Diana May-Jennings Hacks to keep you productive during COVID-19
You may worry that working from home isn’t a good choice for you, but there are plenty of effective ways to get motivated right at home. We’re going to show you 5 easy steps to jumpstart your motivation and organization, all while working remotely.
Remember, although it may seem impossible to adjust to remote life, it’s the best option we have to stay safe and healthy during quarantine. So let’s all practice hacks like these to keep our motivation and spirits up.
1. Create a schedule/routine
A lot of times when people imagine working from home they think it’s all television and snack breaks (don’t get us wrong; we love a good snack break) but there is a unique freedom that comes from working remotely. For example, you typically get to choose the hours you work, but if your work doesn’t require set hours, still set them for yourself. When you give yourself a realistic work schedule you’ll always meet deadlines and still have time for fun breaks. Creating this mental schedule puts your mind into productivity mode during your set work hours. When you create a realistic daily routine for yourself, you’ll be surprised at home much you can get done in a day with time to spare.
2. Get out of your pajamas
Staying in comfortable clothes may feel good, but it won’t help your productivity. Getting dressed to go to work is as important as getting dressed to work at home. There’s no reason to get into professional or formal wear, but getting out of your sweats is the important thing. It psychologically helps you flip the switch in your brain into productivity mode. No one is productive in sweats, but when you change to pants, a clean shirt, and do your morning hygiene routine, you’ll already feel more energized before starting work.
3. Have a separate work space
To avoid common home distractions, make sure to have an actual work space set-up at home. This doesn’t have to be a fancy office, any space you can carve out for yourself will help isolate you during the hours your need to be working. Sitting on your bed or the couch isn’t the best way to get your mind into work mode. We understand that it may not be simple for everyone to escape from their lives to get some work done, but setting ground rules with your kids or pets for when you need to be productive will help you focus only on work related tasks.
4. Get some exercise in
We know the gyms are closed because of quarantine, but that doesn’t mean you can’t workout at home. Physical exercise doesn’t always mean lifting weights or running on a treadmill; taking a simple walk outside in nature or relaxed stretching has enormous benefits for your mind and body. When you’ve had time to focus on the health of your body and clearing your mind, when you get back to work you’ll feel uplifted and ready to get stuff done.
5. Schedule your breaks
It’s important to take breaks from work to keep productivity peaked, but when you work from home it can be all too easy to take a lot of breaks. That’s why we suggest scheduling breaks throughout your day to reward yourself for staying on task. There are times to work and times to take a break. Especially when you’re in a full house of kids or animals, you might need to take a lot of breaks, but as long as you’re on task during your scheduled work hours, you’ll still get everything done.
Give it a shot
Let’s all try to be a bit more productive during this quarantine with these simple steps. These are easy ways that you can keep your sanity and stay productive with a new routine.
