Maybe you've been working from home for a while as a self-employed person, or maybe you just switched to working from your own four walls a few weeks ago. Regardless of whether you are already experienced or just starting your home office career, one thing is equally true for everyone: Only those who are well organized can work at home really productively and efficiently. That's why we're giving you seven ultimate tips in this magazine article that will revolutionize your everyday life in the home office.
If you don't have any meetings, don't run into any colleagues and at most only see the postman, it's easy to be tempted to sit at your desk in sweatpants and an XXL sweater. The problem with that? Well, if you wear the same clothes when you're working as you do when you're relaxing or sleeping, you won't build up any work ethic. That's why you should dress up every morning - as if you're heading to the office or to a client meeting. Some even swear that wearing shoes to the home office is a real game changer. Just give it a try!
In the home office, the boundaries between work and leisure become blurred. A Work-life balance So it's not easy to maintain that. But this is neither good for your productivity nor for your recovery. That's why you should set clear working hours that you stick to.
The positive side effect is that fixed times increase the pressure. If you know that you want to finish at 6 p.m. sharp, you're guaranteed to work faster than if you stretch out your work until late at night. And only if you give yourself time off, weekends and breaks can you perform at a hundred percent at work. Fixed working hours are therefore a real must-have or must-do in the home office.
The early bird catches the worm? Only if you're a lark and not a night owl. You might be much more productive at midday or in the evening than in the morning. The advantage of having a home office is that you can work around your productive schedule. This is not in contrast to the previous point - because of course you still need fixed working hours. But of course you don't have to start early at home if you're not really awake until 9 o'clock. Adjust your fixed, regular working hours to your biorhythm. Also, make sure that you are available for your clients during important core working hours. You will see that this makes a real difference.
Do you have a small office so that you can close the door behind you and separate work from your private life? If you have the opportunity to set up such an office, don't hesitate. After all, it's incredibly practical not to be constantly reminded of work at the end of the day. If you don't have enough space or a spare room, you should still make sure to separate your work area from your living area:
Don't sit on the sofa, at the kitchen table or even in bed with your laptop. Your work has no place here. Set yourself up with a desk in a nice corner and consider possibly separating this area with a curtain or room divider. That way, you'll be in work mode while you're working, and you won't have your work in front of you all the time during your free time.
Your environment affects your work ethic more than you might think. Basically: Outer order creates inner order. That's why you should make sure that your home office, your desk, even your desktop and all the folders on your computer always have a system and don't get lost in chaos. This saves time and nerves. Try tidying up five minutes before you leave work so you can start the next morning feeling relaxed. Also, make sure there are no private things in your workspace - they distract you from your work.
Speaking of distractions: The biggest time suck at work is social media and your smartphone in general. Of course you have to be reachable by phone, but you should try to answer as few private messages as possible during working hours. Also, get out of the habit of constantly scrolling through Instagram, Facebook and the like for fear of missing something. These activities are real productivity killers and should be avoided at all costs in the home office.
With many projects or individual tasks, there are deadlines that you have to meet. A real efficiency booster is to always set the deadlines one or two days earlier than they are actually planned. This way you work under pressure, are much more focused and have a little time buffer in case something comes up. You're also working on projects that don't have official deadlines? Then set yourself some - because without deadlines, people tend to keep putting off tasks. Mark them in red in your calendar and treat your own deadlines as if they were communicated by the client. This increases the commitment and your work becomes ultimately efficient.
