The opportunity to work from home is a dream for many. However, anyone who has worked from home at least once knows it’s half as hard as it looks.
It’s almost impossible to concentrate on the project when your neighbor is mowing the lawn, your cat is meowing, or your mom is calling you every hour, sincerely believing that since you’re not in the office, her calls won’t disturb you.
If you work from home and struggle to boost productivity, try to use the following tips. Change your approach to work, and you'll be amazed by the results.
Eat healthy
Sticking to a healthy diet is one of the simplest ways to work effectively and feel good. If you tend to fuel your body with energy drinks, potato chips, and M&M’s, your productivity will continuously crash. A can of Red Bull might help you complete tonight’s project, but it won’t help you achieve adequate results in the long run.
If you want to boost productivity, increase your intake of the foods that are rich in vitamins and minerals. To fuel your brain and increase the attention concentration, try consuming the following products on a regular basis:
- Berries (e.g., blueberries, raspberries, strawberries)
- Nuts (e.g., almonds, cashews, walnuts)
- Seeds (e.g., chia seeds, flax seeds, sunflower seeds)
- Avocados
- Whole grains (e.g., brown rice, oatmeal)
- Greens (e.g., broccoli, kale)
- Oily fish (e.g., salmon, tuna, sardines)
- Dark chocolate
Try to eat processed food less often, and reduce the consumption of sugars and carbs. Once you change your diet, you will start to feel a difference. You will have more energy to work on your projects.
Exercise daily
Multiple scientific studies prove that regular physical exercise helps to boost creativity and productivity. So if you want to work effectively, you shouldn’t skip your workouts. Try to stay physically active all week long, and you will improve divergent and convergent thinking – the two basic components of creative thinking.
It’s worth mentioning that you shouldn’t force yourself to do sports. Instead, find a kind of physical activity that you really enjoy. For instance, if working out at the gym isn’t your thing, you can attend Zumba classes or practice yoga at home.
If you don’t like sports at all, try something simple like walking. Walk 15,000 steps a day, and it will be enough. Just don’t sit in front of your computer all day long! Do at least some physical movements. Your brain and body need that.
Challenge yourself to fight your laziness. Find a way to motivate yourself to start exercising. Here are a few tips:
- Find a friend to exercise with. You won’t skip a workout if you know that your friend is waiting for you to get moving.
- Pay for a gym membership. Once you spend money on a gym membership, you’ll feel obliged to go.
- Follow sports influencers who share how-tos and tips on social media. Every post they publish will remind you that you need to stand up from your chair and do a few exercises.
Create a small office at home
Where do you usually work? Do you work at the kitchen table? Or prefer to do your work lying on your bed? Or maybe, you migrate from one spot to another?
If you know how to stay productive working in a relaxing atmosphere, that’s great. But if your productivity is low, find a spot in your house to create a small office.
In fact, you don’t even need to have a spare room. The balcony, attic room, part of your living room, or any other corner all work well for this purpose. The spot for your home office should fit a small computer table with a comfy chair, and it should have access to natural light.
Every time you step into your “home office”, your brain will turn on the “working mode”. It will help you to focus on your project and immerse yourself in the day’s work.
Block social media
There are over three billion social media users on the web. And I bet you’re one of them.