8 practical tips to better organize yourself working from home
The labor legislation brought several news in recent years, the home office was one of them. In this case, the employee carries out his activities without leaving home. The model was already adopted by many companies and self-employed workers, but regulation has made this practice more common and, as a consequence, many professionals are looking for tips to better organize themselves.
It is true that working at home provides several advantages, such as not having to invest time to go to work and have more ease in the whole routine. However, you need to know how to organize yourself correctly to perform well and carry out all the necessary activities.
Thinking about it, we prepared this content with 8 fundamental tips for those who want to improve the organization working at home. Follow below!
- Choose a place to work
Working from home does not mean that you should be doing your chores anywhere. It is important to define a specific space that will be used as a home office and make it comfortable. If it is possible to have a separate room to set up the office, the better, as this will allow you to isolate yourself from the rest of the environment.
However, if you are unable to do this, organize one of the rooms in order to free up enough space to set up the office. A desk that allows you to carry out your tasks and a comfortable chair are two great starting points. Over time, you can purchase new furniture and invest in improvements if you think it is necessary.
The secret is to have a space that is considered the workplace, because, little by little, you will be able to associate it with the need to fulfill your tasks and it will be easier to concentrate. In addition, this prevents you from working in bed, on the sofa and in other spaces that increase distractions and can be harmful to your body, especially your spine.
- Organize your desk
Among the tips to organize better, without a doubt, is the need to prepare your desk. Separate all the materials you need to use at work, such as notebooks, books, pens, notepads and other office items.
Then find a way to store them next to your desk or in drawers, so you have easy access whenever needed. However, it is important to avoid a very large volume of objects on the table, as, over time, this will increase clutter and may cause more distractions.
Create a cleaning routine to avoid accumulating dust and other dirt, as they cause allergies and can contribute to the development of other health problems. Also organize your desk whenever you are finished working and periodically check drawers or cabinets to prevent the accumulation of unnecessary items.
- Understand your work routine
Being able to maintain a work routine is one of the main difficulties for those who work at home. Here, a tip to better organize yourself is to reflect on how your activities should be carried out and how many hours you should devote to putting together a schedule.
Even in cases where there is no control of the workday, it is interesting to establish some hours to get used to the routine. Define what time you will start working, how many breaks you will take and the duration of each one. Also determine when you will be closed.
A common mistake in the home office is to start making exhausting hours, always thinking that it could advance some work or trying to catch up on late work. It is true that overtime may be necessary in some situations, but this should not happen often, otherwise you will soon be overly tired and this will affect your performance.
- Know when you are most productive
In cases where it is not necessary to meet predetermined times by the company, you can optimize your work by assessing when you are most productive. Some people manage to have a great performance in the morning, but find it difficult to concentrate during the afternoon.
On the other hand, there are people who perform better in the afternoon or at night. If you don’t know what your case is, do tests: create a check with the objective of checking how your performance was at different times of the day and repeat this for a week or two, until you feel that it was enough to reach a conclusion.
Evaluate the results to see in which periods the productivity was better, based on this, organize your working hours trying to fit them in those times. Thus, it will be easier to optimize your results working from home.
- Use productivity apps
There are apps that can help your productivity, both by controlling tasks performed and pending, and by the possibility of controlling schedules and seeing how your performance was during the day. To schedule appointments and track what has already been done, some options are:
- Google Keep;
- One Note;
- Trello;
- Evernote;
- Asana;
Some of these apps have sharing options, allowing multiple people to control tasks. In this way, they become important alternatives to facilitate teamwork . If you want to improve time management, there are also some apps to help, for example:
- Forest;
- Focus To-Do;
- Rescue Time;
- Focus Booster.
Researching well, it is possible to find several options of applications developed to assist in the control of tasks and productivity, so invest some time looking for the best alternatives to better organize yourself working at home.
- Eliminate distractions
The distractions are a major challenge when you work at home. The flow of other people who live on site, for example, can easily cause conversations to arise that take your attention away from tasks. The environment can also make you want to perform domestic activities, such as cleaning the house.
In addition, items like television, books, or the personal computer itself can make you distracted from work. To deal with this, carefully evaluate the environment and eliminate anything that could take your focus away. Keep the television off, do not access social networks and other sites that are not related to work and, if possible, disable cell phone notifications.
Another tip to get organized and that can help you stay focused is not to stay in your pajamas or in costumes that you often wear for leisure activities. Focus on comfortable options that are also professional. This can help to get involved in the work climate to avoid distractions.
- Take short breaks
Taking short breaks from work can help maintain good productivity and organization in the routine. Define your working hours, including short intervals of 5 or 10 minutes, after focus periods that are between 30 minutes and an hour, similar to the pomodoro method .
During these breaks, you can go to the bathroom, eat, have a coffee and interact a little with the other people in the house, if any. This practice helps to avoid distractions and reduces the anxiety that can arise when moving away from social networks and other forms of contact. Making sure that you have time to deal with other tasks during breaks will help you stay focused and avoid interruptions.
The definition of the focus period and the duration of the intervals must be made according to your specific performance, so it is worthwhile to do tests with different configurations to determine which one presents the best results in relation to your productivity. Also include a longer interval every four working cycles, at least half an hour long.
Although many associate pauses with procrastination , this is an important precaution to optimize results. This is because the brain is like a muscle, so its use consumes energy and requires rest. Thus, pauses serve to relax and recover your energies, making you return to work with more focus.
- Talk to other residents
Another challenge of working from home is dealing with other residents. Some people find it difficult to face the home office with the same seriousness that they apply to jobs done in companies. The result of this is often constant interruptions to conversations and calls for help with some household chore.
To avoid this type of problem and be able to organize yourself at home, take the time to talk to the people who live with you. Explain how your work works, what time you should stay focused and the importance that everyone understands this to help in their professional activities.
It is also important that they collaborate, avoiding excessive noise and other attitudes that may hinder performance. Thus, a sincere conversation becomes essential for those who want to maintain a good performance in the home office and understanding of the family.
By following these tips to better organize yourself working at home, it will be easier to overcome the challenges that the home office can bring, such as maintaining concentration, performing well and getting along with other residents
