7 Tips to Help You to Stay Focused When You Work From Home  

You’re sitting on your couch staring at your laptop, trying to complete a project that’s due in a few days, when you remember that pile of laundry in your bedroom and decide to wash a quick load.  Then you notice that the garbage hasn’t been taken out, so you decide to take care of that, too.  An hour later, you’ve done the dishes, paid a few bills, and called your mom, but you’re no closer to finishing your project.

How can you avoid falling into the work-from-home traps that make focusing on your actual work seem impossible?  They key is to find ways to formalize your work at home while still making time for the small conveniences that make working at home such a wonderful perk.

Set Up a Dedicated Work Space
This may seem obvious, but without a dedicated working area, it can be hard to get into the work mindset.  Keep your work space away from distractions like television if you can, and make sure the space is clean and gives you sufficient room for the work that needs to be done.  Consider investing in home-office supplies that would make your work space more conducive to productivity, like a small desk, a second computer monitor, and any other basics like pens and paper that your employer doesn’t provide.

Follow a Routine  
Try to start work at the same time each day, and keep consistent times for meals and breaks. This will allow you to plan blocks of work around your breaks.  Working in blocks of time has been shown to result in increased productivity and flow.

Get Dressed  
It may seem tempting to stay in your pajamas all morning, or even all day, just because you can.  However, you’ll feel more confident and ready to work if you get dressed.  Some people wear what they would wear to the office even on days they work from home, while others may prefer to put on jeans and a t-shirt, and still others are happiest in sweats.  Regardless, making the mental shift from sleeping clothes to daytime clothes will help get you on track for the work day.

Time Your Breaks
Even if your employer doesn’t require you to adhere to a rigid break schedule, setting a timer for your breaks may help you to avoid the scenario described at the beginning of this article, where a break you intend to be short balloons into double or triple the length of time you planned.  Hearing a timer go off will remind you that you need to get back to work more directly than just keeping an eye on the clock will.  Many people find the Pomodoro Technique and other similar methods using timed work periods and timed breaks to be a particularly effective time-management tools.

Be Mindful About Transitions 
Transitioning from one task to another slows down productivity in any setting, but it can be particularly difficult to transition from a domestic task back to work simply because the two things are so different.  When you go back to work, pay attention to whether you are focusing on the task at hand right away or wasting time checking emails or browsing the internet.  By diving right back into a substantive task, you will cut down on the time wasted transitioning.

See Other People or Get Outside
Spending the whole day working alone might make you feel lonely or stir crazy, both of which are productivity killers.  Social interaction is important to physical and mental well being.  Make sure you take time either before you begin work or during one of your dedicated breaks to get out of the house, get some fresh air, and interact with other people.  When you get back, you’ll feel reinvigorated and ready to tackle your next task.

Wrap it Up
When you have a home office, it’s easy to let the workday bleed into your evening, instead of shutting down when the day is over.  Stick to a stopping time so you don’t lose your evening and head down the road to burnout.  Working from home shouldn’t be a 24/7 job.

Working from home is a helpful benefit that more and more companies are using to cut costs and make employees happy.  By staying in control of your workday, you’ll make the most of your opportunity to work from home.