Tips to stay motivated and productive while telecommuting

While many of us are currently teleworking due to the Covid-19 pandemic, it is important to adopt good practices. It's easy to pick up bad habits at home, which can negatively impact our mental health. Here are our tips for staying motivated and productive.

Start the day fresh

It might sound obvious, but it's important to get yourself in the right frame of mind before you start working out, just as you would when on the go. By getting up at a regular time, making sure you have something to eat/ drink, and get dressed for the day, you are setting yourself up for work like nothing has happened. Indeed, research shows that performing tasks in the same order boosts brain power and promotes mental health.

And, while it's okay to wake up later if the extra sleep helps you feel refreshed, getting out of bed directly on a Zoom call puts you right to work without your brain having had time to. prepare for the day ahead, which could lower your overall productivity level.

Reserve disconnection time

It is often easier said than done, especially if an urgent deadline arises. However, when working from home, it's easy to blur the line between your private and professional life.

To remind yourself that you need to take regular breaks, you can use the Pomodoro Technique (or tomato timer method): When you are faced with an important task or a series of tasks, divide them into intervals. of short, timed times spaced by short pauses. This trains your brain to focus for short periods of time and helps you meet deadlines. Over time, this technique can even help improve your attention span and concentration. Here is how it works:

1. Pick a task to do.
2. Set the timer for 25 minutes.
3. Perform the task until the timer rings, then set your sheet aside.
4. Take a short break (five minutes is enough).
5. After four short breaks, take a longer break.

Try the two minute rule

Entrepreneur Steve Olenski recommends applying the two-minute rule to make the most of the small spaces of time you have at work. The idea is, if you see a task or action that you know can be completed in two minutes or less, do it immediately. The theory behind it is that completing the task immediately actually takes less time than having to come back to it later.

Deactivate the notifications

No one can resist the distractions caused by notifications. Distractions interrupt your work as well as your creative flow and impact your ability to focus on a task again. If you need to focus on a task, turn off your notifications. This will prevent you from being tempted to respond immediately and being distracted. Remember to check your emails afterwards to make sure you don't miss anything essential.

Relax at the end of the day

Since you don't gather your things to leave the office as usual, it is essential that even when working from home you can mentally disconnect. It's a good idea to tidy up your workspace, for example, and shut down your laptop once you've decided to stop, so you don't have to consult it throughout the evening. Maintaining a pro-personal life balance in teleworking is important.

It can also be helpful to take up a new hobby, physical or mental, so you have something to look forward to at the end of the workday, which officially means the workday is over.

You can also like to read: How to make money on Skype?

About an hour before going to bed, it is also recommended that you stop looking at screens, as research shows blue light can negatively impact sleep. When trying to be productive, getting enough sleep is essential. It may therefore be helpful to try reading, avoiding caffeine, and taking a bath (if you have a tub) before bed, as these steps have all been recommended by sleep experts to relax your mind and increase your chances of getting a full eight hours of sleep.

Do you have any other tips to help you stay motivated and productive when working from home? Talk about it in the comments section below.