6 Ways to Stay Productive When Working from Home

With a global pandemic on our hands, businesses and schools have taken upon themselves to shut down offices and encourage online classes. While working from home sounds like a pro – particularly when considering avoiding the rush hour commute – it isn’t always as smooth-sailing as it sounds.

Finding the right tips that work for you can go a long way when balancing your work and home life. Here are five ways to boost productivity levels:

Set up a work environment

Working from home doesn’t necessarily mean working in bed with pyjamas on – while that does sound tempting. Setting up a work station will allow you to separate your work from your relaxing time. Get away from the bed, sofa or anywhere else that could potentially decrease your productivity. And make sure to keep it tidy! The messier your environment, the more distracted you’ll be.

Change scenery

It’s important to switch up your surroundings every now and again. Take breaks to do some stretches or use your lunch hour to take a walk outside. Fresh air and movement will boost your energy allowing you to get more done.

Dress for work

While you may not be travelling to the office, it’s still important to differentiate between the work day and your relaxing time. That doesn’t mean you have to put on your usual work getup but try and throw on a jumper and some joggers instead. That way, when it’s time for you to log off, changing back into your pj’s will signal to your brain that the work day is over.

Organise your tasks

The perceived freedom of working from home can sometimes work against our favour. Without colleagues or a manager to collaborate with, it can be hard to remember all your priorities. Take some time out to create a to-do list which will help you stay on track with your workload. There are a plethora of apps and websites that you can utilise to help you with this. One particularly useful tool is Monday.com which allows you to transfer uncompleted work over to the next day. It also allows users to check off completed work making it easier to see how you spent your hours.

Stick to office hours

Being in our safe space can make us forget that we’re still at work. Just because you may feel more comfortable working at home does not mean that you should forego office hours. Make sure to get your hour lunch break as usual and log off promptly when your hours are done. Stick to a schedule and stand by it.

Communicate!

Interacting with your teammates can prove to be difficult in the virtual world – but that doesn’t make it impossible! Programmes like Microsoft Teams can help bring your team together for important meetings, video conferences and for the much-needed informal chit chat. Remember, human interaction is an important part of our day and we should continue to make that effort even when working from home.

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Aisha Mohamed

Journalist at Truly Belong

Aisha Mohamed is a young journalist, particularly focusing on culture and entertainment.
With experience in both communications and PR, Aisha also works as a digital artist in her free time. Her work has been featured in the likes of CNN Africa, Buzzfeed, VH1 and more.

As a magazine focused on sustainability and the environment, Aisha is committed to writing about environmental challenges across the globe, especially in countries that may not have had extensive exposure. She is also dedicated to highlighting the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals and the long process to achieving them.