You may be working from home more often now – or for the first time – due to the coronavirus pandemic. The challenges a remote worker faces throughout the day can mar their productivity. If you mainly work from a home office, distractions pop up everywhere—hungry pets or children, a plant in need of watering, a freshly delivered stack of mail, or even the sight of a disorganized closet.
There are ways to channel your focus and attention to be as productive as possible in a remote office space. Turning off non-urgent messaging, creating a designated area for your office, blocking your time, and even playing music are all ways of increasing your productivity:
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Turn Off Push Notifications
Push notifications are messages that applications send you when new content is uploaded. Usually, a small text box pops up in the right-hand corner of your computer screen, alerting you to a new Slack message or email.
Unless your boss specifically asks you to keep this feature on, turn it off. Push notifications can impede productivity as they break up your line of thought. Sometimes it takes a while to sort something out, especially larger projects or complex ideas. If you are continually checking your push notifications, you can’t get to the level of concentration you need for critical thinking.
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Designate a Time to Check Messages
If you decide not to use push notifications (as they can be disruptive and distracting), appoint a specific time to check your email and other applications for important work-related messages.
Additionally, every hour or two, take ten minutes to check your email and other business-related social media platforms. Designating a time to do this programs your brain to only concentrate on these collateral distractions when you’re ready.
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Time Block
Many home office workers are freelancers who work on multiple contract jobs. If you have a few different contract positions, or if your job consists of various tasks, split them up into time blocks, scheduling time for breaks between each large chunk of work.
Even if your work is mainly monotonous, block out your time so you can see the break at the end of each work session. This helps you be more productive by training your brain to work for specific periods.
Taking breaks is a proven method of productive workers. If at all possible, take a break from your screen as well, as massive amounts of blue light and middle-distance gazing can result in eye strain, leading to headaches and fatigue.
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Create a Home Office Space
Many remote workers can plunk their laptops onto their beds and get right to it in their bathrobes, but this may not be the most productive method to work remotely. Creating a work hours and time off balance in your home is crucial. You should have a designated home office in which you work. This helps you separate your work part of the day from the leisure part of your day and signals to your family that you are on the clock.
Even if your home office is a simple desk, make sure you have everything you need to do your job effectively. An HP inkjet printer and ink, writing utensils, a fast Wi-Fi hookup, pens, and Post-It notes should all be within reaching distance of your designated workspace.
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Plan a Quitting Time
Similar to creating times to check your email and other notifications, choose a time to quit. Often remote workers can be sucked into working overtime. This is especially true when you are absorbed in a work project and lose track of time, especially since you don’t have a commute to worry about. Your downtime is when your brain relaxes and recharges and is an essential part of remaining healthy and focused.
Set an alarm in another part of your house to go off when your day is supposed to end. You’ll have to leave your workspace to turn off the alarm. If you can, shut down all applications and wrap up all your projects before this timer goes off, so you don’t have to think about work until your next shift.
If at all possible, take a walk to clear your head. Being outside renews your mental energy, gives your eyes a rest from staring at a screen, and gives your lungs a chance to breathe fresh air. When you return home, you won’t be as tempted to resume working.
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Find Your Soundtrack
It is a scientifically proven fact that people work most effectively when they have ambient noise in the background. This noise could be classical music, an app that issues rainstorm or ocean sounds, or the clink and hiss of a coffee shop.
It’s crucial to find the Goldilocks level of ambient noise—not too much and not too little. Experiment with different music, apps, or locales to see which one is just right for you.
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Connect with Others
One of the primary aspects of working from home that remote workers complain about is social isolation. Even if you don’t talk to another human being in the flesh all day, try to connect to someone. Call a family member on a break or send a funny text to your best friend. These quick connections throughout your day lessen your feeling of isolation.
Some remote workers choose to work from a public place, like a coffee shop or library, so that the hum of human engagement accompanies the clickety-clack of their keyboards. Taking breaks to do errands, like stocking up on long-lasting printer ink or picking up lunch, can allow you to talk to other people, even if it’s just about the weather.
Most of the time, your pets make great coworkers, but, every once in a while, you need to have a verbal interaction to stay connected and productive.
Final Thoughts
Maybe you’ve been working in a remote office for years, or perhaps this is a new change in company policy. For many workers, the coronavirus pandemic has completely changed their company’s day-to-day operations, and they are now working from home.
It’s essential to take steps to ensure your productivity levels remain as high outside of the office as they were in the office. It isn’t a straightforward adaptation, but, in the end, the commute can’t be beaten.