Working from home for most is a dream.

A fantasy land where waking up 20 minutes before the work day starts is now acceptable, and your daily commute is reduced from an hour stuck in bumper to bumper traffic to 20 steps in your PJ’s whilst carefully carrying your favourite bowl of cereal.

Jokes aside,

Working from home has many advantages for working professionals.

But which environment is more productive? Your home office? Or the office office?

The answer? It depends…

Staying productive and efficient in your work whilst working from home requires a high level of competence and willpower.

As it’s all too easy to become distracted by things you wouldn’t normally encounter in a professional environment such as an office ( I’m looking at you Lily! )

So below, I’ve compiled a list of fantastic working-from-home tips that can help you stay productive, focused and motivated throughout your workday.

Let’s get started.

1. Establish A Routine

For most, working in an office requires them to start their day 2 - 3 hours prior to work. At home however, the transition from pillow to computer can be much more troublesome due to the removal of this once necessary routine.

You’ll be surprised to learn that actually keeping the same routine will enable you to keep productivity high when transitioning to a home working environment. And instead replacing non essential daily routines ( such as commuting ) with new habits.

Your hour commute could now be an hour in your local gym, getting it done whilst everyone else just getting out of bed.

Or possibly just an hour for study, reading or catching up on the latest news.

Whatever way you wish to spend that time, ensure it’s not in bed!

2. Stick To Regular Working Hours

Without the atmosphere of an office, or having peers or colleagues surrounding you, the ability to procrastinate and hold off on tasks dramatically increases. Usually allowing outstanding tasks to bleed into out of work hours.

Keeping your work day confined to normal office hours will go a long way towards combating this.

And not just that, the anxiety that comes with being away from your tasks when you’re expected to be working is certainly not worth it either!

For me?

My normal workday looks something like this:

To keep productivity high, I recommend using tools such as Timely or Google calendar to segment your day into manageable chunks.

3. Separate Home & Work

Now, depending on where you live, this can be easier said than done. 

But physically separating your work station from your living space can dramatically improve your ability to establish a clear working routine.

This space should be solely dedicated to work, with it being used only throughout your operating business hours.

And if you don’t have the luxury of separating the two?

Having a consistent place of operation will yield better results than not. Even if it means simply erecting a workstation in your living or bedroom. 

Using a dedicated area for your work will ensure you can effectively separate your living space and working life.

4. Remove Social Media Distractions

We’ve all been there…

You’ve just opened Facebook to quickly check your latest post, and suddenly you’re looking at ‘UK’s Best Road Rage Compilation’ already halfway down the rabbit hole of awful viral Facebook videos.

It’s all too easy to find yourself wasting time on social media, so removing them where possible during work hours will allow you to focus solely on the daily tasks at hand.

The easiest way to do this?

Logout of ALL unnecessary accounts. Or consider working using ‘Incognito’ or private browsers to guarantee social media isn’t as easily accessible to you whilst working.

5. Don’t Eat Lunch At Your Desk

It’s all too easy to quickly grab some lunch and bring it back to your desk to eat whilst working, I mean putting more time in front of the computer will only mean you get more work done, right?

Not necessarily…

You need breaks. Taking a dedicated amount of time away from your workspace for lunch will allow you to further separate work time from your time.

Take the time to cook, relax and enjoy your food free from screen time. Or venture out for some exercise.

Doing so will ensure that you return to work after lunch refreshed, and prepared to attack the remaining hours of the day.

6. Ask Everyone To Respect Your Working Space

Just because you’re now working from home, doesn’t mean you’re at home.

You might still have ‘company’ whilst working from home, roommates, parents, siblings, spouses, your best mates ex, dogs, cats…

So communicating expectations with anyone who might simultaneously be sharing your space is super important when looking at enhancing your ability to work effectively.

Or, you can just stick a passive-aggressive note on your door…

So There You Have It!

Six easily implementable tips that can enhance your productivity, focus and ability to get sh#t done when working from home.

Now I’d Like To Hear From You.

What’s your number #1 takeaway from this list?

Anything you’re doing that’s working that I haven’t out in this list?

I’d love to know!

Go ahead and leave a comment below right now.