Working From Home - Tips to Help You Focus

As technology develops around the globe, the possibility of working from home has become a reality within lots of roles. Taking into account how recent global events have pushed the majority of employees to adopt home working as the new normal, the realisation has hit home that bringing the office into your own home can pose some interesting challenges.

From practical issues to more abstract problems, home working can encounter some roadblocks when you're first getting started, but once you're set up in the right way it can become a powerful tool that allows you to be both robust and flexible with your work. To help you master the art of staying productive when working remotely, we've complied some tips and suggestions to help you focus while working from home.

Create a dedicated working space

One of the best things you can do for your own wellbeing while working at home is to establish a dedicated working area in your home. This can be anything from a section of your dining room table to a home office or anything in between, but it's ideally a space you can just use for working so your brain links the space with focusing on the task at hand.

The aim is to have a space you mainly associate with getting down to work which you can leave behind you at the end of the working day, allowing you to get a little separation between home working and relaxing at home.

Take a breather every so often

A tempting aspect of working from home is to simply sit at your workspace for the majority of the day and not really move about much. However, you'll likely see your productivity drop off quite dramatically, as well as potentially your mood. It's recommended that you get up and out of your seat at least once every hour and move about a bit, as well as getting some fresh air.

There's no harm in pausing for 5 minutes in order to pop the kettle on or do one or two small jobs around the house, and the break can give your brain a breather. Just that short amount of downtime can help boost your productivity and get you out of a slump.

Minimise available distractions

Finding the right balance between productive work environment and comfortable space is important when working from home. After all, you may as well be comfy and content while working at home. But you still have work to do and will need to avoid procrastinating via the multitude of way available to you at home. This is partially why it's best to have a dedicated working space which you can tailor to minimise the distractions around you.

As we said, doing one or two jobs to get you up and out of your seat is good, but you should still try and shut out unnecessary distractions. Maybe put your phone out of reach for an hour, turn the TV off, or pop on some headphones to tune out the world for a little while - whatever helps you focus. There are apps available that help you to avoid social media sites while working that can be worth looking into if you find yourself breaking off work to scroll.

Treat yourself to the little things

Since you're working from home, there's no reason you can't tailor your personal workspace to your own tastes. Are there constant fights over music in your office? Not a problem when it's just you! Do your biscuits go missing at work? They're all yours at home. One exception might be that, while it can be tempting to work in your pyjamas, it can be even better to get a bit more dressed up as you normally would when working to get yourself in a different headspace. Do what you can to give yourself some little treats every now and then as incentives and benefits to working in your own home.

The key to successfully working from home is a good workspace balanced with minimal distractions and making the most of home comforts. While it might be tough to make each of these work every day, especially those with young children or other priorities, attempting to establish each aspect as best you can is the right approach. Especially with the current global pandemic, it's important to take each day as it comes, try to get into a routine, and maybe treat yourself to that extra biscuit with your cuppa. If you're interested as to what Berkeley Group are doing during the current situation, then take a look at our most recent update.

References
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-51868894