How to be productive working from home
Even now in 2022, a lot of us are still working from home. In fact, remote work has become the new normal for many people. More and more companies are realizing the advantages of remote teams and are now embracing work-from-home culture. The remote revolution is here! However, while technology is getting better at keeping us connected, the fact remains that remote productivity can be hard. The home is full of distractions that can cut into your work day. Luckily, there are tricks you can use to keep your brain in work mode. Even those of us who went remote years ago can agree that there’s always room for improvement, so it’s never too late to try a new strategy. If you’d like to accomplish more while working remotely, check out these 6 easy tips for boosting your productivity. Next, continue to our list of free tools that can help you accomplish even more while working from home.
Have a dedicated workspace
If you already have a home office, you know how crucial that private space can be for productivity. But that amount of room is a luxury not everyone has, so you might have to make do. That’s ok though, because any amount of differentiation between your work space and regular living space might be enough. If you can establish one seat at the table or one corner of the room that’s just for work and nothing else, do that. If not, make a smaller but noticeable change, like adding a desk lamp to the kitchen table when it’s time for work, and taking it away when it’s not. These changes in environment, even if they’re small, can do a lot to turn the “work mode” of your brain effectively on or off.
Stick to a routine and plan each day
If you’re used to commuting to work, then you’re accustomed to a daily routine. Even if the routine seems like a drain, it’s actually helpful for your brain to have that regularity of tasks and the intervals between them. You should set a similar routine at home and stick to it. Try to wake up at the same time, make breakfast, and change into “work clothes” each day. These clothes can be casual and comfortable, but shouldn’t be something you’d sleep in.
The rest of your day should be fairly regimented as well, with planned start and stop times to your work and breaks in between. On your breaks, do something simple but productive that doesn’t require much brain power: make tea, do sit ups, take a walk around the block, or start your laundry. Do not start a TV show or video game that will suck you in.
Set your own goals and deadlines
Your job may already dictate certain goals and deadlines for you, but there’s probably less oversight than you would have at the office. Accountability is helpful for productivity though, so you need to discipline yourself. In addition to your workday routine you should set daily, weekly, and monthly schedules for what you’ll get done and when. A little extra time spent in organization and planning will pay off big time in the long run.
Do all you can to avoid interruptions
When you get interrupted from your work mode, it usually takes longer to get back into that mode than the time directly taken by the interruption. Because of this fact, even a number of small interruptions during the workday can really cut into your productivity. Maybe you felt like interruptions were already constant at the office, and now home is relatively quiet. You’re lucky if that’s the case, because most homes are full of distractions and interruptions.
Try wearing headphones and listening to relaxing, instrumental music to stay focused and muffle distracting noises. If you live with other people, you should make them aware of the work schedule you’ve set for yourself, and ask them to respect that. You probably can’t convince the dog or cat to go along with it, but both you and the furry housemates will benefit if you build pet time into your routine as well.
Put your phone away!
The technology that allows working from home can also be the cause of endless interruptions. Unless you constantly need your phone for work (and do you really need it?), you should keep it on ‘do not disturb’ and out of reach. You probably have to work on the internet, but that’s full of distractions as well. Consider using software to block certain sites, or to only allow certain sites during your work times. Some good options are listed with the other free tools below.
Stay active if you can
Exercise is good for the body and for the brain. One major advantage of working from home is the relative ease of staying active while you work. You can sit on an exercise ball, convert your desk to a standing desk, do pushups every half hour, or run laps around the house when you can’t stand to stare at the screen anymore. Just make sure your activity time is scheduled into your allotted breaks from work, so that you don’t get too involved with one or the other throughout the day.
Free productivity tools for working from home
There are many websites and mobile apps designed specifically for boosting productivity. Thanks to the remote work revolution, options have only become better since 2020! Even though most services charge money for their best products, most of them have free versions which are perfectly good for use by individuals or even small teams. You can explore each of these to find the features and plans that are right for you.
For task management
Todoist: A to-do list and then some, Todoist makes it easy to organize tasks in lists, by due dates, and more.
TickTick: Handily combines to-do lists, calendars, and work timers without being too complicated.
Evernote: If research and note taking is a big part of your job, try Evernote if you haven’t already. This app makes it easy to glean and save information from the web, and also includes to-do list features.
Trello: A project management app with a simple interface but a lot of capabilities. Even the free version is designed for team collaboration, so it’s more than sufficient for personal use.
Asana: A more robust project management app, with more features than you probably need as an individual, even in the free version. If you like versatility in the way you view and organize tasks, this could be for you.
Be Focused: App for Mac that times out work blocks and breaks that you can set, and tracks the progress of your to-do list. You have limited options for the interval times in the free version, and greater control in the paid version. Find it in the Mac App Store.
Pomodoro Tracker: One of many online work timers that are simple to use and don’t require an account. This one lets you set any work and break intervals that you want, and also create a to-do list to keep track of.
Google Tasks: A fairly bare-bones app that easily integrates with Gmail and Google Calendar, so it’s best for people who already use those a lot. Find it in Play Store and App Store.
For avoiding distractions
Cold Turkey Blocker - Block yourself from any websites, as well as applications on your computer, and customize further with built-in work and break timers.
LeechBlock - An extension for Chrome and Firefox that can block up to 30 sites you choose, and allow you to set time limits for when they are blocked or allowed. -
SelfControl - A simple app for Mac that allows you to block any sites for custom periods of time.
StayFocusd - Chrome extension that allows access to sites only for a certain amount of time that you set. Once you’ve spent all your allotted time on the websites you’ve limited, you’ll be blocked for the rest of the day.
Forest: A creative angle on a productivity app, this one grows a tree in a virtual forest in 30-minute time increments on your computer or your phone, but if you interrupt its growth by moving off task, the tree will wither and your forest will suffer. The company also donates money to grow real-life trees based on use of the app.
