After the rollercoaster that we’ve had recently of working from home, not working from home and the hybrid options available some of us still find ourselves at home working away. A lot of people have been given the option of if they want to work from home or they want to go to the office. This very much is an individual choice. Some people prefer the social aspect of going to the office and being able to concentrate better.

However, some people work at home in the comfort of their surroundings and comforts, as well as making life easier for things like the school run and not having to commute. As we have been working at home for a while some of us still find that we are not as productive as we would be in the office but like working from home.

There are ways to boost your productivity and make sure that you’re getting the most out of your day not only from a work point of view but also to look after your mental health and your well-being.

Use Your Lunch Time Wisely 

Being at home you can get a lot more done in your lunch hour and you would be stuck at the office. You can get your food quicker as you won’t be waiting in line to use the microwave, you won’t have to walk to any shops to get something to eat and you can make healthier choices at home.

You may even want to batch cook your lunches for the week on a Sunday so that you have all your lunches planned and prepared ready in the fridge and all you need to do is just tuck in or heat it. Use your lunch hour wisely, people underestimate how much they can get done in an hour. You could have about 20 minutes to eat your food and let it go down, go for a 10 to 15-minute walk around your neighbourhood to get some vitamin d and get some fresh air in your lungs.

You could even squeeze in a quick 10 to 20-minute workout, do some reading or even just catch up on your favourite show on TV. Getting outside on your lunch and getting some fresh air is very beneficial as it can make you feel more awake and more energised alongside having a healthy and protein-filled lunch.

These things will help you avoid the afternoon slump and be able to be as productive and efficient in the afternoon if you are in the morning.

Make Sure You Are Tech Ready

Depending on what you do for a living you need certain tech aspects to perform your job at home. The obvious and most basic one is a laptop, normally a work provides that for you however if you are using your one having an outdated one may hinder your progress and productivity.

Also if you work on the phone you need to look at potentially investing in a better headset so that you have sound-cancelling options. If you’re working at home on the weekend for example you don’t want your clients and customers hearing kids screaming in the background or dogs barking anything that will essentially make you seem less professional.

A common complaint on the tech side since people have been working from home is why is my Internet so slow, this still is a concern and something people struggle with a lot. So much time is wasted waiting for things to load, having to reboot the Internet because it’s crashed again or simply taking three times longer on things as your internet speed is just not cutting it.

So assessing your Internet and seeing how you can speed up or even upgrade is a top priority task. For instance, you may wish to look at the various rural internet options available in your area if you live in a remote location, as by switching providers you may be able to get a better service than you are currently receiving.

Think About Where You Are Working In Your Home 

Having a set space to do your work is going to help you greatly. People still will opt to do their work in their beds but then it really can contribute to you struggling to learn to switch off or even to fully switch on. By not separating your work area and your relaxing area they can cross paths and normally not be productive on either side.

So just as if you were going to get up and go to work, try thinking about getting out of your comfort areas like your sofa and your bed and going somewhere to sit and do your work whether that’s an office, a desk space in the corner or simply if you’re able to we could go to a coffee shop and do you work there if the situation allows.

Another advantage to your productivity if you don’t need it, is to keep your mobile out of your workspace. when you’re at home and you’re not being monitored as it were. It’s very easy to avoid the distraction of quickly having a scroll on your phone responding to a text or answering a phone call. 

Make A To-Do List Each Day

The best way to be productive is to prepare. Failed to prepare, prepare to fail. By simply writing a to-do list each day of everything you need to do and highlighting the top priorities you’ll be able to work down the list and make sure that you do it all in a timely fashion and will know exactly what you have left to do and can approximate how long it’s gonna take you to do each thing.

Another way to make sure you are as productive as possible is to schedule when you’re going to check emails checking and responding to emails throughout the day to be very time-wasting and you are not being distracted and not fully focusing on the task at hand that you’re currently working on.

By setting an hour in the morning and hour and afternoon of replying and writing emails you can then fully focus on what you’re doing to be able to do it in a much more timely manner than having to keep stopping and replying to emails. If they are urgent or important that you need to be responded to straightaway then obviously you could do that but a lot of the time they can wait.