The urge for working from home hits and you cannot be anymore happier. You think everything can be done at your ease. You can spend an extra few hours in bed and be lazy. You can answer emails and important calls on your phone without leaving the comfort of your cozied-up bed. That’s you being nothing else but unproductive.
Somehow convince yourself to not be lazy and get out of bed, but you are at home and there’s no manager monitoring your activities so it takes you until midnight to submit a small task. As a professional, that’s one very unprofessional way to treat working from home. If you have been caught up in a spiral of bad work ethics especially at your home ‘office,’ here are some tips that can help you fix it:
Shun away social media
There are ample ways to boost your productivity levels, but no, scrolling through your Instagram feed, refreshing Facebook pages and watching 5-minute hack videos on IGTV isn’t going to help. That’s you solely procrastinating. The solution? When working from home, try limiting your smartphone screen time, especially when your intentions are to mindlessly scroll Facebook.
But how? Most people despite being aware of their tendency to procrastinate, are prone to do it anyway. While the best remedy is self-control, if you fail to adhere to it, here is what you can do:
Open an incognito tab on Chrome as your social media accounts won’t be pre-logged-in.
Resort to applications that can temporarily block social media access on both smartphones and PC.
Setting deadlines
Even if you have a deadline of a few hours or so, try setting personal deadlines. It’s a given that some people perform better under pressure. While it’s a subjective notion, if you see yourself distracted when given an extended deadline, maybe you should consider setting short deadlines. That way, you won’t have the time to check random Snapchat Stories or read irrelevant Wikipedia articles just because you have a lot of time on your hands.
Take short breaks
It’s highly unlikely for you to finish your work without taking any breaks only to enjoy your free time later. That’s one uncalled-for work ethic. It’s better to divide your tasks in sprints rather than completing major chunks of it without giving yourself a break.
Don’t take a break just to scroll away your social media feeds into oblivion. Rather what you need is a fresh breath of air to freshen up your mind. To maintain a healthy lifestyle, try walking around after every hour and so.
Follow your work routine
You get lazy when you know today you have to work from home. It won’t hurt to spend a little more time in bed, lie around and start working when you feel like it. Trust us. You will never feel like it until you train your mind to.
When the dread of lazying around strikes hard, what you can do is break the mental barrier between the comfort and the discomfort of getting out of bed. Make sure you set your alarm, dress properly and follow your typical work routine.
Bonus tip – Ensure internet connectivity
Lastly, despite all the tips to keep your focus on work, note that the moment your internet connection drops, your work will be impacted. Whether you are temporarily working from home or it is what your job demands, ensure stable internet connectivity so you don’t fall behind in submitting your daily work tasks. If such an instance ever surfaces, try out a different service provider. You can give a shot to Spectrum cable that comes with time warner cable customer service and guarantees no connection dips and disconnections.
Conclusion
Despite whatever reasons you chose to work from home, if not properly planned and scheduled for, it can lead to an abrupt cutback of motivation, productivity, and concentration. So follow the aforementioned tips and you are good to go.
