Working from home sounds awesome to those who never did it. Those who had a chance to try it out may sound entirely different. While working from home certainly has its perks, it can actually make some people entirely counter-productive.
If you feel like working from homemade you somewhat slack with your business efforts, it’s time for a change. Here are some useful tips that will help you become motivated and excel at your job like a true girl boss. Check them out.
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It all starts with making a plan…
To make sure you got off on the right foot, you should create a work plan. See what prevented you from doing your job in the past and make no room for it. If you know what you need to do and when you need to do it, create a work schedule. For instance, get yourself a whiteboard and create a weekly timetable. Note down everything that needs to be done by the end of the week. Tick things off as you finish them to monitor your progress. This way, you will always know how much you have accomplished.
…and taking the time to get ready for work
Furthermore, just because you’re working from home, that doesn’t mean you can “show up” to work unbathed and in your PJ’s. So, you should get up each morning and get ready for work. Have a quick shower and make yourself look at least somewhat presentable. Of course, you don’t have to invest time in a full face of makeup. But at least make sure that you are wearing clean clothes. And no, as we said, PJ’s are not clothes.
Schedule your breaks…
Moreover, when working from home, you can easily allow yourself to have more breaks than you actually need. Or, on the other hand, you may find yourself not having a break until your job is completely done. Both of these can have some serious negative effects on your productivity. Not having enough breaks can actually leave some traces on your physical health as well. That’s why you should schedule your breaks just like you would if you were working in an office building. Try to stick to that schedule as much as possible. However, if you ever feel overwhelmed but it still not breaks time, take a short one regardless.
…and create a healthy working environment
Now a lot of people also make the mistake of thinking that, when working from home, any place will do. However, that will actually only make your efforts more difficult. Instead, you should try to create a cozy home office. And remember – a home office doesn’t have to have four walls. You can easily set up a work station in some nook. But, make sure that no matter the place you choose, you have plenty of natural light. Also, make sure that you can fit all of your work essentials there. For some additional pizzazz, you can even decorate the space and add some plants for good luck. A cute working environment will have a positive effect on your motivation and productivity.
Change the location if you need to…
On the other hand, no matter how cute your home office turns out, you may sometimes just wish to take your business elsewhere. And you definitely can do so! If you feel like you just don’t want to spend the entire day home, take your laptop to a local cafe. If it’s a really nice day outside, take your business to your porch. No matter the location you choose, it’s sometimes important to just change it. As long as you are not getting easily distracted you can allow yourself to work elsewhere from time to time. This periodical change of environment might help boost your motivation.
…but avoid looking for excuses
Finally, there will be days when you feel like anything but working. But just like you wouldn’t be able to show up in the office and not work, you shouldn’t do that here either. When days like those come along, you may easily find yourself looking for excuses not to work. However, this may only discourage you even further from finishing your work. What you should do instead is challenge yourself. Set a goal to finish the X amount of work in the X timeframe. This will feel like a fun little competition which should boost your productivity.
Working from home can be just as lucrative – if not even more – like working from the office. The important thing to try and achieve is to create a work schedule and actually stick to it. By organizing your workday, you will start taking your job more seriously. And by doing so, you will start showing better results.
