How To Stay Focused While Working From Home?
Being away from the office opens a huge window for distractions. While working from home here are some tips to help keep your focus.
1. Put Your Phone Out of Sight
This hopefully will help keep you focus while you are working from home. You heard of “out of sight, out of mind.” That’s what’s trying to be achieved here. If you don’t see or hear your phone, it may reduce your temptation to get on it. Your phone is filled with everything to distract from checking your emails, checking the weather, random Google searches, texting your friends, or checking on your social media, the list is endless.
2. Make a Deal with Yourself
Work is always more rewarding when there is a reward that is given. Well, give yourself that reward. Here’s the deal, while you are working from home tell yourself that if you remain focus for your entire shift you will treat yourself. Treat yourself to something small yet rewarding like, getting your favorite ice cream, finishing that show on Netflix, anything that will motivate you to stay on task while working from home.
3. Stay Off of Social Media
Social media reports state that an average user spends about 2 hours a day on the platform. Has it ever happened to you, that you get on social media intending to stay on for a few minutes and then when you notice 30 minutes have passed? I am guilty of this and I know I cannot be the only one who has experienced this. Social media is a behavioral addiction. Being constantly concerned with your social media platform and unable to control the urge to log into your account are the beginning stages of addiction. Help yourself focus, especially during work, to stay off of social media. While staying off social media it will help to also help to turn off any notifications. The notifications will be a negative temptation that you may give in to.
4. Set Deadlines
Set small goals for yourself while working from home. This will help you focus more on your tasks for work as well as help you succeed. Make your goals short and realistic. If your job is completing 20 cases or customers in an hour, try to set a goal for yourself to complete 15 cases or customers in an hour. This will help you stay focused and be more productive.
5. Change the Environment
Staying in the same environment can create boredom by having the same routine in the same environment. If you can change your environment go out to a coffee shop, a park, or maybe even a library. If you are stuck to stay in your home and work make sure to keep your work together. Keeping your work together and organized will help you remain focus while you work from home.
6. Get Out of Your Pajamas
The way you dress has a major effect on productive you can be while working from home. Clothing can be symbolic, ever wonder why most careers have a dress code and may require you to wear professional attire. It is because your actions play a major part in your clothing. You dress causal and relaxed you act causal. You dress professional and you work just as so. Simple.
7. Make for Human Interaction
Working from home can take you away from face-to-face talking with others. At work, there is small talk at the water coolers, breakroom, and in small meetings. Working from home alone is just the opposite. There aren’t others around to small talk with. Sadly, working from home alone can start to make you feel isolated and have a negative impact on your work. To help you stay focus try and schedule some daily social time with others. Staying connected with others will help keep a healthy work/life balance.
8. Get Up and Get Ready
Even though you are working from home you can still take care of yourself and make yourself presentable. Make a morning routine for yourself as if you would if you were going into the office. Set an alarm, brush your teeth and hair, make breakfast, set out your clothes, and whatever else you would normally do. Getting yourself into a professional mindset will help you stay focus once you start working.
9. Take a Break on Your Break
While working from home you may feel that you can get more work completed if you stayed working more. Working from when the sun comes up until when it comes down is not healthy. But as backward as it may seem, taking frequent breaks will help you stay focus while working from home. A break will allow your mind to rest and reset itself so that it won’t get overworked and will actually re-energize your mind. Make sure you don’t take too many breaks as that will take away from your productivity. When you take your break get up and walk away from your work area, drink some water or get a snack, just make sure to do something that’s not work-related. This will help clear your mind and will make you more focused when you start working again. Once you have worked from home for a while you will know what parts of the day you are most creative and when you are not. The times you find yourself not as creative as others should be the time you give yourself a break.
10. Be Positive
Working from home with a positive attitude will help you focus. Show positivity about your work, your ability to work from home, and just focus on the good that is around you. Having a positive attitude will help you focus at work and will allow you to get more work done, stay motivated, and inspired.
