Working Remotely: How Do You Stay Productive?

Now that more people than ever are working remotely, they are faced with many new challenges throughout the day. The biggest of those is how to remain productive when surrounded by all of the distractions that their home life brings. Whether your attention is drawn towards the newest Netflix show or your favorite hobby, staying productive while working at home is an important hurdle that you’ll need to overcome if you want to remain successful in your career. Next time you’re facing the temptation of giving in to the distractions around you, implement a few of these tips to help yourself stay on task.

Set a Routine

Humans thrive on routine, but it can be hard to stay committed to one when you’re used to lounging at home in your pajamas. Chances are, you had a set schedule before you started working at home, and there’s no reason that you shouldn’t continue that now, with a few small tweaks. Waking up at the same time every day, taking a shower and getting ready before work will all help set you up for success before you even sit down at your computer. Likewise, be sure to take some time away from your screen throughout the day and at lunch so that you can have a better work life balance and avoid burnout. Although your routine may look a little different than it did before, there’s no reason you should completely abandon one.

Get Into a Working State of Mind

For so many people, it can be difficult to transition into business mode when they’re just steps away from their bed or the TV. By creating an environment that blocks out your worst distractions, you can signify to your mind that it’s time to get to work. If you don’t have the luxury of having a separate room for your home office, this can still be achieved in plenty of other ways. Putting on a pair of noise-blocking headphones can be effective at refocusing your mind, as can listening to a specific playlist that you only use during working hours. If you used to start your morning at the office by sitting down with a cup of coffee while you browsed through your work emails, continuing this habit will invoke some muscle memory that will ensure you continue down a determined path for the rest of the day.

Create a To-Do List

When you’re being constantly distracted by pets or family members in your home, it can be difficult to stay on task and accomplish as much as you’d like. Creating a prioritized to-do list at the beginning of each day will help you figure out what needs to be done, and it gives you a visual of what’s left on your plate before you can call it quits. Programs like Todoist, Trello and Milanote work particularly well to organize all of your notes and files in one place, allowing you to pick up where you’ve left off with ease. Even if you can’t cross off everything at the end of the day, you still have an organized system to ensure you won’t forget to tackle it tomorrow.

Despite all of the changes that are occurring in the world right now, there’s no reason you can’t still be successful when working remotely. By making a few small changes and looking at your day in a new way, you’ll be able to easily make the transition from the office to your home.