32 Tips for Working from Home to Be Efficient and Productive

Nowadays due to many situations, people work from home and they want tips for working from home in order to be productive.

According to a study conducted by LinkedIn in October 2019, it was found that 82% ( 1 ) of workers wish they could work from home at least part of the time.

Many will fulfill this wish in the way they least expected it, and that is that with the arrival of the Coronavirus, working from home is something that is already a reality. Many companies, large and small, are joining the effort of governments to manage COVID-19 by asking their employees to work from home.

Now, let’s be honest, one thing is to dream of working remotely and another thing is the organization that you must have to carry it out. Those of us who do home working can tell you that it is not as easy as it seems.

So I have decided to give you a series of tips that will help you make your home the best experience to work with and not fail in the attempt, let’s get into the matter:

Table of Contents

32 Tips for Working from Home

Here are profession and achievable tips for working from home:

1. PREPARE

Don’t think that when you work at home the atmosphere can be relaxed, like while in front of the television.

Of course you should avoid this as far as possible, because it will result in your productivity at work decreasing.

According to Aircall , try to prepare yourself as well as possible as if you were working in an office. Take a shower in the morning as much as possible, have breakfast, then make coffee or tea to accompany your work later.

Creating an atmosphere like in the office can increase your productivity when you have to work at home.

2. SET SCHEDULE

According to Success , the thing that needs to be considered when working from home is to set a schedule.

When you are working at home but you don’t set your schedule at all, usually you will feel free and forget about your work.

Set your wake up time as usual so you don’t get too late. Then don’t forget to take a shower to keep your body fresh so you are ready to work at home.

After that, pay attention to the work assigned to your office that day. Set a schedule from what time you will work, lunch time, and what time you will stop working.

With this, you will feel more responsible so that you will not delay your work.

3. TAKE A COMFORTABLE WORK POSITION

Some people are comfortable even when working on the sofa or mattress. However, if you feel uncomfortable working on the mattress, then you should avoid this.

Because, there are also some people who are just lazy working on the mattress. He only works for a short time, then usually lies down and in the end puts off work.

Avoid working on the mattress if it has a sleep effect. You can take a work position as comfortable as possible, for example at a desk or even on a rooftop at home.

4. CREATE AN OFFICE-LIKE ATMOSPHERE

When you are at home, you can actually make it look like an office atmosphere .

You can make coffee or tea first in the morning, then be ready to face the laptop that has been placed on the table.

If necessary, you can add a few other elements to create a home office atmosphere. You can buy flowers with pots, work lamps, or other office decorations, then put them at home.

Thus, the office atmosphere will be created at home so as to increase your work productivity. Don’t forget, find the right space to create the office atmosphere you want.

5. AVOID OTHER ACTIVITIES

Focus on your work while working at home. Try to avoid other activities such as hanging out with friends, playing outside the house and other things that can interfere with your work.

If necessary, write down things that can interfere with your work so that you remember them.

You can do these activities when your work is finished. The reason is, activities outside of work will certainly make you postpone work.

6. TAKE A SHORT BREAK

When you are at a saturation point while working at home, then you should go outside for a while to breathe fresh air.

Taking a walk around the house for 10 minutes can certainly refresh your brain. In addition, you can also buy snacks that will support your productivity when you work later.

7. THE TRAFFIC LIGHT OF PRODUCTIVITY

Working from home means for many of us, working where our children are. As those who know me well know, I have two young children who need my attention at the times they have available, it does not matter if I am in the middle of a call or writing an important email, any time they find it opportune to play.

So the idea of creating a productivity traffic light will help you have those important spaces that you need in your work. It is easy for the little ones to understand and very useful for you, when the traffic light is red, under no circumstances can they interrupt you. When the light is yellow, they should ask before passing. And green light, they have a free pass.

You can do it from the most professional, to a drawing on a sheet and manage the colors with sticky notes, the idea is that everyone can enjoy that moment.

8. IGNORE THE DOOR

This is very important because when you are at home you notice how many times a day they knock on the door or call your home phone, it could be someone offering a product, a distracted neighbor, or a host of options that right at your pre-established working hours you cannot Give yourself the luxury of losing the attention you have.

9. USE A REWARD SYSTEM

Reward systems help you perform tasks more efficiently. There is a technique that I like and it helps me a lot, it is the Pomodoro Technique, which consists of taking short breaks after 25 minutes of work and repeating this process 4 times. Many applications will help you keep track of this technique.

Your final rewards could be going for a 15-minute walk in the neighborhood, taking your dog for a walk, or simply doing an activity that clears you up for a few minutes.

Although it seems simple, using basic reward systems will help you to perform your tasks better and also to feel satisfied.

10. STAY AWAY FROM THE TV

Being at home makes us so tempting to get Netflix (or Amazon Prime so no one gets mad) while we work. And this will be the worst choice you can ever make. Television is a productivity killer.

Remember, it’s about doing a good job from home, and this includes staying away from anything that could harm your work and productivity. My advice is that if you need to have a background “noise”, use music, but we’ll talk about that later.

11. BEWARE OF APPOINTMENTS IN YOUR WORKING HOURS

Working from home can give you the false idea that you have free time to organize a getaway with friends or a visit with the doctor.

Try to stick as best you can to your schedule that you have pre-established to work from home and avoid breaking your moments of best productivity for outings that do not contribute anything to your work.

From experience, I tell you, the thought of “when I get home I catch up with work” is not true, because maybe you will, but that means sacrificing valuable hours of your rest and the next day feeling exhausted. Be honest with yourself and your times. Ultimately, no one is more interested than you in doing a good job.

12. EXERCISE

If your day and your workload allow it, go for a walk and try to relax a bit and better yet if you can go to the gym, do it. Exercise naturally increases endorphins ( 2 ), which increases happiness and thus makes working at home even easier.

Your exercise routine is not something that should be interrupted by working from home, in reality, no routine should be broken by this situation. Keep exercising as usual; And if you still do not have the habit of doing it, the increase of endorphin can be something that motivates you to do it.

13. TODAY WILL ALSO BE A GOOD DAY

We all go through days when we don’t want to get out of bed, where inspiration and motivation are gone. Train yourself to do your job anyway, just like you would by going to the office that day.

Get up and take all your strength and repeat with me “Today will also be a good day.”

Now that we’ve talked about your care and routine, let’s get into each of the elements and tools that will make working at home a lot easier:

14. STAY AWAY FROM SOCIAL MEDIA

Yes, someone who works closely with social media tells you, but if you lose care, social media can be a huge waste of time.

Did you know that Facebook and Instagram show you how much time you spend on their social networks? In Xataka they teach us how we can know and configure our times on Facebook ( 3 ) and Instagram ( 4 ), take a break from social networks and I bet you will be more productive.

15. PREPARE YOUR SPACE

Don’t let the dining room of your house become your new desk, with papers everywhere and no, not a printer!

A dedicated workspace, preferably a place where you can close the door and separate your work life from your home is recommended.

Another advantage of having a separate place for your work is that at the end of your working hours, you can move away from there and not return until the next morning.

16. INVEST IN COMFORTABLE FURNITURE

The central idea of this tip is to create a space where you feel good about being able to spend your work time. It depends on how long you plan to work from home, but if it is indefinite, my advice is to invest in a good chair that is comfortable and ergonomic.

17. INVEST IN TECHNOLOGY

We all usually have an old computer at home that helps us… who knows what for, but it’s in a corner. NO, do not use that computer to work from home, if necessary invest in a computer according to your needs so that you can be much more productive.

Desktop or laptop? It will depend on your needs and requirements, advantages of desktop computers are that they come with more robust features and the advantages that we can mention of laptops is their mobility.

Among the list of equipment that you might also need are Tablet, printer, telephone system, software, among others.

18. CREATE TO-DO LISTS

When you work from home and don’t have a boss behind you, it can be a real challenge to do everything you need to do to have a successful job.

Luckily there are the to-do lists or planners, these are my recommendations:

Keep Google (my favorite, simple and complements your Google suite)
Todoist

Microsoft to do (formerly Wonderlist)

19. TASK MANAGEMENT APPLICATION

Many applications can help you manage a list of tasks efficiently, in addition to having the ease of mobile versions:

Asana

Basecamp
Trello

20. LISTEN TO MUSIC

Perfect, we turn off the TV and disconnect social networks to focus on your work and it is at that moment that you realize that everything is calmer than normal.

Listening to music can help you increase productivity levels and even enhance creativity. Did you know that listening to classical music while you work can help you improve your focus ( 5 )?

There are different music applications, including Spotify with its “moods” function, explore them to keep the creative flow during your workday.

21. BUY SOME SOUND-CANCELING HEADPHONES

I have a mini Schnauzer at home and anyone who knows the breed knows that they bark for whatever, the good thing about her is that before barking, she growls and if I find myself in the middle of a virtual meeting, it is an indicator to cancel the sound with just push a button.

The same thing happens to me with ambulance sirens or other sounds that simply have to be canceled.

Others do not have to find out that you are at home and if they do, there is no reason to remember it. Your space needs to look professional inside and out. So investing in noise-canceling headphones with a mute button for working from home is wise advice I can give you.

22. A PEN AND A NOTEPAD AT HAND

In this world so digital, it is always necessary to support ourselves by elements as analog as a pen and a piece of paper. Believe me, it is much faster to write down a phone number, email, or address on a piece of paper than to wait for your favorite application to open.

23. USE VIDEO CHAT

When you work remotely, video chat is the most human form of communication possible, thanks to this you can see expressions that you could not otherwise understand in a call or a simple email.

There are many platforms, but in this case, I recommend that you use the ones that best suit you and your client or workgroup.

Here I mention some of the ones you can use:

WhatsApp
Facetime
Skype

Zoom (which in its free version can have up to 100 participants)

24. USE THE CLOUD

Use it! If I told you the number of times that having files in the cloud has saved me time and headaches, you would understand why I emphasize this point.

Important documents must be stored in a cloud storage service, for example, Dropbox or Google Drive. This way you can continue with your work, no matter where you are.

25. GOOGLE HANGOUTS IS A GOOD OPTION

To communicate with groups of up to 10 people for free, Google Hangouts is the ideal option. The application allows you, in addition to conducting a live conference, to share the screen with others or use applications such as SlideShare or give presentations. Ultimately this is a good tool for business.

26. MAINTAIN CONTINUOUS COMMUNICATION

It is important to keep in mind to maintain constant communication with your co-workers and your bosses several times a day. It is important to always stay the course of teamwork.

Start using these tips for working from home today to optimize your daily routine and increase your work productivity.

27. STICK TO A SCHEDULE

One of the benefits of working from home is that you can enjoy the comfort of your couch and television all day.

That is also one of the big downsides.

Establishing a schedule is essential for those who must work from home, in the same way as if you were in your office. This will help you to take and respect consistent time for work and home routines.

What do you normally do during your free time at home? Cleaning, DIY, video games, or any other activity, stay away from it and respect your established schedule for work. At the end of the day, when your day is over, you will feel great satisfaction doing these tasks that you love so much.

Your schedule should also include taking care of your weekends. Having a home office can be a great temptation to work outside office hours, this will only cause physical wear and tear.

28. KEEP SETTING THE ALARM

Are you one of those who wake up early in good spirits? This tip is not for you, go to the next point.

Meeting a schedule should also apply to your bedtime and getting up. No matter how productive you are at night, most of your clients and employees of your company are not available late at night.

So setting alarms in the morning will help you better manage your routine and always start on time. At the end of the day, we humans are very dependent on routines, and setting the alarm will help you meet your pre-established schedule goals.

Get a good night’s sleep and set your alarm to get your day off to a great start!

Rest, a field that has rested gives an abundant harvest. – Ovid.

29. TAKE ADVANTAGE OF YOUR PEAK PRODUCTIVITY PERIODS

Each of us is most productive at different times of the day. Discover when you are most productive and build your schedule based on your peak productivity periods.

30. SAY NO TO PAJAMAS

The dream of every office worker is to be at home doing the same tasks but in pajamas. NO, forget about them, make a daily routine where you should shower, and dress as if you were going to the office. If you do not have experience working at home, this advice will be the most ridiculous, but after you spend a few days working at home you will agree with me.

By creating a hygiene routine, as you normally would if you were going to the office, you signal to your brain that it is time to work, not rest.

So, with the schedule that you have previously made, this should include a time of care for you, which includes a personal hygiene routine.

31. STAY AWAY FROM THE KITCHEN

This is one of those little secrets of teleworkers, among the daily habits that you must form, is strict control of your meals and these should not be “unlimited”. The temptation to eat food at all times without any type of control is something very latent that must be controlled and that brings us to the next point.

32. EAT A HEALTHY LUNCH AND SNACKS

This does not contradict the previous point, it is about establishing a strict meal schedule. Each of us has different needs or diets to carry out, follow them in the same way. Just because you’re home doesn’t mean it’s time to open that bag of chips that was meant for visitors.

Balanced and healthy meals will help your metabolism to work better and make your work at home a good experience.

Pizza or fast food? Okay, but now and then, just like you would with your office mates after a long, successful, and productive week. Just remember to share 😉.

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