The COVID-19 situation has brought around a myriad of new challenges many of us have never encountered before. For many of us, working from has been one of them. Working from home requires finding a delicate work-life balance. Work too hard and too often, and you risk burning out. Don't work enough, and you risk losing your means of livelihood! We've compiled a bunch of tips to help you maintain productivity and effectiveness in your work from home lifestyle. These will help you bring a little more structure and form to your day, where the lines between the office and home get a little blurred.
1. Keep work restricted to regular working hours: This is an essential tip for you and your boss/clients. Doing all of your work in the regular hours gives you a "start" and "end" time to your office life, giving you a reason to get up on time, stay productive, minimize procrastination, and getting off work on time as well. Having too much flexibility with your work hours can be detrimental as you're more likely to procrastinate on the work you need to get done and not fully enjoy your free time when you're working.
2. Keep work time and personal time separate: This tip naturally follows from the previous tip, work hard when you're working and play hard when you're playing! This will help you stay more productive, but it will also help you fully enjoy your "you" time as well.
3. Plan your day: Have an essential to-do list of work you need to get done for the day, the week, and the month. Checking these tasks off your to-do list is a very effective motivator and helps you get more done each day.
4. Create an office space at home: Working from home can often seem difficult when your surroundings still remind you of home. You need to create a space that helps you disconnect from your home life and TO your office life. This shift in thinking will help nudge you in the right direction when you need to get work done. This may mean limiting distractions such as music, phones, TVs, pets, and PEOPLE while working. Think of these things as rewards you get to get back to once you're done with work!
5. Keep your room clean: A simple tip, that goes a long way in helping you stay more productive!
