Have you heard the quote “good things happen when you set your priorities straight”? Well, let me tell you, remote thinkers, as cliché as it may seem, it’s true. And the problem is most recent remote workers forgot about it. Find out what Luis has to say about it!
As a work-from-home employee, productivity is key for you to develop, but it can sometimes get tough. Without colleagues around, you may tend to feel unmotivated or ineffective at your daily tasks.
So, here you have three essential tips you cannot miss to achieve productive performances: Dress for work
- Dress for work
- Make time for yourself
- Exercise
Watch the video to find out more details!
Luis:
How can you maximize productivity when working from home?
Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to Virtual Coffee Chat with Luis. Today, I have a full, full mug. And, yes, I’m Luis, in case that wasn’t already obvious. Love me some coffee. I hope you are enjoying your coffee as well.
Let’s talk a bit about some productivity, how to maximize productivity when working from home. Yesterday I talked about how to keep focused, so I consider those the basics, the essentials, but let’s try going a bit above with some… You know, let’s go with three tips, three slightly oblique tips that might be a bit less tool and app-centric and process-centered. Let me explain what I mean with that.
Number one, dress the part. Dress for work. I mean, within reason. Look at my case. I mean, I could be in my pajamas, but I’m not, and I didn’t put this shirt on just for recording the video. Even though I’m working for home, I still try to put a shirt on, not even a T-shirt, a shirt. Or I put a polo, something that I wouldn’t be ashamed to take to a casual office. I’m not saying that you have to put a suit.
Now I personally enjoy wearing blazers. In winter, I wear blazers. Now it’s summer here in Portugal. It’s quite warm, so it’s uncomfortable to wear a blazer, but I get a nice short-sleeved shirt or polo, and that’s pretty good. And when I do that, I feel more inclined to work. I feel more productive. It’s definitely a different feeling than if I just got up and started working on my pajamas or my workout clothes. It helps you shift your mind. So that’s number one, dress the part.
Number two, make time for yourself and, yes, shocking to hear this when we’re talking about productivity at work. But I found that while working remotely, it’s really easy to not take any breaks, to overwork. While that gives you a temporary boost in productivity, long-term it really drags your productivity down and your focus down.
I talked about scheduling in a previous chat. This is a bit beyond scheduling, though part of it is still making sure to schedule when you should start and stop work. But it’s also about having breaks. If you wear a fitness tracker, like I do, or even a fancy Apple watch, you can probably program some random intervals where it will warn you to take a break.
And after you’re done with your workday, make sure that you do something that you care about. You go out, you have a walking nature, or you watch a movie, something to wind down to separate yourself from work.
Again, this doesn’t sound very intuitive when talking about productivity, but try it for a week, and you’ll see that actually relaxation and taking time for yourself is definitely not opposed to productivity. It works in tandem. It’s a requirement, let’s say.
Finally, number three, exercise, workout, whatever you want to call it. I touched on it a bit previously, just seconds ago, but the base standard is go out for a walk. The thing that all the fitness trackers tell you to do is take 10,000 steps. I’m not a super fan of that number. It just feels too clean, too neat, too tidy, and things that just look too perfect usually aren’t true. But you know what? Probably not going to hurt if you do the 10,000 steps. Maybe you wouldn’t need so many. Maybe you would need a little more, but hey, it’s probably a good goal to aim for at least.
If you just feel bored by walking, I can definitely understand that, do some workout. You can even do it in your home. Some people like to go to the gym. That’s fine. I personally don’t, but I do grab some workout video games. Nintendo Switch has plenty of them, and do 30 minutes of high-intensity exercises every morning, and that really gets me ready to go.
This might sound a bit obvious and even a bit trite, but think about it. When you’re working from home, you’re moving a lot less. Even if you had to go to the office, and then sit down for eight hours straight, not getting up to get any coffee or drinks or whatever, super unhealthy, you will at least have to move a little bit to get into the office. I don’t believe that you get carried from public transportation or from your car directly into your cubicle. So even people working at an office move somewhat more, are required to move, let’s say, somewhat more than people working at home.
When you’re working at home, you have the liberty to do almost zero movement, literally almost from your bed to your desk. And in case of some people that work from the bed, which I don’t recommend, not even that. So definitely make room for movement and for exercise.
I was talking about productivity. I guess you can argue that this is actually mental health advice. I hadn’t thought about it, but yeah. Number one, dress the part. Number two, make time for yourself. Number three, exercise. You could argue that. The reality is that there’s no productivity without mental health so consider that. I barely touched my coffee. I’m sorry. I hope you have been drinking yours.
In any case, if you enjoyed this, please visit thinkremote.com. There’s a lot more tips on how to be better at remote work, regardless of whether it’s maximizing mental health or productivity or getting started. And if you enjoyed the video, please press like, subscribe and share.
This was Luis with Virtual Coffee Chat, and see you tomorrow.
