We’ve put together some points on how to stay focused when working from home. The lines have become blurred between being at work and being at home with many businesses being forced to have team members work remotely for the purpose of social distancing. This can cause difficulties between a workers home life and work life, preventing them from being able to stay focused while working from home.
Staying focused while working at home for the majority of your work hours can prove to be a difficult task, especially if you’re not unfortunate enough to have a separate home office in which you can avoid being distracted by family members. It can also be a good idea to separate yourself from your phone to avoid distractions from social media. Instead, you can reward yourself with social media during set times, whether that might be scheduled breaks or your lunch break. This strategy will allow you to focus on your work and ensure that you can complete your most important tasks.
If you find yourself procrastinating more these days, you’re likely not alone, says a report from Fast Company.
The scale of the pandemics’ human and economic impacts are still being revealed. Working from home, while convenient can also raise a number of issues that can erode an organisation’s productivity, as well as the health and culture of its employees.
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The report highlights why we procrastinate and how this common behaviour fits into the current crisis environment.
A key factor in our minds straying away from the task at hand is the additional stresses many of us are experiencing; the threat of unemployment, financial hardship, social isolation, and anxiety about the state of the world.
These stressors turn into distractions when the demands of work feel secondary to the issues weighing on people’s minds and this can lead to workers feeling guilty that they’re not achieving the targets they’ve been assigned.
Cutting out the commute time for the remote worker has been both beneficial and damaging to overall productivity.
The Fast Company report argues that while saving time, money, and hassle, a traditional commute allows individuals to prepare for work at the beginning of the day and then disengage from work in the evening.
Achieving a good work-life balance while working from home can be challenging. This is why you need to know how to handle distractions when working from home and educate yourself on the best ways to focus while working from home. These “buffer” periods clearly separate work life and home life. Without them, the blurring of these two environments can hinder productivity.
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“In the office we all have things that set us up to do things properly, even if we don’t feel like it. When we are away from the office and isolated, it can become a lot harder to motivate ourselves.”
We need to distinguish time to disconnect. When the tools are in front of us to complete tasks at all hours of the day, our workday can go on indefinitely.
However, following a “go-home” mentality is a good strategy to stay focused. Decide what time you are going to disconnect yourself from work each day and leave your workspace.
Creating an action plan is another great way to stay focused when working remotely to organise your priorities and stay on-task and on-track.
“To understand the roots of procrastination helps us weaken it.”
Work-life balance is a juggle that will be unique to you. Your strategy to find your focus will be different to your colleagues. Our procrastination is probably not coming from a place of self-sabotage however we need to be aware of when it is happening and how to protect ourselves from it.
