Working from home as a digital nomad or freelancer could feel like freedom most times, but it comes with its own challenge — staying productive.
With today’s reality being that millions of people now work from home either due to work flexibility or autonomy, the challenge of achieving productivity is now all but too common.
The question now remains, without the structure and routine of office work, how can remote workers, freelancers and creators find ways to avoid distractions and do more productive work?
Well, in this post, we’ll explore a few ways that have proven to work for remote workers who work from home but are looking to achieve office results.
Let’s get right to it.
Define What Productivity Means for you at Home
The first step to staying productive while working from home is to define what productivity means to you and your remote work.
It shouldn’t just be about working longer, but making progress in your work — prioritizing outcomes rather than work hours in order to achieve higher performance in your work.
Understanding what productivity means to you provides the flexibility to tailor your work to match your strengths and time schedules.
Set Clear Work Boundaries
Once you have understood how to prioritize your work outcomes, you have to set clear work boundaries so as to be effective in achieving deliverables.
While working from home, it’s easy to blur the lines between leisure and work, and this could affect your productivity.
With that in mind, it’s important to set fixed work hours, create a dedicated workspace, and communicate these boundaries to people you share your space with, such as friends and family.
Design an Inspiring Workspace
Your workspace should be a space that helps you think clearly and work without distractions. It should attract and not repel you.
In fact, the difference in your productivity could largely rest on how you design your workspace.
You could start with keeping your workspace clutter-free and using a comfortable chair, while drawing inspiration from numerous other remote workers online.
Create a Daily Routine
Routine creates structure, especially while working from home, which might not really feel like a workspace.
A daily routine also helps you quickly make decisions without overthinking and risking mental fatigue.
You could create a daily routine by prioritizing habits that help you get work done, such as content planning, time blocking, and scheduled breaks.
Leverage the Right Digital Tools
The difference between staying productive and staying busy could be using the right digital tool for work tasks.
An American Psychological Association study found that workers who use too many tools for single tasks could end up with about 40% reduction in productivity due to switchung costs.
This proves that using more tools doesn’t always translate to more work efficiency or productivity, rather it is leveraging the tools that match your work requirements that produces the best results.
So, instead of chasing every new shining digital tool out there, decide to find the right stack of tools and stick with it.
Create a Distraction-blocking Mechanism
The biggest struggle you’ll face while working from home is probably how to avoid distractions.
And the biggest issue with this is that it takes even more time to refocus on your work after getting distracted.
With the time required to focus after being distracted averaging 23 minutes, more time could potentially be lost than envisaged.
So, there’s a need to create a distraction-blocking mechanism that allows you to achieve long hours of uninterrupted work.
This distraction-blocking mechanism could be implemented in different ways depending on what tools you have access to.
Some ideas include turning off distracting notifications from non-work apps during work hours, and staying off television or other distracting media during deep work sessions.
Incorporate Regular Breaks
Many creators and freelancers working from home might want to believe that working for long hours without breaks can translate to more productivity, but this is usually not the case.
In fact, sitting for long stretches without breaks has been found to cause a reduction in work output and creativity. On the other hand, taking regular breaks between work sessions could be refreshing and improve alertness.
You could incorporate work breaks by using techniques such as taking walks between tasks or using the Pomodoro technique which allows 5-minute breaks between 25-minute blocks of work.
Avoid Communication Overload
Due to the remote nature of working from home, people tend to compensate for the distance with over-communication.
Even though it is required for workers to maintain effective communication while working remotely, too much of it could be detrimental to productivity.
Instead of getting cluttered with communication overload, you could set specific communication times with set response times, replace meetings with work update channels, and use a single channel like Slack for all communications.
This way, you are able to set clear boundaries and expectations on your communication activities, which could help improve work efficiency.
Prioritize Deep Work
To achieve productivity while working from home, you have to learn to periodically zone in and do deep work.
Deep work, as prescribed by Cal Newport is a high-quality distraction-free work session where you are deeply ingrained in a single work activity.
You could start prioritizing deep work by scheduling exclusive time blocks dedicated to focused work, removing all external sources of distraction, and tracking and recording work progress for each session.
Create Work Balance
While many remote workers suffer from unproductivity, many others tend to overwork themselves due to their inability to switch off from work.
A Microsoft Work Trend index shows that remote workers tend to work 10% more hours than their office counterparts. After all, they live in their ‘offices’ so it could sometimes be tempting to work extra hours.
This could lead to work burnout and mental fatigue, which can affect work quality over the long-term.
Instead, remote workers must learn how to create the right work balance by having stipulated work hours, taking planned breaks at specific times such as evenings and weekends, and logging off completely after work hours.
FAQs on Staying Productive while working from home
How do I stay motivated when working from home?
You could stay motivated while working from home by setting clear goals, creating a conducive work environment, and having the right work balance.
How many hours should I work daily from home?
It is recommended that remote workers could achieve the right work balance by working a maximum of 8 hours per day including breaks.
What’s the best way to avoid distractions while working from home?
Some ways to avoid distractions while working from home include creating a dedicated work space, turning off media and external distractions, and creating strong work boundaries if you live with friends or family.
How do I deal with burnout as a remote worker?
Burnouts happen as a result of overworking. So you have to take periodic breaks between work sessions and full breaks after work. Also, avoid the temptation of working beyond work hours, and keep work communication streamlined.
