How to Increase Your Productivity Working From Home
Is the freedom of working from home all too much? Learn how to increase your productivity in four simple steps and see your self-employed business succeed.
June 11th, 2010 by Becky Turner
How To Increase Your Productivity |
For anyone feeling trapped in the rat race, the idea of working from home sounds like heaven. There are no fixed working hours, no line managers to report to, no distracting team meetings, and sometimes, no direct clients to please either.
The problem is, the biggest appeal of being self-employed is also potentially the biggest hindrance. Having too much freedom in your day-to-day business can leave you feeling unfocused and utterly unproductive. This can ruin your long term self-employed career prospects.
So how can you increase your productivity working from home when there are so many distractions?
Assuming you enjoy your work, healthy productivity boils down to two character habits: being conscientious and being organized.
Being conscientious means caring about your work. You must be driven to succeed independently without other people dragging you along the way. You must take responsibility for everything you do or don't achieve, and are motivated from your core to be successful in what you do. I'm convinced that being conscientious is a very common personality trait among entrepreneurs. Without this character habit, you will flounder at working from home in the realm of the self-employed.
Being organized sounds terribly boring, but it just means having your goals in order. It is a state of mind and an active pursuit which helps you power through your daily objectives without getting heavily distracted. Being organized is definitely easier to learn than being conscientious. So I have set out four simple tips below to improve your organizational approach to work - and thus to increase your productivity levels working from home.
1. Make a Daily Task List
It may sound trivial but simply making a daily "To Do" list can completely overhaul my work day. My biggest problem is actually getting started with a new piece of work. I can't just sit down and start writing an article without planning. I have to already know what I'm going to write about and why I'm excited about it. Sometimes I wake up in the morning and start writing an article in my head before I get up. It's much easier to mull over ideas and wording while I'm not at my desk, than to sit staring at a blank page on my computer waiting for inspiration to hit.
If I start my work day without any pre-conceived ideas, the first thing I do is write a task list the old fashioned way - with pen and paper. For some reason it's much more satisfying to physically cross off your accomplishments than to hit the delete key on your computer's notepad.
A daily task list should include all the big projects of the day; don't make it your objective to check emails. That kind of stuff can drag on so do it when you're having a break from the meatier projects. I make a list of all the article topics I want to write (or at least start) that day.
If your self-employed business is deadline-driven then you already have a big motivator in daily or weekly deadlines. But if you're like me and your work is always ongoing, then create mini-milestones to reach every day and I guarantee you'll get a lot more done.
2. Step Away From The Computer
Taking breaks when you need them is really important. While the occasional marathon work session can produce excellent results, most of the time sitting at the computer for hours only stifles your productivity.
Once your peak concentration level diminishes, it is only a matter of time before your brain becomes tired, you physically feel sleepy, you can't concentrate, and the low oxygen levels in the room make you yawn incessantly. It's hardly the ideal environment for being productive. And when this happens, you're just torturing yourself by sitting at your desk. So be aware of your energy levels and feel free to recharge your batteries for 20 minutes in preparation for your next super-charged work session.
A break does not mean switching windows and logging on to YouTube. A break means getting away from your desk, moving around, having a snack or a drink, or going outside for some fresh air (even if it's only to hang out the washing). This time away from the computer screen is vital for your brain to reboot - and for your eyes to get a break from the near-point stress of looking at a bright computer screen for so long.
(If you are nearsighted, it is exceptionally important that you get away from the computer once every hour. You should not be working with your glasses on, as this serves to increase the near-point stress and makes your vision deteriorate faster. For more tips on healthy vision habits at the computer, read my article on Computer Vision Syndrome.)
3. Eliminate Distractions
Getting rid of distractions is an easy way to increase your productivity and yet it's not something we consciously set out to do. In a regular office, there are many distractions which are out of your control - phones ringing, people talking, fax machines beeping - yet you zone them out because they don't concern you. When you're running your whole business from your own home, everything concerns you. And suddenly, there are a lot of distractions. Whether it's telephones, unexpected visitors, children, pets, noisy neighbors, or simply an incessant stream of incoming emails.
Most people I talk to seem to think the biggest distraction of working from home would be the TV. Not so. Our TV is switched off in the other room, and there's a big distinction between me sitting working at my computer, and me vegging out in front of the TV. In reality, the biggest distraction for me is the internet. The very technology that makes the work-at-home dream possible. And would you be surprised? Not really.
As the British stand-up comedian Dave Gorman points out when he sits down to write his book: "Jake [the publisher] lied to me. Jake said it's just you, your imagination, and your computer. That's not strictly speaking true. My computer is attached to the internet. The internet contains everything in the whole wide world ever. I don't know about you, but I find everything in the whole wide world ever to be a bit distracting."
(After that, Dave went on to discover the art of Googlewhacking, which almost ruined his life. But at least he got to turn his globe trotting epic into a live stage show and write the book Dave Gorman's Googlewhack Adventure. So it all worked out well for him in the end.)
So how can you eliminate the distraction of the internet? This comes down to discipline. If you must use the net to do your work, only have the minimum number of tabs open as you need. Don't "quickly" check Facebook when you log on in the morning. And don't look at every video link on YouTube that your friends send you during the day. I know that's easier said than done. I imagine the best way to learn this lesson is from experience - so go spend the next three months doing all the Facebooking your heart desires, and finish each day thinking you could have got way work more done. Or, you can take it from me - avoid the just-for-fun sites until you have accomplished a major goal on your daily task list.
4. Create a Comfortable Work Space
Another really easy way to increase your productivity is to dress up your work space. Make it a pleasant place to be. After all, you are going to spend many creative hours here so don't set it up like a prison cell just because that's what your old office cubicle used to look like.
A comfortable, ambient office space will help relax your body and make it a happy, inspiring place to be. Here are some ways to achieve that:
- Position - Set up your desk in a commanding position, facing the doorway or looking out the window. We keep the curtains closed in our office because too much natural light creates extra glare on the computer screens. But do whatever is most comfortable for you.
- Pictures - Put some interesting pictures up on the walls - places you'd like to go, animals, abstract art, or photos of loved ones. Remind yourself of the freedoms that being self-employed allows.
- Temperature - Ensure the ambient temperature is not too warm and not too cold. There is no corporate dress code to conform to so wear whatever makes you feel comfortable. No need to wear a power suit just to make yourself feel all big and important - is there?
- Background noise - Play quiet music in the background if it helps you concentrate, preferably without lyrics. Also clean out all the dust from inside your computer at least every year or the fan will start humming noisily just to keep everything cool.
- Furniture - Invest in a high quality computer desk and chair that supports your back properly. Being hunched up to the computer all day will seriously dampen your productivity and wreck havoc with your body in the long term.
Final Thoughts
These simple organizational tips will support your psychological efforts to increase your productivity working from home. But there must be an underlying desire to truly succeed at what you're doing.
No-one is 100% conscientious and 100% organized all of the time. There are always highs and lows depending on your mental, physical and emotional states. I find my most productive phases are when I'm getting the strongest positive feedback on my work; when a new website generates a landmark amount of passive income, or when it is recognized by a certain amount of readers. Like many people, I thrive on positive feedback and this encourages me to work harder. So take full responsibility for your self-employed career - by accepting and learning from your mistakes, and by taking genuine pride in your achievements.
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