8 Tips Make Yourself More Productive If You Work From Home
Working from home is more popular than ever. In the UK, more than four million of us do it and with more companies offering flexible working and more people going self-employed, that number looks like it’s only going up.
But working from home is not all lay-ins and taking conference calls in your pyjamas. To earn your living from your living room, you need to be on your game, and it’s easy to get distracted when the TV is just there and no one else is around.
Here are some top tips to make you the master of the home office:
1. Dedicate some space for your home office
Not all of us who work from home have the luxury of a spare bedroom we can turn into an office, but that doesn’t mean it’s impossible to create a dedicated space to work in. “There are lots of great ideas for handy solutions,” says Rachel Doran, who founded artisan gift boutique Elsie & Fleur.
She suggests fitting a desk into an alcove. “If you can’t find a desk that fits, fix battens to the wall and attach a piece of wood to create the desk space you need,” she suggests. “If you have a built-in floor to ceiling cupboard that would suit, or a wardrobe, then it’s time to colonise it. It’s perfect for an office solution as you can just shut the doors on it once you’ve finished your day’s work.”
2. Create a workspace that you *actually* want to be in
The beauty of having a home office is that you are the only person that has to like it, so you can make as suited to your own tastes as you want. As Declan Curran, who runs property development company Empire Holdings, says, “Give the space what it needs to reflect your personality and make you feel welcome and at ease every time you enter – you’ll find the room much more productive.”
But when it comes to choosing furniture, go for comfort and function over style. For example, he says, pick a chair with good armrests, proper wheels, adjustable height and lumbar support. “You may not look forward to working in it, but you shouldn’t dread sitting in it.”
3. Get distractions out of the way
It’s easy to get sidetracked by household chores when you work from home. Hannah Martin, founder of the Talented Ladies Club for self-employed women, recommends doing little jobs, like putting on washing or clearing some dishes, in the morning before you start work, so it doesn’t bother you later.
“Not only will it remove any potential excuses for putting aside a tricky work task (it’s amazing how attractive washing up can suddenly become), but it’s much more pleasant to work in a clean and tidy home,” she says.
4. Behave like you would going to an office
That means dress like you would for the office, sticking to office hours, and taking a lunch break. “Always get up and dressed; don’t go straight to your desk in your PJs,” says Yorkshire-based freelance journalist Hannah Doyle. “And try to leave work at the end of the day, too (turn off the laptop, shut the office door.) I try to have a walk at the start and end of the day, and ideally at lunchtime. Get a dog.”
Kelly Rose Bradford, also a freelance journalist, says it’s important that your friends and family know to treat you like you’re at work. “And no, they can no more ‘just pop in’ than they would if they were ‘just passing’ your office block,” she says.
5. Be strict about time management
Make a plan a stick to it – might be boring, but it’s the advice that seasoned freelancers come back to again and again. “Map out your day the night before, with slots for various projects/pieces. Add in set times for checking/responding to emails and social media. Put in lunch/gym/tea/stretch breaks. Stick to religiously. Works a treat,” says Jane Alexander, journalist and author of Mindfulness & Wellbeing and The Overload Solution.
Happy Investing
Source:Moneycontrol.com
Working from home is more popular than ever. In the UK, more than four million of us do it and with more companies offering flexible working and more people going self-employed, that number looks like it’s only going up.
But working from home is not all lay-ins and taking conference calls in your pyjamas. To earn your living from your living room, you need to be on your game, and it’s easy to get distracted when the TV is just there and no one else is around.
Here are some top tips to make you the master of the home office:
1. Dedicate some space for your home office
Not all of us who work from home have the luxury of a spare bedroom we can turn into an office, but that doesn’t mean it’s impossible to create a dedicated space to work in. “There are lots of great ideas for handy solutions,” says Rachel Doran, who founded artisan gift boutique Elsie & Fleur.
She suggests fitting a desk into an alcove. “If you can’t find a desk that fits, fix battens to the wall and attach a piece of wood to create the desk space you need,” she suggests. “If you have a built-in floor to ceiling cupboard that would suit, or a wardrobe, then it’s time to colonise it. It’s perfect for an office solution as you can just shut the doors on it once you’ve finished your day’s work.”
2. Create a workspace that you *actually* want to be in
The beauty of having a home office is that you are the only person that has to like it, so you can make as suited to your own tastes as you want. As Declan Curran, who runs property development company Empire Holdings, says, “Give the space what it needs to reflect your personality and make you feel welcome and at ease every time you enter – you’ll find the room much more productive.”
But when it comes to choosing furniture, go for comfort and function over style. For example, he says, pick a chair with good armrests, proper wheels, adjustable height and lumbar support. “You may not look forward to working in it, but you shouldn’t dread sitting in it.”
3. Get distractions out of the way
It’s easy to get sidetracked by household chores when you work from home. Hannah Martin, founder of the Talented Ladies Club for self-employed women, recommends doing little jobs, like putting on washing or clearing some dishes, in the morning before you start work, so it doesn’t bother you later.
“Not only will it remove any potential excuses for putting aside a tricky work task (it’s amazing how attractive washing up can suddenly become), but it’s much more pleasant to work in a clean and tidy home,” she says.
4. Behave like you would going to an office
That means dress like you would for the office, sticking to office hours, and taking a lunch break. “Always get up and dressed; don’t go straight to your desk in your PJs,” says Yorkshire-based freelance journalist Hannah Doyle. “And try to leave work at the end of the day, too (turn off the laptop, shut the office door.) I try to have a walk at the start and end of the day, and ideally at lunchtime. Get a dog.”
Kelly Rose Bradford, also a freelance journalist, says it’s important that your friends and family know to treat you like you’re at work. “And no, they can no more ‘just pop in’ than they would if they were ‘just passing’ your office block,” she says.
5. Be strict about time management
Make a plan a stick to it – might be boring, but it’s the advice that seasoned freelancers come back to again and again. “Map out your day the night before, with slots for various projects/pieces. Add in set times for checking/responding to emails and social media. Put in lunch/gym/tea/stretch breaks. Stick to religiously. Works a treat,” says Jane Alexander, journalist and author of Mindfulness & Wellbeing and The Overload Solution.
Happy Investing
Source:Moneycontrol.com
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