The COVID-19 pandemic has changed what our working environment looks like in many different aspects. Many are having to get used to working from home, which isn’t as simple as it may seem. Working from home can definitely make your morning easier by avoiding a daily commute, but it is can also add new distractions and a lack of accountability. It will be completely up to you to keep yourself focused and motivated. Here are 3 tips on how to productively work from home.

Designate a Work Space

One of the most important things that will help increase productivity is to create yourself a designated work space. Creating a space that you can go to for work and also be able to walk away from at the end of the day. Not creating a space to work will blur the lines between work time and personal time. This may cause an issue where one either works hours into the night and is never really away from work, or it may be overwhelming for some and cause them to shut down productivity all together.

Moving from room to room will keep you distracted. If you have kids at home, it is best if you put your work space in an area that they are less likely to hang out in (not the living room or kitchen). Continue your regular routine as if you were still working. Wake up, get ready, breakfast, coffee, whatever daily things you do before work. Then when you are ready to work, go to your designated work space. This will help you to compartmentalize work tasks and personal tasks. Be sure to give yourself breaks, a lunch and an end time. Each of these should be a time you walk completely away from your work space in order to reset your mind and focus.

Create a Schedule

If you are having a hard time working from home, try setting a schedule and sticking to it. Your schedule may slightly change daily, as your work and daily schedule changes. But following a strict routine will increase focus and productivity. Start at the end of every day with a list of the things that need to be accomplished the following day. Rank them by priority and set a time that you will start each task. Add any meetings, conference calls, etc. along with anything that may need to be done in your personal life while at home. For example, kids breakfast, setting up virtual school meetings or home school lessons, lunch, etc. Anything that is not accomplished at the end of the day, moves to the next day’s schedule in higher priority.

Everyone’s schedule will look different. Some are juggling staying home with kids, some have an empty house but are easily distracted, some have others they are taking care of outside the house. It won’t be perfect, but having a list of daily tasks formulated into a strict schedule will help you stay on task and increase productivity.

Establish a Process for Meetings

If you are working in a job that requires regular collaboration with managers or teammates then it will require you to develop an execution process. If you have kids at home, I would suggest scheduling face to face meetings (Zoom, Facetime, Skype etc.), conference calls or phone meetings during a time that they are detained so you are able to focus. If they take naps, school work, outside time, etc. would all be good times to schedule calls.

If you do not have kids at home it is still important to create a process for collaboration with others. Find out what form of communication you will be using, whether via phone or video conference and be sure to have any required software needed. Make sure everyone is on the same page when it comes to start and end times of each meetings as well as the objectives to be discussed. Keep in mind that everyone has their own obstacles when it comes to communication from home so creating a process with established objectives and start/end times will allow everyone to prepare and stay focused during the time of the meeting.

Working from home can definitely be a challenge to get used to. Designating a work space, creating a schedule and establishing a process for meetings will allow you to remain focused and productive during work time without getting too overwhelmed. Remember each one of these is a process. You may change the way you do things or how you formulate your schedule multiple times. Everyone is doing the best they can with what they have. Keep at it until you find what works best for you.