Introduction
In our current time, more and more people are working from home. And, when this quarantine ends, many may continue to work from home. Your ability to get lots done and stay on task is going to have a huge, direct
impact on your lifestyle and happiness. Finish early and you have the option to
simply head downstairs, make a cup of coffee and start relaxing! There’s no
commute, no boss looking over your shoulder, and no requirement to work set
hours (so long as the work gets done). Heck, you could even put that extra time
to
good use by starting a side
project, further developing your skills, etc.
Then there’s the fact that
working from home can mean working in your perfect work environment, near to
the people you love, and with the freedom to come and go as you please – or
even to completely change your work hours!
But if you don’t have the
discipline and motivation to actually get work done, then it can be a
completely different story. Now you’re more likely to find the experience
highly stressful and overwhelming: you might well find yourself with a huge
list of tasks that you have no idea how to tackle. The line between downtime
and work might have become blurred, and you might be constantly working late,
forgetting to shave, and generally failing to maintain a work-life balance.
Read on and you’ll discover 21
productivity tips, hacks, and ideas that can make a huge difference. They have
been organized into categories for your convenience!
1. Eat the Frog (Do Hard Things First)
Eating the frog is an expression
that comes from a Mark Twain quote: “If it is your job to eat a frog, then you
should do that first thing in the morning. If it is your job to eat two frogs,
then you should eat the biggest, ugliest one first.” What this tells us, is
that it is sensible to tackle the biggest and most difficult project first. By
doing that, you make sure that you have provided the maximum value each day,
and you do the hardest work while you have the most energy and resolve.
2. Kaizen
Kaizen is a Japanese term that
comes from the country’s manufacturing industry. This term refers to the
process of making lots of tiny changes to a process, in order to see a large
cumulative benefit over time.
For example, if your computer currently
takes 5 minutes to boot up, and you start it up twice a day, that
means you’re losing 10 minutes of productive time daily. Either you could use
that time to do something else (make a call for instance), or you could upgrade
your computer. Either way, you might now only spend 2 minutes booting up.
That’s now reduced your wasted
time from 50 minutes a week (200 minutes per month) to 14 minutes per week (56
minutes per month). That’s a gigantic difference. Changing the order you
complete tasks can have a similar impact.
3. The One Minute Rule
This rule states that we should
always complete tasks immediately if they will take less than one minute. This
removes them from our mind, meaning that they aren’t hanging over us and
causing stress.
4. The 80/20 Law
The 80/20 law tells us that 80%
of your yield will come from 20% of your work. The key to being as effective as
possible then, is to identify that crucial 20% that is going to result in the
most profit.
5. Pomodoro
The Pomodoro technique is a technique that involves setting timers for when to work and when to take a
break. This structured approach ensures you get
a break (removing the urge to procrastinate) but allows you to carefully
define when and for how long.
RescueTime is an app that you can
use in order to monitor just how much time you spend on each task during the
day. They say that “that which is monitored, improves.” In other words, when
you see where your time is actually going, you will be given greater control
over how to spend said time.
Todoist is a to do app. This app
makes it very easy to create new tasks thanks to a powerful natural language
engine: you can make the tasks by speaking just as your normally would! It also
offers a lot of integration with other powerful apps and tools.
8. Apple Watch
An Apple Watch is a surprisingly
powerful tool for productivity. Not only does it allow you to get notifications
on your wrist (meaning your phone can stay firmly in your pocket), but it can
even let you add todo items and more to your wrist, making sure that they are
always easily accessible.
Described by some as a “second
brain,”
Notion is an extremely powerful note-taking app that lets you create
web pages, tables, lists, embedded images and videos, and MUCH more. It’s
extremely flexible and easy to use, and essentially it can adapt to however you
wish to use it.
Freedom is an app that will allow you to block specific
apps and websites on your computer. This is powerful stuff for those who find
themselves distracted by Facebook or other websites when they’re meant to be
working!
Get More Done by Typing Faster
In the digital age, a lot of what
we consider 'productivity' happens on the computer. Being productive tends to
mean writing e-mails, filling in data entry, and writing copy. In all these
cases, typing is our main form of 'output' and that means we will always be
limited by the speed at which we can type when it comes to productivity.
Learn to type at the speed of
thought then and in theory, you could drastically upgrade your productivity and
complete a lot more work in a day. Read on and we will look at how you can
learn to type faster.
11. The Right Keyboard
One thing that will right away
make a huge difference to your typing speed and output (and thus offer great
ROI) is the quality of the keyboard you are using. To type as fast as possible, you
should look into getting a keyboard that is comfortable such as a mechanical
keyboard. While bigger keys can avoid errors, you don't want to use a keyboard
that's too big or you will end up
traveling further to reach the keys.
12. Finger Placement
When you next go to type, take a
look at your hands to see where they lie naturally before you start writing.
Ideally, you should have your thumbs on the spacebar with your 8 fingers on A,
S, D, F, and J, K, L, and:. Let this be a guide but not a set-in-stone rule, as
you might find this depends on the size of your hands and of your keyboard.
13. Play Games
Playing games can help a lot. One
of the best is 'The Typing of the Dead' which is notable for being an actually fun computer game, rather than
one of those dull tutorial games that you'll never actually want to play.
14. Dvorak
If you're up for a challenge,
then you might decide to try switching to Dvorak. Dvorak is an alternate
keyboard layout that is supposed to be more efficient for writing and which is
very popular with some coders and writers. It will take a while to learn and
the evidence is mixed but if the idea appeals, give it a go!
15. Practice
Most important of all though is
to practice. And if you're looking for a fun/convenient way to do that then you
could always take up journal writing in the evenings!
Home Office Ideas
Your office is a space where
you will be doing your work. It can
play a large role in making you either more or less productive, so it is
crucial to make sure it is as conducive as possible to your productivity.
16. Get a Plant
A plant can have a big impact on
the way an office feels because it introduces something natural into an
otherwise very unnatural environment. Not only that, but a plant will also
stimulate the release of feel good hormones like serotonin. Among other things,
these have been shown to improve creativity by helping us to relax!
17. Make it Inspiring
Filling your office with things
that inspire you about your own work is a fantastic way to put yourself in a
more productive and creative mindset. When we find work inspiring, that makes
it inherently motivating, such that
there is no effort involved when trying to convince ourselves to keep working
on something.
18. Create Work Zones
A work zone is a space within
your office where you can reach everything you need to. This term is often
referred to in kitchen décor, but it makes a lot of sense in an office too. You
should be able to sit at your desk and easily reach all the things that you
need to be able to work with.
Health and Fitness
Finally, your health and fitness
are crucial if you are going to be as productive as possible while working from
home. Many people allow their health to deteriorate when they work from home,
as they have no requirement to walk or travel. Likewise, a lack of social
interaction or sunlight can cause health issues.
Making sure to stay on top of
this can ensure that you have the energy, enthusiasm, and good health to
continue doing your best work.
19. Exercise
Exercise is extremely important
for those that work from home. This can help to undo much of the damage that is
caused by sitting by a desk, and it becomes even more pertinent if you have no
commute, and no reason to get up and walk across the room even!
Doing some form of steady-state
cardio – such as running, cycling, or walking – will help you to strengthen
your heart which can, in turn, prevent early mortality associated with desk work.
This will also help to increase your calorie burn throughout the day (your
active metabolic rate or AMR) in order to ensure that you don’t gain unwanted
weight.
20. Protect Your Sleep
One thing that is very important
when working online is to make sure you get enough sleep. This can be
interrupted if you struggle to turn off from work and relax, or if you work
near the environment where you sleep (avoid this wherever possible).
Getting enough sleep is crucial
if you want to start the next day feeling energized and enthusiastic. Some
things you can do include making sure that your room is as dark and quiet as
possible, while also keeping it a lightly cool temperature.
Try as well to make sure that you
avoid light-emitting devices (like phones) for at least half an hour before
bed. These stimulate the release of cortisol and dampen the sleep hormone
melatonin, thus making it much harder for us to drift off to sleep.
21. Spend Time Outdoors
Spending time outdoors is one
last, final way to ensure that you combat the negative effects of working from
home, and therefore boost your ability to focus and work.
Spending time outdoors not only
boosts sleep (which helps us work better as we have seen), but it also
increases vitamin D, which helps to regulate important hormones in the body
related to focus, energy, and metabolism.
Fresh air is just as important, while the greenery can
actually help to boost creativity and prevent symptoms such as SAD. Another
option is to invest in a plant for your desk, alongside a daylight lamp which
will produce a similar wavelength to the sun. But nothing beats the real thing!
