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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Block social media

There are over three billion social media users on the web. And I bet you’re one of them. 

Do you know that social media distractions could be costing you nearly 50 hours per month? If you check your social media profiles multiple times a day, it comes as no surprise that you can’t focus on your work.

Luckily, there is a solution that can save you. There are apps and tools like Focusme, Offtime, Appblock that help to block the sites you use the most for a specific period of time. 

For instance, if you work from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. and want to get rid of your Instagram addiction, you can install the app that will block access to social media sites. And even if you restart your laptop or smartphone, the app will not allow you to check what’s new on the Instagram feed during the specified hours.

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Schedule your day

Do you know why so many people can’t stay productive working from home? They can’t find a perfect moment to start working on the project. All day, they ask themselves the same question: why should I start working right now if I can do it 15, 30, or 60 minutes later?

Just because you don’t have to go to the office doesn’t mean you don’t need to schedule your day. Pick a specific time of the day (or night) to work and plan your tasks and activities. It will help you to stay organized and deliver projects on time.

Keep in mind that you should schedule not only the hours of the work but also hours (or minutes) of the rest. You should give yourself enough time to relax and recharge during short and long breaks. 

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Create a to-do list 

It’s also a good idea to create a to-do list. Your to-do list may consist of work tasks only. Or, since you spend all day at home, it may include both: your work tasks and home tasks. For instance, your to-do list may look like this:

• Write a 1,000-word article for Client Z
• Create three social media posts for Client Y
• Edit the article for Client X
• Water my plants
• Practice yoga for 20 minutes
• Deep clean my living room

When you clearly understand what specific tasks you should complete during the day, you can manage your time more effectively. You can use your breaks to do things around the house. 

For instance, you can water your plants during your short break and practice yoga during your long break. It will help you to kill two birds with one stone. You’ll get distracted from your work during the break, and that will improve your concentration. Secondly, you will get more spare time after working hours.

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Spend some time outside of your house

No matter how much you love your house, you can’t spend 365 days a year within its walls. If you want to boost your productivity, you should spend some time out of your home. 

Have you planned to spend your weekend laying on your sofa and watching Netflix? Try to switch things up. Go out for a walk in the park, the beach, or around your neighborhood – whatever you decide to do, just don’t stay at your house.

Why is this so important? When you spend most of the time in one place, it may make you feel stuck, and it may hold you back from progressing in work. Change up your environment every now and then to get unstuck.

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Create a perfect playlist for working 

If you have a playlist for jogging and a playlist for driving, you might want to create a suitable playlist for working. Choose music tracks that inspire you and motivate you, but do not distract you.

As a rule, the lyrics of favorite songs distract a lot. So it’s better to pick songs in foreign languages or instrumental music. Some scientists say that listening to classical music while working helps to boost productivity. So if you like the masterpieces created by Mozart, Bach, and Tchaikovsky, feel free to add them to your playlist.

When you create your work playlist, upload chosen songs to your laptop or phone. Do not create a playlist on YouTube or other online platforms! Otherwise, you will get distracted by a cute cat video or other catchy content every time you open your playlist.

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In conclusion

If you want to boost your productivity, try out the tips in this article. When you aren’t afraid to bring small and big changes to your life, one by one, you’ll start to achieve all the goals you set.

About the Author

Diana Nadim is a writer and editor who has a Master’s degree in Marketing. She combines her passion for writing with her interest in research and creates thought-provoking content in various fields. Besides working as a contributor writer for TopEssayWriting, Diana also does some editing work at BeGraded and ClassyEssay.