You work from home, and that’s becoming new wave! Whether its because you work too far from the main office, or its all online digital, working from home can pose some challenges. We think the best way to stay on task is to keep things around you feeling like a real office setting. We want to go over somethings we do while we work from home to keep us on target and completing goals
There’s a lot more than what we’re about to list that will help with overall efficiency in your home office, but let’s focus on these one’s that we found the most important for that home office space:
Clean the room
Clean the workspace before/after
Taking Breaks
Punch Lists
1. Cleaning The Room
The last thing anyone wants to deal with is distractions. One of the biggest ones you can have is a messy room. Sometimes the only thing you can do is clean up around the house and room you’re working in to alleviate any potential distractions. Even when you can refrain from cleaning a mess because you have work, it may still end up being in your head, clouding thoughts and hurting efficiency. It’s even been proven by studies that cleaner rooms allow for more efficient studying and work! It has to be cleaned up anyways so just get it done before you sit down and punch in.
2. Clean the Workspace Before/After
This one is nearly the same as the first one, but the first thing that needs to happen is cleanliness. Sitting down to a cluttered desk of papers left and right and the note pad not in the right spot is going to slow you down. Find the time to keep the desk space clean and clear of all clutter, so you can focus on the screen and the work at hand! Getting into the habit of this will be good for a routine and also improve your organization skills on a day to day basis. You can bring that skill set to the computer and better organize files on the desktop as well as the cloud, so you can easily access all the online and digital files. All we’re saying is, it’s important to be able to move your mouse without it hitting the empty coffee mug from yesterday!
3. Taking Breaks
This one can get a little tricky, but we think most of you are responsible and won’t take this time for granted. Just like at the common workplace, you are still given your normal lunch break and occasional 10 minute breather at certain points in the day. You have control of these times, but be sure to not extend or short yourself on this time. It’s important to keep the structure and balance of your work the best you can whether its with co workers, or alone in your home office! This may be one of the biggest challenges for most, since there’s no one watching you can call your own shots, but don’t abuse this privilege and control, end of the day you have a job to complete!
4. Punch Lists
Last but not least, we’ve got our punch lists. When working from home, you don’t have the boss or your co workers right behind you to ask you the status on the project or things you’re working on. It’s up to you to keep yourself accountable for what needs to get done. Our suggestion is to write down daily, weekly and monthly goals and cross them off as you finish them. This will serve as your reminder and presence of what needs to still be done and the things you can relax about being completed. This ties in with being organized, but in a physical written way that’s easy to digest so you can focus best on the work and not worry about constantly having to remember what’s to be done next!
There you have it guys! that’s our punch lists of the things we think are most important when working from home. This could differ based on your demands when sitting down at the desk ready with your hot cup of joe, but for us, we think this hits most our most important points right on the head! What are some things you do while working from home that weren’t listed here, we’d love to know!