How to Successfully Work from Home

Recently, a lot of people have found themselves learning to work from home with the work from home and ‘shelter in place’ orders of COVID-19. For some, this is old hat but, for others, this will take some adjusting to be successful. Specifically, we are quickly learning that we need to work a little harder to stay focused and accomplish our goals. To add to the challenge, some are also having to homeschool their kids at the same time. With their newfound free time and lack of sports, most kids are probably climbing the walls by now. Literally! Yesterday, I found my oldest showing my youngest how he could hold himself in the door jam and inch up the wall. There also have been several memes popping up on social media about the current challenges facing people working from home with bored kids. 

To be successful over these next few weeks, you will be faced with the challenge of focusing effectively and getting the most out of the time you’ve allotted for your tasks. Below are 11 tips to help you reap the benefits of your organization and prioritization.

Organize your workspace: If you don’t have a home office or workspace already, working from home can be even more challenging. Carve out some space where you can setup shop and organize. You have to be even more streamlined and organized at home due to the higher level of distractions. Even if you don’t have kids at home, staring at chores that need to be done can be a huge distraction. Move everything that you can to an electronic file so that you’ll have immediate access, anywhere you go. Doing so will improve your effectiveness and your ability to be successful.

Plan for tomorrow before you leave today. You will sleep better tonight and have an even more productive day tomorrow. Categorize your time by: A’s= high priority and urgent; B’s= high priority but not urgent; C’s=low priority but urgent; D’s= low priority and not urgent. And last, category E’s=leisure time. If all your tasks are A’s, then decide which tasks are your A1, A2, A3, etc. and do the A1’s first. While prioritizing, ask yourself, “Is this the best use of my time?”

Fight off distractions: Email, social media, your phone, being hit in the head with your child’s bouncy ball, can all be huge distractions from your laser focus. If you need to be effective, find or create an environment where you will have less opportunity to be distracted.

Balance your personal life. If your home life is a mess, and most of ours are right now, it can be difficult to stay focused on the right things at work. Focus on balancing your personal life first. Seven vital areas include: health, family, financial, intellectual, social, professional and spiritual.

Get focused. Fight off distractions and be here now. Although many of us believe we are awesome at multi-tasking, the reality is you can only be truly effective when you are focused. It’s better to be focused on completing one task than multi-tasking with 20 different tasks and not completing any. Don’t multi-task. The human mind works best when it is focused on one thing at a time.

Focus on results. Everyone will tell you they are busy. People who produce significant results have higher chances of staying fully employed, make more money and have less stress in their lives. Review your productivity at the end of each day.

Lean into conflict. When there is conflict, don’t send an email. Pick up the phone and talk directly to the person. Don’t avoid dealing with conflict. This will only add to your stress levels. Avoidance doesn’t resolve the problem and often results in escalation. Instead, get closer to the source. Lean into the conflict to effectively address and resolve the issue.

Sleep. Since you don’t have to get up and drive to work, there is a tendency to stay in bed longer and not set the alarm. Or, my favorite…work all day in your PJs, which you can do, but part of having focus is being in the right frame of mind.  It is ok to work in your PJs, but it is also important to have a schedule and be productive. Get the right amount of sleep for your body is a large part of your mindset. But, only the right amount of sleep. Too much or too little sleep makes you sluggish and destroys your productivity.

Exercise. Between work, and kids if you have them at home, it is hard to find time to exercise. Working out is great alone time to sort out either business or personal challenges and will keep your brain sharp. Schedule some time each day to keep your body a fine-tuned machine that provides optimal production. If you don’t have a treadmill, gym equipment, etc. at home, there are a lot of apps that have workouts that you can do in your living room. You can fit this in before work, at a lunch break or when it works.  Have your kids join in. It will be a good release of energy for them as well. 

Determine your energy cycle. Determine what times of the day or night you are at maximum productivity. Schedule your more difficult tasks, or those that require more thinking during these times. There is a right time for the right task. Work to your energy cycle.

Don’t sweat the small stuff. With everything happening right now and all the uncertainties, it is easy to let things start to affect our overall mental health.  It is important for you, your employees, coworkers and family to stay positive. Let spilled milk just be just that, spilled milk. 

Now is a great time to start a new habit. Set aside a quiet time to really think about where your time is going each day, and then develop a plan to take charge of how/where you spend your time. You cannot have a laser focus on leadership if your thought process is constantly being bombarded from all angles. Take this opportunity to stop doing things that limit your effectiveness and start focusing on doing the things that maximize your leadership potential, as well as your success.