More and more companies are moving to a work from home model and encouraging their employees to stay out of the office. This helps corporations minimize their furniture budgets, decrease the cost of their lease by decreasing the square footage of their offices, all while increasing employee satisfaction. With everything going on right now, a growing percentage of the workforce has started to find itself in a work from home situation and people are bound to experience some growing pains with their new reality.
As real estate professionals, this unstructured work environment is not new to us. We’re here to give you some tips for working from home that have helped us stay on task and avoid the many distractions hidden around your home.
Set Your Space
As in real estate, it’s all about location, location, location. It may be tempting to work from the couch, but don’t do it! Trust us. Your back will thank you for it. Setting up a dedicated workspace is key for maximizing your productivity. That could be in a spare room or right at your kitchen table. Either way, make sure to find a comfy chair that helps you maintain good posture.
Keep a Routine
It’s so easy to fall into a habit of sleeping in late and working in your PJs, but maintaining a regular morning routine will help you hold on to some semblance of normalcy. So, set an alarm… or two, and actually get up. Do all the things you would normally do before heading into the office, but do them at a more leisurely pace. You don’t have a commute sucking up an hour of your morning anymore. Get showered and dressed every day. That doesn’t mean you have to wear a suit. Yoga pants are totally acceptable.
Set some regular work hours and discover your productive times. If you have some flexibility in your schedule and you’re a morning person, who gets a ton accomplished before 7:30, lean into that; And protect your personal time. When you’re done for the day be done. Put your computer away and avoid coming back to it for short, unproductive bursts. It’s so important to try to keep some separation between work and leisure time.
Make a Plan
If you’re a “write it all down” kind of person, To Do lists are your friend. Make one every morning (or at the beginning of the week) and use it. Everytime you find your focus drifting or you can’t remember what tasks take priority your list will be there to help.
For managing tasks and deadlines you could buy an agenda, or start a Google calendar. You could even try a project management app like Asana or Basecamp. Most platforms have a free version and can be linked between team members.
Avoid Distractions
Remember when we said not to work from the couch? It wasn’t just to save you a visit to your chiropractor. The temptation to binge Netflix is real, so turn off the TV and be aware of all the other digital distractions that creep up. “But I need the background noise!” you say. Consider streaming music from a platform like Spotify, and find or make a playlist that compliments your workflow.
Social media can be a huge time suck. If you find your phone too tempting, turn off your notifications, set your phone to silent and maybe even leave it in another room.
Having kids and family members around adds another layer of potential distractions. If there is a lot going on around you consider setting ground rules for work hours (No drum practice during the day) and invest in a good set of noise cancelling headphones.
Take a Break
Remember all those memes you used to look at while you were at the office? And the chats you had with your colleagues? Those were actually important. You need to allow yourself short breaks throughout the day to maintain your sanity. Get up and walk around; Step outside for a bit of fresh air; Schedule a lunch break AND actually take the whole thing.
