Tips on Staying Productive While Working from Home

7/26/2021 | By Marella Gimenez

In this COVID-19 pandemic, how do we stay productive at home doing remote work?

Under the new normal, many are working remotely. An out of the office environment is exciting at first but becomes a source of stress for many. Some really cannot focus on doing remote work. 

The reason is simple. A lot of employees who do remote work find it stressful staying productive at work in the comforts of their homes. 

The distractions are endless.
Why?

There is a lot of non-work noise every single day. The tantrums of your kids or your siblings. The endless knocks from your family members. The loud music from your roommate’s bedroom. The pets trying to get all your attention. Or even your neighbor who wasn’t that busy so he decided to mow his lawn during your important meeting.

Your social media accounts keep you distracted all the time. There’s a new dance craze at Tiktok almost every day. And you keep on checking the status of your ordered items whether they’ve been shipped out.

You haven’t taken a break and your back aches because you don't have a proper workspace to work on.

See? How would you even get your work done? You haven’t even cooked your lunch yet or made your bed. So what do you do? You spend a good half hour checking out food on the delivery app.

Time isn’t well spent because of these distractions. Because of this, your productivity rate decreases as you lose your focus. When your workload comes in, you panic as if it cannot fit in your schedule.

But don’t let this bother you or keep you from addressing these concerns.

You can become productive at home doing remote work and be able to manage your work-life balance. This balance is your ticket to success in your career.

Distraction management

All problems, including those distractions in your environment, can be managed with a few tips. Check your habits, maybe there are also distractions in achieving higher productivity at work.

Managing a routine would be the easiest way to start. Schedule and allot time for checking your emails or even your social media notifications.

Go on DND mode or the “Do not Disturb”. You can even hang a sign on your doorknob to let your family know.

Maybe you’re getting too comfortable at work because you’re still in your pajamas. It makes you want to just lay on your bed while typing your report. Get up earlier than usual, take a bath and wear your work attire. Your mood and focus will surely improve.

To avoid getting yourself hungry or skipping meals, you can plan and prepare your meals ahead of time. It lessens your burden of having to worry about what to eat. Attending a meeting while hungry isn’t a really good idea.

10 Doable Tips on How to Stay Productive While Working from Home

Productivity management is key in ensuring that you are productive while working far away from the office.

Now that we have finally acknowledged the problems and solved some distractions, here are 10 tips to effectively help you break into your routine:

1. Designate your own comfortable workplace.

Having a comfortable and ergonomic workplace makes a whole difference in setting up an ambiance at your home.

Did you know that even the shape of your mouse affects your hands? You might want to check out the tools and equipment that would make your work easier and less stressful. Make your setup a work-friendly environment.

Use this chance to design your own workplace while doing remote jobs. Unleash your creativity in designing your set-up. Maybe adding a plant or a cute vase will lighten your mood.

Creating a place where you can work peacefully will do wonders for you. This will also make your family respect your space and schedule when you’re situated in that designated workplace.

2. Make sure your lighting setup makes you motivated.

Poor lighting tires you. It makes your mind and eyes work harder. It is important to take care of your eyes by working in a well-lit room. The bad lighting may cause strain in your eyes and it usually leads to headaches.

If you’re working at night, make sure that your workspace has proper lighting.

3. Create to-do lists per day.

Suddenly, all your clients want your attention. How do you manage? List down all the important things that need to be accomplished for that day. This becomes your ultimate schedule which needs to be done.

Make it a habit to prioritize the tasks so that they will be easier for you. These lists will also ensure that you have your break time.

At the end of the day, the best feeling is that you’ve checked all the items on your list. That would be quite inspiring and motivating to start again tomorrow.

4. Know when it’s time to take breaks.

Managing time has proven to be one of the difficult things to do. Sometimes, your 8-hour shift is never enough. So you add a few more hours and before you hit the send button in that email, you're too exhausted.

Taking breaks boosts your energy. Resting is important even when you’re comfortable working at home. This advice has been the number one rule in any corporate life.

Your schedule might be jam-packed with meetings and calls. But taking a break once in a while will keep you less stressed as you hop on to another task or meeting.

After a stressful meeting, you can walk to your kitchen and get a glass of juice. Talk to your family or do something in a short period. You’ll be back in your seat with a smile on your face.

5. Set reasonable boundaries on both a professional front and a personal one.

This advice might be the most difficult task of all. Creating boundaries might mean something to others, especially your colleagues or employer. But it really needs to be done. Why? Because this mixture of work and personal life stresses you out.

Work and personal life must be separated to achieve that balance. Time management is key in setting these boundaries. You have to effectively set time for work and personal life.

Make that balance and surely, your life will be less stressful.

6. Plugin some podcasts/music! Check out productivity booster playlists on streaming platforms like Spotify, Apple Music, etc.

Music is always a good idea to perk your mood up. It alters your mind into having a good mood which is healthy.

There are tons of playlists out there that can help uplift your spirits even when the deadline is waving right into your monitor.

If you’re not into music, you can also listen to some podcasts that interest you. There are a lot of podcasts out there that can give great tips on how to manage that challenging balance between work and life.

7. Socialize from time to time.

All work and no play make an employee grumpy all day! If you’re used to being around people, working at home can be really exhausting. You crave physical connection. And with the social distancing under this new normal, this is quite challenging.

With the technology of video calls and chats, everybody is just one tap away from socializing. Having somebody to communicate with, getting advice, or just telling stories eases your fatigue.

8. Eat foods that make you feel fresh and not sluggish.

Your eating habits may also be a source of why you’re feeling out of the mood for work.

Stacking up on junk food or munching on some chips will make you feel sluggish. Try experimenting with healthy foods that make your body feel fresh. Salads are popular to take during breaks and have a variety of mix and match that you can never go wrong with.

Avoid high-sugar, high-sodium, and processed foods. You’ll notice you don’t get any work done after eating these since you feel like slacking or sluggish.

9. Drink your water frequently!

Keep yourself hydrated. Caffeine might power you up but water is better for your body. It significantly boosts your immune system and helps wash away toxins from your body. Plus, it has zero calories, super healthy!

The trick in making yourself drink water is by keeping a water bottle near you. You may also want to put some lines on the bottle and help you track your water intake.

10. Keep in touch with your colleagues.

Working remotely can really be exhausting compared to working in the office. Why? Because you have your colleagues that you can chat with during your coffee break. It eases tension and fatigue when you communicate and have a good laugh with them.

With the power of social media and other online platforms, you can keep in touch with your colleagues and work friends easily. You can chat or even play games or charades during breaks.

Conclusion

Working remotely can be stressful especially when you feel that your productivity is circling down the drain.

Work-life balance seems like a dream for most employees. But don’t worry, with KMC Solutions as your partner, your work and life balance will be a breeze.

KMC Solutions help people across the world create enjoyable, effective, and flexible workspaces. For over ten years, they have brought excellent services in providing forward-thinking office space solutions and building high-performing teams. Their success reflects how serious they are in helping their clients in terms of productivity and office management.

As they adapt to the new normal, they also provide various services like the HQ, HUB, and HOME strategies. KMC can deliver the best ergonomic home office setup for your team members.

KMC brings out comfort and productivity in your office at home.