating a work environment that supports efficiency.
Be intentional about creating a space for work and be consistent in working from that designated place.
Create A Schedule
Create a time that spells out time for work, coffee breaks and work meetings. Remote work is only work that is done from the home not work that is done at will hours. Plan to wake up early, prepare your meals and head to your home office just like you would do if you work from the office.
Having a schedule that sets these activities up is one of the tips for staying focused while at home.
Have A To-Do-List
Having a do-to-list might be old-fashioned but it is still one the best tips for getting things done. Jot down the activities that are expected of you and add timelines to them. Tick them off as you progress and adjust when necessary.
The idea is not to keep adjusting your to-do list but to keep you on track for success. If you think the pen-and-paper to-do list does not work for you, try out time management apps and set reminders for each task.
Block Your Calendar
Another tip for staying focused while working from home is to block your calendar. This implies politely declining tasks that are not on your to-do list or activities that bring distractions.
For instance, if a co-worker requests your time during working hours, you can politely delegate or reschedule instead of disrupting your activities. Or you got an invitation to attend a social event that you did not plan for. Dare to say no and focus on what is important
Take A Enough Rest
If you are feeling worn out, less motivated or experiencing creative blocks, then that is a sign to take a break. Cultivate the habit of taking breaks at intervals to boost productivity to recharge and refresh for efficiency.
Define What Success Looks Like
Set clear goals and objectives by defining what your daily work achievement and success would look like. Does success mean writing two articles, and writing one line of code? fixing a bug, and reaching out to fifty customers in a day?
Set clear objectives so you can measure activities and key results per day.
Create A System For Reward
Create a reward system that allows you to do more work. For every task that you complete, reward yourself no matter how little.
The reward does not have to be something big or something that will cost money. It could be something as little as pasting an affirmation card on your work table to document your progress and how great you are.
You can also create a reward system by creating a win folder to celebrate your little and insignificant wins.
Control Media Consumption
One of the proven tips for staying focused while working from home is to limit the amount of time you check your phone.
It is not all notifications that you should open. Unless urgent and important, let some notifications be attended to after you have closed from work.
With these tips, you are sure to not waste time on platforms like Instagram, Facebook and Tik Tok which can be very distracting and addictive.
Dress For Work
Dress for work to keep your focus and keep distractions at a minimum. This does not mean putting on a suit and attire but dressing in a comfortable outfit that allows you to concentrate for a longer period.
If you are dressed in an uncomfortable outfit, you would be forced to stand up regularly either to change or simply adjust. This alone is distracting and time-consuming.
Conclusion
Staying focused while working remotely can be challenging. But if these tips for staying focused while working from home are implemented and followed judiciously. You can guarantee a productive work-from-home experience.
Comment on the tips that you find useful and also share some of the strategies you have implemented over the years that have worked for you.
