With almost everywhere still on a standstill and everyone still stuck indoor, I thought I should share some of my secrets to stay productive when working at home. I have been a freelancer since 2015 and my kid is always with me at home. I always have managed to get my work done before the deadline while making sure I balance home life with work life equally.
To help you out, here are 10 sure-fire tips to assist you in working at home more productively:
1. Sort out your workspace
Before you can even start working at home, you need to have a place at home that will serve as your office. This place needs to be cool, too, so you aren’t feeling sluggish while working. If you are in need of a HVAC system for your work space, make sure to head to the Master Electrical Service site, or a similar website, to look for a service that can help you! This place must be free from distractions and can help you focus. If you don’t have much space, set a desk in the room where you can put your computer and office items in one place.
I find it extremely helpful to have a study room (I know I’m lucky to have a spare room) so I can lock away work when I am spending quality time with my daughter. Or I can psych myself into work mode once I stepped into my study room.
2. Get the best gear to help you out
When you are working from home, you will be using your computer mostly to finish your tasks. As a result, you need a good computer that will help you with your tasks efficiently.
You should also invest in a good router that will help you connect to the internet faster and without technical difficulties.
For myself, I am an Apple person so I work on my Mac and iPhone to get my best work out.
3. Organize realistic work hours
Once you have your setup sorted out, you need to set up a clear work schedule that you must follow. Check what tasks you have to do everyday and see which hours is great for you to work.
To ensure that work won’t bleed into your daily life, set a set time when you will stop receiving or doing work.
I have read that many employees felt that they work more hours than their usual if they are in their offices. That is usually they do not respect their own boundaries. Set your boundaries, stick to it and switch off. If you don’t do that, you will find that your colleagues and bosses will text you and call you at all hours.
Goes the same for weekends. If you do not work on weekends pre-covid, you shouldn’t have to work on weekends now.
4. Learn which times you are most productive
Each person has different productivity periods daily, with some people preferring to work during the mornings while others prefer doing it at night.
Check which hour of the day you focus well and set your schedule around that time.
5. Organize your daily to-do-list
If you want to work efficiently at home, you need to have a clear idea about your work schedule. Start every work schedule by reading through your to-do-list for the day and see which ones are of higher priority.
You should also set time limits for each one of these activities and cross it down once you are done.
6. Don’t wear your pajama while working
Although work from home does allow you the freedom to do your work the way you see fit, you still have to follow some decorum.
You may need to appear before a video chat with your team and if they see you wearing your pajamas, they may think you are not taking it seriously.
Read More: 8 Mistakes To Avoid While Working From Home
It is true that dressing smart and it will help you focus on your work better. While you don’t have to doll up with dresses and pearls, a clean tee or polo shirt with a pair of yoga pants counts too. As long as it is not something you slept in.
7. Exercise regularly
Exercise has always been considered a great habit we should all practice considering its benefits. It can help your body produce endorphins which helps you stay happy and focused.
Do simple stretches and see how it can improve your focus. Remember to do them regularly so your body will stay healthy in the long run.
Okay, this is something I like to do but hadn’t have time to do it. Plus running around chasing my little one is exercise enough, not to mention chores.
8. Refrain from checking your social media
Social media can be distracting, especially as you end up checking everyone in your feed and see what they are up to. If you are not careful, you will definitely find it hard to pull away from your social media account.
Read More: Social Media: Friend or Foe?
Some companies even have clauses that say you can’t use social media while at work.
9. Be mindful of your replies.
One setback of working at home is the lack of opportunities between teams to share ideas efficiently without disrespecting the other by accident.
When replying to others, make sure that you keep your replies positive and be clear with your message. It can be misleading when words do not portray your tone of voice and expressions.
10. Speak to your family and friends
If you are going to work from home, you need to make sure everyone at the house knows you will be working at home at a certain time. This will make sure that they will not disturb you as much as they could. Of course, once you are done with work, you should spend quality time with them.
Stretching Out..
Moving forward, past pandemic, working from home may now get the recognition from employers that it is workable with a little sacrifice and workaround. It may be the future of workplace as more people prefer to spend time with family or employers may want to cut cost from renting office space to house everyone. Whatever it is, working from home is here to stay at least for now until it is safe again to work together in close quarters!
Here are some tips to help you to stay productive during a lockdown:
Best Technology Gadgets to Boost Our Productivity and Comfort when We Work from Home
How to Make the Most of Your Day When Working Remotely
Timetable Of A Work-From-Home Mother
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MiddleMe 
Great tips and a nice informative post Madam.. 🙂
Thank you for sharing.. 🙂
(I loved the cat though.. ❤ )
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Haha! The cat is my favourite out of 3 cats. 🙂
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Wow..!! Lovely.. ❤ 🙂
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Amazing.
Not one of those tips mentioned confining the children to a cardboard box in the garage.
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I don’t think a cardboard box can confine any children though.. You need something sturdier.
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Nice post Kally. You always provide a valuable content! Thanks.
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You’re welcome! I glad that my post help you out.
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Your post helps everyone! 🙂
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Thank you so much!
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I think peole will laugh at wearing respectable clothes (not pajamas) to wear to work at home but it does make a difference.
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Sure it does; each of is responsible for his or her own attitude; the way we dress is an attitude changer
GBY,
Patrick
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At least, wear a nicer top with the pajamas pants. Lol!
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It was warm on Thursday and I wore a nice shirt with my shorts.😂
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That’s nice! I usually will throw on a nice blouse with my at-home shorts. Haha.
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Great tips and very practical, Kally. You hit the ball out of the park on this one.
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Thank you so much! Have a great new week.
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You too.
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Perfect list, I agree with every single point! (and have used them all in my long freelance “career”….
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Me too! And this list is my secret tip to work smart so I get to spend quality time with my little one.
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I love your cat! I have a cat too and he is the best feline friend to keep me company, especially during the quarantine. ❤🐈
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Thank you! Let you in a secret.. I have 3 cats! You can see their photos here: https://middleme.net/2016/09/14/long-over-due-updates/
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I love how you have rescue kitties too. That is such a sad story about the little one, but I’m happy that he has a forever home now! ♥️ I forgot that you are a mom too. How many kids do you have? I have a toddler who is 3.
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Same here! I have a daughter who is 3 as well. 😊 I’ll love to adopt more stray cats and dogs but I’ll have difficulties relocating them when we go back to Singapore eventually. So at this time now, 3 beautiful cats are purrfect for us. One for each of us.
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My husband is Singaporean and his parents immigrated here from Singapore. My daughter is Eurasian. I think that Singapore would be a really nice place to live! Personally, I wouldn’t mind living there. I could imagine that it would be hard relocating the cats. When do you plan to move to Singapore?
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You’ll love Singapore for your daughter because of the safety and ease of transportation everywhere. Kids at the age of 7 years old taking public transport on their own to school and home. But the downside is that it is an expensive country to live in.
We don’t know know when we are moving back yet but definitely before my daughter turns 7 years old so she can go to school in Singapore.
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Indeed, housing is extremely expensive in Singapore! I wouldn’t be able to afford to live in a house there and I really don’t want to live in an apartment long-term. I currently live in an apartment and am looking forward to the day when we can buy a house. Yes, I did see kids take the city busses in Singapore which was crazy! 🤭🤗 I hope that you and your family get to live your dream life in Singapore one day. My husband’s uncle offered him a job in Singapore last year but he turned it down.🙇♀️
There is another blogger, Ribana, who is currently living in Singapore and runs a blog called Popsicle Society.
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I’m so used to apartment living so I don’t think I can ever get used to living in a house especially when my hubby travel for biz so often, it will be me and my daughter alone. Ewwww… okay too much horror movies. Lol! But it will also means endless of house chores too. So I don’t mind if the apartment is small and cozy 😉 If I ever live in a house, I definitely will adopt a German Shepard or a Rottweiler, a fierce-looking monster with a teddy bear heart of gold.
I think I followed Popsicle Society. I need to pop back and give her a yelp soon.
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Kally THANKS for the reminder on how Awesome and POWERFUL women can be (and organized); your hubby is a lucky man, and you can tell him I said so. 🙂
May God be with you my friend,
Patrick
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Haha. Thank you, Patrick for your compliments. I believe he feels the same way too. Stay safe and healthy.
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Since my office laptop, which I received last year, doesn’t feature a webcam, I’m working from home in nothing but my pajamas.
For the past 2 months now!
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That’s my husband! Haha!
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Good tips, Kally. The pajamas tip is funny but very sensible – besides not wanting to look unprofessional when doing videocalls, how one dresses also influences your mindset, and for myself, getting too comfortable would not help me be too productive.
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Ah True! If I am in my pjs all day, I will just want to crawl back into bed.
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Very informative and knowledgeable tips. I appreciate you sharing them.
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Thank you so much and welcome to MiddleMe.
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Very useful and informative post! Thank you for sharing! 😀
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Thank you, Giacomo and welcome to MiddleMe!
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Nice post with good tips🙂👏💕
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Thank you so much for all your likes.
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Mostly welcome dear lady❤️
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Good post 👍🏻👍🏻..keep up the good work..
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Thank you so much and welcome to MiddleMe!
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Thank you..welcome back to my blog as well 😊
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Wow Kally, thanks for sharing valuable tips.
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You’re most welcome! Hope the tips are helpful.
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Really very helpful for me.
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Being able to structure your workday around when you are personally most productive is one of the best things about some working-from-home situations! Some companies do require employees to keep specific hours, but for those who have that freedom, it’s a great opportunity.
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I absolutely agree with you. I always think it’s the work that counts, not the hours you put in.
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Lovely cat…. Kisses and hugs from me….
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Thank you! I need more kisses because I have 3 cats!
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Thats sooo cute…. I remember, you mentioned it in your blog, somewhere…. My kisses to all….
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Here’s a post with photos of them 3, https://middleme.net/2016/09/14/long-over-due-updates/
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Ha ha…. Thats it….
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beautiful cat
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Thank you ☺️
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