How To Stay Focused When Working From Home

When you are working from home, it is easy to forget about how to stay focused.

Cleaning, temptation of Netflix, doing washing, kids etc. There are many things that can chew up your time and make you less productive then going into the office.

It is important to learn how to stay focused when working from home.

If you don’t invest the energy into setting up the right environment, it will end up costing you. Time, productivity and potentially, losing trust of the people who are paying your wages.

To ensure you get the most out of working from home or away from the office, it is critical that you create the right environment to work in.

Tips On How To Stay Focused When Working From Home

Firstly, you need a defined area to work with enough electrical outlets to plug in or charge all your devices – laptop, iPad, SmartPhone, printer etc.

A desk or a table to sit at. The desk or table needs to be at the correct height, so that you are comfortable typing.

Your chair needs to be comfortable and provide support. You should be able to sit on your chair and place your feet flat on the floor. Sitting on the couch, working is a huge no no.

Light – Make sure that you have enough – natural light is better, but if you can’t get that – any sort of light will do.

Get dressed into clothes. Having work meetings in your PJs may seem like a great idea. You will be more effective if you wake up and get ready for work just as if you were going into the office.

(Maybe without the make-up, high heels and uncomfortable jacket though).

In normal clothes, you will be less tempted to fall victim to TV or getting stuck scrolling through social media.

It’s easy for the line between work and home life to become less undefined when working from home. Ensure that you have some structure in your day with clearly defined hours of work and regular breaks built in.

You won’t be running around when you should be working on that presentation or finishing that spreadsheet.

Giving yourself set work hours ensures you won’t spend all your time glued to your computer feeling guilty.

You still need to make arrangements to get tasks done before or after your work hours.

For instance, if working from home with young kids, day care or a babysitter in the house with you will allow you to be a good parent and a good employee.

Giving yourself the right environment to work in with assist in teaching you how to stay focused, whilst working from home.