8 Tips for Increasing Our Productivity When Managing A Business From Home
Time management is essential when starting and working from home and managing a business, especially when it is an online business from home. In today’s fast-paced world, with many distractions we are so familiar with, it can be challenging to stay focused and productive. However, we can improve productivity and accomplish more in less time by developing effective time management strategies.
Since I have run my online business for almost two decades, I have gathered a list of simple but constructive tips for you to use to increase productivity when working from home.
In big bureaucratic organizations, Parkinson’s law taught us that “work expands to fill the time available for its completion.” However, what happens when it’s a one-person show? Time wasting can be an even more severe threat to our business, which is why we must keep track of it ourselves.Β
We need a task list to run an independent business. We should have a weekly list and a daily list. The tasks should be simple, such as “send this and this an email.” We can only complete some of the time, but we must always be aware of that list since it reflects our business’s progress and helps us to advance in achieving our goals.
The rule is: “if it’s not on your calendar, it doesn’t exist.” Whether you use Android, iOs, or something else, your calendar is the only way to get things done. That is why some of the tasks mentioned above should be on your calendar, as well as meetings and future destinations that you must fulfill upon specific dates.Β Β
#3 Find your productive Time Of The Day
It is a common perception that we should work in the morning, dedicate ourselves to our family in the afternoon, and sleep at night. However, if you struggle to fit into this pattern, you should find your own. Many people are more productive in the evening or even at night when everything is quiet, and everyone has a time of day when he is most effective. Just find your own, and increase productivity.Β Β
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#4 Eliminate Distractions
Let’s face it: our smartphones are addictive and harmful. They are designed to steal our attention and make us scroll endlessly for no point whatsoever. However, we can’t just throw away our phones. So what can we do? Several things we can choose from:
- Eliminate notifications of everything- Instagram, WhatsApp, Facebook, and more. You don’t need them.Β
- Create a phoneless time of the day- dedicate one hour to being physically away from your phone, and turn it off. Tell your loved ones that you are doing this, and they will understand.
- Use the “Forset” App- Forest is an app that helps you stay focused on the important things in life. Whenever you want to stay focused, plant a tree. It “gamifies” the process of not using your phone: The more you avoid using the phone β you receive digital “trees” growing in your forest.
This is the opposite of what you expected to read here, so we need to clarify what we are talking about. Of course, we must navigate our business with everything else in our lives, our family, etc. But multitasking, ergo doing several things at once, means we can’t focus on what we are doing. If, for instance, we sit down and write something and then decide to take a little time to answer an email, we are harming our ability to focus on the more significant task.
#6 Tools To Stay Organized And On Track
There is an app for everything these days and, of course, to organize your tasks. Some work well with spreadsheets, some with Monday, some with Trello, and others with simple post-it notes. Find what is working for you, and apply it.
#7 Create A Designated Workspace for Working From Home
The fact that you are working from home doesn’t mean that you don’t have to have a workspace. Your work in space is your most meaningful place as an entrepreneur. Many of us are working from home, and working from home could mean a lot of distractions like kids, dogs Etc. You have to create a space around the house that is quiet and ideal for work, where you sit upright, feel relaxed, and maximize your work time.
#8 When You Are Not Working, Don't Work
Work has taken control of our lives: emails and WhatsApp messages find us wherever we go. This constant demand from clients or bosses causes us stress and anxiety and wears us out when we need to work. Therefore, it is essential to declare a time of the day in which we don’t answer or address anything work-related, almost no matter what.Β
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