How to Schedule Your Work from Home Day
More and more people are working from home in the modern world, but the challenges of getting the most out of your day when working at home are very different from when you’re working in an office.
It means you’ve got to find different ways of structuring your day in order to do your best work. The job of motivating falls squarely on your shoulders, and you’ve got to take responsibility for how you use your time.
Once you get used to working from home, though, many people find they’re actually more productive than they were when they were working in the office.
With these simple steps, you can settle into your work from home schedule much quicker and start getting the most out of your day.
Set Working Hours
For people who don’t work from home, we tend to romanticize the idea. We picture ourselves with our laptop on our beds, sprawling around the house in our pyjamas, and working when we want.
Unsurprisingly though, this isn’t the best way to get work done!
One of the reasons we have work hours is because they’re a good way to be productive, and that doesn’t change just because you’re at home. The nice thing about working from home is you can schedule those hours when you want, but the important thing is you follow them.
For many people, the 9-5 isn’t the perfect way to get the most out of themselves, so set the hours that will best allow you to get your work done. Set a time where you start each day, schedule breaks, and make sure you finish work rather than keep going on all night.
Look the Part
If you look the part, you’re going to feel the part, and when you feel the part, you generally act the part. You don’t have to wear a full suit and tie, but at least get out of your pyjamas and dress smart.
Motivating yourself to work efficiently every day isn’t that easy, and small things like dressing properly can make a difference. Get into the mindset of work by replicating some of the basic things you would do if you were going into the office.
You might be able to get away with doing a video conference with a shirt and tie, and just your lounge pants on the bottom, but are you really going to get the most out of your day?
Make a Dedicated Workspace
One of the difficult things about working from home can be separating your work life from your personal life. You need your work-time to be efficient, and you want your personal time to be relaxing, but when they both occur in the same space, they can spill over into each other.
If you can create a dedicated workspace for yourself, however, this helps separate the two areas of your life. Doing so will be easier for some than others, but no matter what setup you have, there are ways of separating off a workspace.
There can be a lot going on at home, but if you have your own workspace, then you can create your own bubble, helping you to get your work done as efficiently as possible.
Use a Planner
Working in conjunction with your colleagues can be a little bit trickier when everyone is at home on their own. However, there’s some great software out there to help you with these things and help keep you organised at the same time.
When you work from home, you’re completely responsible for how you organise your time, which is great because it allows you to get the most out of your day, but only if you’re planning your day out properly.
The better planning you can do, the more you’re going to achieve in your day, and the more time you will have to enjoy the benefits of working from home.
Remove Distractions
There are lots of potential distractions when you’re working from home. However, there are also plenty of distractions when you’re working at the office, so it’s something you’re used to dealing with.
A great way to help minimise distractions is with the Pomodoro Technique, which involves breaking your day up into small chunks, and completely removing distractions for these short periods.
Concentration spans aren’t that long, so if you break your work up into chunks, it allows you to maximise your focus. While you’re in your working phase, get rid of your phone, close all unnecessary tabs, and simply focus on the task at hand.
Make Time for a Break
As much as you want to get rid of distractions while you’re working, it’s also important to find ways to relax and refresh during your breaks. You can’t sit at the computer for 8 hours of the day and do your best work every minute.
So, it’s important that you make time for breaks and do something with the time. Whether that’s doing some press-ups, playing freeslots.co.uk, or unloading the dishwasher, it allows your brain some time to relax and get ready for another session of focused work.
Everyone has different ways of working and different ways of maximising their time, so it’s about tweaking your routine until you find what works for you.
“Go Home” at the End of the Day
Just because you’re working from home shouldn’t mean you don’t clock off. You still need to maintain a work-life balance, and that means putting the laptop away at the end of the day.
Businesses often fear that workers will be less productive when working from home, but many studies show this is not the case.
Many workers thrive under the extra responsibility of managing their time and boost their efficiency, but you need to make sure you’re not overdoing it. If you want to, you can work all hours of the day and night, but it’s probably not going to help you do your best work.
If you’ve set your hours, then try and stick to them. Just because you spend more time working doesn’t mean you’re actually getting more work done, so make sure you’re keeping your work-life balance.
