Working at home has as many benefits as it does challenges. It's up to you to avoid interruptions, manage your time, and learn to focus. Here I share from my experience recommendations that give me results !.
Whether you have children or not, you may want to combine personal activities with your business or venture. This presents a great challenge, because if you work at home things get mixed up and there are domestic issues that demand attention. Distractions appear, you find it hard to concentrate… And the day flies by! But it is always possible to organize. How? With these attitude changes:
"Educate" your environment
How can you focus if others don't respect the times you work? Does it happen to you that your family and friends see you at your house and don't take it seriously, as if you were in the office? For example, your mother would not think of going to say hello if you worked in a company with offices, employees and bosses, but she does go to the place where you live, because it is definitely your home, right?
There are simple strategies to reduce those interruptions. But, keep in mind that you can never completely remove them. If the doorbell rings because the boys from school came, and you're home alone… you can't ignore it. The same thing happens when you work in an office; You can't avoid interruptions all the time, either, but you can minimize them!
Whether others change depends on you. Little by little, modify the behavior of those around you. Establish rules: if the study door is closed, they cannot enter; If you are in the middle of a task, you do not receive calls. Enforce your work schedules and your needs. It is difficult… but they will understand you!
Ask for help. Take advantage if there is a family member present in the house. Let her answer the phone and take the messages, and then return the calls. That it answer the bell and that it looks for you only if it is urgent. It is you who must ask for collaboration. If you don't, then who?
Set your check-in and check-out times (yes, as if you were going to an office)
To be more focused, you should plan your work in advance.
Assign yourself blocks of hours in which you will dedicate yourself TO THE TASKS THAT REQUIRE MAXIMUM CONCENTRATION AND YOU WILL AVOID DISTRACTIONS.
One method that can help you is to use a timer to work in bands of 25 minutes at maximum concentration, rest for 5 minutes and then activate it again to work another 25 minutes and so on. When you get to 4 sessions, you increase the rest time. This is the technique known as the Pomodoro Technique and the timer I am using is called Focus Booster which is thinking to apply this productivity technique that I use when I get to work on issues that require a lot of concentration. Try it out!
When you are able to get into that state of concentration and without interruptions, you will experience the state of "flow" that is reached when one is totally absorbed in what he is doing. Flowing!.
Assign another block of hours for activities that require less concentration such as reading emails, making calls, and other tasks.
Use a time organization system.
I've already mentioned David Allen's GTD (Getting Things Done) method several times. It is excellent and serves to recognize the priorities, objectives and daily tasks, but it can be a bit intense and if you let yourself go you may find yourself using more time planning than acting.
So the most practical system for planning my tasks and goals is the ZTD (Zen to Done) which is based on Allen's but is simpler.
Try and choose the system with which you feel most comfortable, the important thing is that every day you have the clarity of knowing what you will do today and what things can be done later, for which tasks to start - the most important ones - and then to continue taking care of the rest with peace of mind.
Don't forget to rest!
It seems obvious, but when working at home you lose track of the time you spend in front of the computer. Do you feel exhausted and your eyes burn? All of this affects your productivity. Therefore, remember that the main thing is to take care of your health, your rest and your diet.
Take the breaks you need, and if you feel you don't need them then force yourself! because I assure you that they are necessary.
Some ideas for your rest sessions:
• The short nap or nap sessions I schedule with Pzizz help me - did you know him? - I love.
• Go for a walk around the neighborhood, walk… Make that blood circulate hehe.
• Play with your children while you have a healthy snack - fruits, yogurt, juices, cereals, they will give you energy and you are also probably influencing your children to consume these foods. They copy everything their moms do!
• Talk to a friend on the phone.
• You like to sing? Fabulous! Take advantage of this site (SingSnap.com) that has some spectacular karaokes and allows you to record as if you were in a recording studio, then it sounds great! You had fun, released your soul - oh how deep I am today - and renewed your energy. The truth is that music causes all these states.
The important thing is to find those recreational activities that regenerate you, to change frequency and return with new energy to our tasks.
How about?
What do you do to have productive work days at home?
What challenges are you facing that you haven't found yet?
I will love to read your contributions !! Comment below and we continue talking.
