It’s much easier to be lazy during work hours while you’re home, than surrounded by busy co workers, isn’t it? You’re in the comfort of your own home, you’re your own boss, there’s no one pushing you to meet your deadlines… If you really allow yourself this kind of freedom, your business, no matter what kind it is, will fail before you even started making some good money. In order to prevent all this, you should go through the next five tips, and do your best to apply them. So, check them out!
Do the Hardest Task First
You have probably heard about the “eating the frog” theory. If you do the most complicated tasks first, without delaying them, you’ll be able to arrange the rest of your working hours casually, and solve one problem set in front of you slowly, with no pressure whatsoever. It can be quite difficult to make yourself set your mind on those difficult tasks in front of you first thing in the morning, but with some determination, you’ll adopt that habit before you know it, and your productivity will increase significantly.
Trigger Productive Mode
This one is a bit tricky, because it’s completely individual. During your college years, you have probably discovered the conditions that help you learn better, so you should definitely apply them in order to increase productivity in your home office. However, if those conditions simply don’t work for you anymore, you should try out a couple of new things, so you can find the one that works best for you.
For example, if you’re competitive, you should try to trigger your productive mode by having an imaginary race with your deadlines, and always tend to beat your high scores. On the other hand, you may be in a rut because you fell into some kind of routine, which you can easily get out of by introducing your office space to a couple of small irrelevant changes. Some people can focus better and work harder when they are exposed to just the right amount of background distractions, so you should probably try this, as well.
There’s one common mistake a lot of people make, and they consider it to be a highly productive method – multitasking. It’s a scientific fact that you only do less by multitasking, so this is one habit you definitely need to get rid of.
Music Helps Brain Work
Whether you’re surrounded with your family in your home office or not, music can be quite helpful when it comes to improving productivity. An experiment showed that background music in major cords can help a lot when it comes to repetitive tasks, but also when you need to distract yourself from the noise around you, no matter if it’s in the actual office or the improvised one in your home.
Keep Sticky Notes Around
You never know when your inspiration may strike, so you should definitely lead some type of diary. If that’s too much for you, and if it’ll take too much of your time, having sticky notes around you will definitely do the trick, no matter if they are on your computer desktop or your actual desktop. Write down every idea that comes to your mind, even if you consider it sounds silly or dull, and elaborate its stages whenever you find enough time.
Keep Your Space Clean
Your working space needs to be absolutely clutter free, especially if all you need for you work is your computer. Clutter around you will slow you down, and make it difficult for you to increase your productivity, so everything you don’t use must go. You should replace those excess items with a desk lamp which will improve lighting in your room, and a plant or two, which will affect your mind positively and cause the feeling of calmness.
In the end, I’d like to add one more thing – pay attention to your nutrition, and tend to eat healthy, because one of the preconditions of improving productivity in general is having enough energy. I hope you’ll find my suggestion insightful, and if you do apply any of them, I’d really like you to let me know how it goes!