One of the most notable trends in the global workforce is the massive shift in the population from the traditional nine-to-five office lifestyle to a remote work environment. Most of the common challenges people face when starting to work from home stem from a lack of clear expectations and a new remote enterprise infrastructure. However, despite external obstacles, there is still a lot you can control to be as productive as you work from home.
1. Separate your work and living space.
The first thing you can do to train your mind to work is to make a separate space in your home designed for work. If you stick to a specific routine, you will soon be able to naturally come to terms with the fact that you are in this part of the house for work. Don't use social media or waste time watching movies or anything else you do in your free time.
2. Make a to-do list for the day.
To stay focused and alert all day, you need to make a to-do list and stick to it without jumping from task to task. In psychology, there is the Effect according to which a person remembers interrupted actions better, and the brain constantly reminds of them. And if there is a lot of unfinished business, you will be exhausted by the end of the working day.
3. Treat yourself to a small coffee.
Only small. Espresso can help you feel refreshed and more productive when you're tired or distracted. But if you drink Americano in large circles to get rid of drowsiness, the opposite effect will come. Are you familiar with caffeine jitters? Why are these worries?
4. Take short breaks while working.
Take a five-minute break from work every hour. In the last century, American scientists experimented with stenographers, who had to type a text for 60 minutes. Those who were asked to take a five-minute break, close their eyes, and stretch their fingers made one-third fewer mistakes than their colleagues who worked the whole hour. With all this, both groups did the same amount of work.
5. Don't take work home.
Sometimes, to better focus on a task, you need to take a break from it. You may feel that you are better off completing the assignment after working a few hours at home on a substantial project. You are depriving your brain of the rest it deserves, thereby reducing its efficiency.
6. Train your brain
Our brain is a kind of psychological muscle, and it needs to be constantly trained to remain in good shape. Logic tasks, puzzles, and math crosswords will help you with this. In general, any numbers are the best brain trainer.
7. Choose a quiet place to focus.
Car noise, police sirens, loud conversations provoke the release of the stress hormone cortisol in our body. And when you try to focus on an essential task in a noisy environment, stress only increases. Therefore, try to work in a quiet place whenever possible.
8. Move your gaze to a distant object for a few minutes.
We look at computers, tablets, or smartphones most of the working day. Our eyes are constantly strained, which not only severely affects vision, but also distracts attention. Try using the 20/20/20 rule. Every 20 minutes of working at the computer for 20 seconds, look at an object at a distance of at least 20 meters from you. There is probably a long corridor in the office center.
9. Don't avoid boredom.
We have all forgotten how to be bored and entertain ourselves with something while waiting. We leaf through the magazine, reply to a friend on Facebook, and read an online store offer. And thus, we load the brain with the subsequent work. But sometimes it is advantageous not to think about anything.
10. Keep your home clean and tidy.
Clutter is a great way to hinder your productivity. Before and after your free time every day, spend a few minutes cleaning your workplace. If you make it a daily habit, it never becomes a big chore.
One thing you can do is organize the space that houses all your stationery. Thus, it will be easier to maintain order in the workplace. It would help if you put everything back in place at the end of the day.
11. Set yourself a time frame.
To focus as much as possible on a specific task, your brain needs a clear time frame. For example, give yourself precisely two hours to make a decision. Set a timer and finish working on the assignment as soon as time runs out. The secret here is not to rush. When you set a specific deadline, your brain works more productively to solve the problem.
You can find ways to stay focused and collected. The main thing that will help you with this is maintaining the optimal balance between work and rest.
I hope that you must have found it useful.
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