7 Work From Home Tips to Keep You Motivated & Efficient

Are you a freelancer or a professional working online? Do you sometimes feel unorganized? Not anymore! Here’s our list of work from home tips!

Hey all! The work culture in offices are changing. From timings to work spaces, from dress codes to interactions with colleagues, everything’s becoming more casual. Work from home has become a common thing not just in startups but also in traditional offices, small companies and even big organizations. Also freelancers usually work at home or coffee shops or wherever they wish to – I envy you guys! Work from home doesn’t have to literally be work from home. You may work in a cafe, park or library.

So, all you entrepreneurs, freelancers, part time workers and once in a while working-from-home professionals (like me) may feel a bit unorganized at time while working from home. For instance, even when I work from home, I tend to take it easy and this affects my productivity.

So, I started to be more organized and set up proper rules for myself while working from home. And this has helped me a lot. Now working from home is no different from working in office to me, except I get an extra hour nap (even extra minute counts for sleep), no commuting – yay, and I get my actual me-time in the morning when I can enjoy my breakfast.

So, this improvement gave me the idea to write about work from home tips. When I discussed with Shilpa, she loved the idea as she herself used to work alone in a home office before we (SlubTeam) joined! So, we decided to make a list of work from home tips and share it with you guys.

Check out how to be your most productive yet comfortable self!

Work from Home Tips

1. Create Your Morning Motivation

It’s very important to start your day with a motivation. It’s common to procrastinate things as you have no one to actually report to. But you need to tell yourself that you are gonna work efficiently and complete your tasks. The best way to achieve this is to set your goals and note them down. Tick them off as they get done. This helps keep you on track and well-prioritized.

Our Editor-in-Chief, Shilpa, who used to work from home all by herself for about two years before she hired our team, has one of the most important work from home tips on this. “It’s easy to be motivated on some days and feel like crap on others. If you’re an entrepreneur, this cycle continues. But a good way to keep being motivated every morning is to set interesting tasks for yourself the evening before. It’ll remind you why you need to get to work and why it’ll be fun! If you still don’t feel like getting to work, just tell yourself, ‘Okay, let’s just go and switch on the laptop and do nothing today.’ And soon enough, you’ll be working already!”

2. Set a Time Period

Set your work hours. If you’re working once in a while at home, it’s okay to start an hour late and extend an hour in the evening. But it’s better to at least stick to a particular time so you can be well organized. It’s definitely okay to keep changing this schedule as per your lifestyle needs or work requirements, for example, taking an hour our to exercise. But keep a proper schedule to follow everyday, which will train your body to have a set sleep and hunger schedule, too. And in the long run, all this keeps you healthy and efficient.

3. Try Power Dressing

Now this is essential and one of the most important points in our list of work from home tips. You need to be well-dressed even if you’re working remotely. So go for proper business attire or simple work from home clothes. You don’t have to be dressed formally but try to wear something work-appropriate. When you dress properly, it affects your work, too! Of course, you may be more comfortable in a pair of shorts or pajamas, and that’s okay too. But be sure to show up at “work” nicely showered and well-fed!

4. Choose the Right Place to Work

This is the most important among all our work from home tips. Setting up a distraction-free space is crucial because it makes it easy for you to start the day and be efficient! Ideally, you should design a nice home-office. But whether it’s your living room, study room, or even your bedroom, choose a space where you’re more comfortable and you can work freely.

It should be a quiet room, wall or corner where can concentrate, free of distractions. You don’t want to work in the living room if your family members are at home. You can change your work place at regular intervals, too! If you get bored and need some fresh air, you can move to a balcony or near the window, or to a different desk.

5. Set Up a Comfortable Desk

If you work from home very frequently, it’s super important to work in the right posture. So invest in a desk and chair. Your desk + chair should be comfortable and ergonomic so that you can sit for hours at a stretch when required. Wherever you’re working, keep all the essentials that you need – work desk, stationery, sticky notes, coasters (coffee lovers) and all the necessary things that your job needs.

Also, try to personalize the space with your favorite stuff – photo frames, indoor plants and stuffed toys, or whatever motivates you! Also, a comfortable chair is important to work. A soft rug is also a cool idea to work on in the living room. I do this when I’m working from home. I also, have my favorite stuffed toys in the corner stand.

6. Create a Motivational Space

Whether you’re a writer or coder or even an artist, it’s common to get stuck and your mind goes blank. So, create a motivation board for yourself. Whether it’s plants, wall art, quotes or inspiration board try to keep your favorites while setting up the place. I have kept plants near the window and whenever I look at them or in fact stare at them, thoughts flow easily and I feel more creative.

7. Use Communication to Generate Ideas

Communication is key among work from home tips. It may seem like working without distractions also means switching off all communication. But working alone can let your mind wander, make you procrastinate and even make you bored. So gather ideas and create a flow of new thoughts by talking to people.

Try to communicate with your teammates/ boss/ client so that you are on track. Whether it’s through phone, video or mail, discuss with your team throughout the day, as this helps with your productivity. If you’re an entrepreneur, talk to your team or interns if you have them. If not, just communicate your ideas to your friends and family, or record them interview-style.

8. Working with Distractions

It’s common to get distracted at work. If you have kids at home or a disturbing neighbor (I always have this problem), change your place of work and go work in the balcony or a separate room. Or take a small break and clear your mind. You can try noise-cancelling headphones or even try doing something else.

9. Taking Breaks & Time Management

Taking breaks is as important as your work. One of the helpful work from home tips is to plan your breaks according to your daily office hours. And stick to a time frame. I usually get distracted while I’m on break. I tend to watch sitcoms and waste my time! So, I’ve started to plan my meetings right after my lunch or tea break. This has helped me to stay away from internal distractions like watching movies, videos or listening to music.

10. Don’t Overwork (Unnecessarily)

Working from home can put us in a zone and at times its easy to lose track of time. If you have a deadline or you really need to extend your work hours, then do it but don’t drag it for too long. So set an alarm for your off-hour or go for a walk to call it a day!

So, this was our list of work from home tips. Were these tips helpful to you? Do you have more ideas to share? Tweet us with your own suggestions @shilpa1ahuja!