5 tips to boost your productivity at home office

With the evolution of communication tools, working from home has been becoming more common every day. Unfortunately, heightened by our current context.

Obviously, areas linked to technology, such as systems development, are pioneers in this regard and obtain very satisfactory results.

I have worked from home for over three years. I went through a learning curve, totally normal, and after some time I can say that I am quite productive.

A few days ago, I opened a question box on my instagram, and some very interesting questions came up. As the space there is small, I decided to bring the subject here and delve a little deeper.

I've put together 5 tips to help you improve your performance and have more time to do the things you love.

1 - Learn how to say "no"

It is not uncommon, sometimes, for that person to appear looking like Puss in Boots asking for a favor that has nothing to do with work. Then, we promptly put aside our task to respond to someone else's "EMERGENCY".

If this happens to you, your productivity is certainly compromised. It is important here to identify the causes of this. Maybe you're just a disconnected person. On the other hand, there are deeper emotional issues that stop you from denying someone something.

Make an alignment with the people closest to you. Ask them not to interrupt you during your work hours. Say that you count on them to help you with this. That might eliminate half the problem.

Remember: people don't ask favors from those who have free time, but rather from those who solve problems.

2 - Set the time to start/stop working

For years, I thought about working from home to make my schedule the way I thought best. Until the second page, this worked. There is a cliché that says that everything in excess is bad, and flexible working hours are no different.

In fact, I don't know a single person who can be highly productive without a well-defined routine.

I believe in the fact that there is no commute to the office may make difficult turning on and off what I call "work mode". A point of attention here is the stopping time. There's no point in waking up at 5am and starting work early if at 10pm you still have that black screen in front of you.

Establish a suitable number of hours per day and stick to them. With exceptions, of course. Having a stopping time will increase your sense of urgency and also increase your productivity.

3 - Eliminate the noise

Neighbor's dog barking, construction, cell phone vibrating on the table. There will always be plenty of options to get in your way and some of them simply cannot be avoided.

Start with the closest noises, from inside your house. Try to work in a more private environment, preferably one where you can close the door. Invest in a good set of headphones and eliminate all the surrounding noise.

Be careful with the music. I know it's a very personal issue, but music can also take away your attention, especially the ones you like most. I've had a lot of problems with this lately. So I started using this playlist to help me focus.

4 - Work in blocks of time

Divide the hours of your workday into blocks. Set aside most of your time to carry out your tasks, but also take time to respond to people and take breaks.

It can be an hour or more, but I recommend that it doesn't last much longer. Over time, you will discover your ideal time.

Each block of time must be a cycle divided into three modes: productive, response and unproductive.

During productive mode, focus only on your task, disconnecting from everything else. In response mode, take time to pay attention to colleagues, leaders and customers who may be waiting to hear from you. No less important, take a few minutes to disconnect for a while, grab a coffee, some water, and stretch. Then start a new cycle.

This method is quite old, I know many people who use it and works pretty well for me too.

5 - Breathe deep

You know those moments when your mind almost freezes?

Do a deep breathing exercise. Preferably, get away from the computer. Just focus on breathing for two or three minutes. This is enough for you to completely change your emotional state and make your mind empty.

Then

This list could have more than 50 tips, but I chose to highlight the few that generated the most results for me.

There are those who say that it is impossible to perform the same at home as at the office. I completely disagree!

This subject is among my specialties. So, if you have any questions, write them in the comments and I will respond as soon as possible.

See you later!