Your ally in the battle to maintain productivity and health while working from home, is your home office. While you might be limited for space, if there is any way possible, then you should design a home office that will be separate from the rest of your home.

This is important, because it will allow you to step in and out of your “work mode.” The worst thing you can do, is to work in the room you sleep in. This will make it much harder to separate your working life from your downtime, which will have deleterious impacts on your sleep.

There are other things you can do to make an ideal home office for productivity too.

Inspiration

One powerful tip, is to surround your office with things that inspire you and that put you in the mood to be productive. These might be examples of the best work in your niche or industry, or pictures of your heroes and people who inspire you.

This is something that Cal Newport talks about in his book Deep Work (which I’ve referenced before). Here, he talks about the idea of the “Eudaimonia Machine” – a space built by architects with the singular purpose of generating the most productivity possible.

Part of this design involves museums filled with inspirational works. This is something that I feel very strongly about and believe can make a huge difference to overall productivity.

This is linked to the psychological concept of “priming.” Priming essentially means putting someone in the frame of mind most conducive to whatever

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Working from home creates other challenges too. Chief among these, is trying to look after yourself and your wellbeing.

When you don’t leave the house to go to work, there is no incentive to dress well. When no one sees you for days, there is no requirement to wash.

And when you can get up at any time you want, and work at any time you like, there is nothing stopping you from losing all semblance of routine and health.

What’s more, is that because you don’t need to go to work, there is no guarantee that you’ll get any fresh air or exercise! These are all serious issues, because they can be detrimental to your health and wellbeing.

When work gets on top of you, you might even find yourself eating poorly as you grab whatever is quick and stuff it in a microwave.

All this leads to your being tired, de-motivated, and less able to focus. Focussing and staying motivated requires energy, and resisting temptations and distractions likewise requires that you be in good health.

In short, if you don’t look after yourself outside of work, you’ll struggle to stay focussed when you sit down at the computer.

Optimizing your health will allow you to focus better, seeing as focus requires energy. Using a disciplined routine will ensure you get proper time to rest and recover. And taking the time to groom yourself and look your best will help you to feel (and thus become) more productive and professional.

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But THE most important key ingredient for doing lots of great work, is to be passionate and inspired by your work.

Inspiration is different from motivation. Motivation is being able to push yourself to work even when you don’t want to. But inspiration means having ideas for how you want your project to turn out. It means visualizing it when it’s complete, and it means wanting to get back to work to put those ideas and plans into action.

When you are inspired by work, it becomes intrinsically motivating. That means that you want to do it for its own sake.

One way to accomplish this, is to think about the type of work you’re doing. If you find that you are consistently being given tasks that you find dull or boring, or that you really can’t be excited about, then perhaps it is time to assess whether you’re in the right line of work.

Should you consider changing jobs?

Because when you find work you really love, you’ll find you become instantly more productive and better at working.

Now of course, changing jobs won’t be an option for everyone. You might not have this luxury. Moreover, even if you love your job, there will be still be tasks and jobs that you don’t love. No one loves every single part of their job!

So another thing to do, is to try and look at whatever it is you’re doing, and then make it more interesting

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Of course, sitting down and doing the hardest and biggest thing first, isn’t always easy. It’s one thing to set yourself rules for working, but it’s quite another to stick to them! With so much to do, how can you make sure that you stay on-course and actually do it?

Especially when it would be so easy to grab a good book and a hot drink, and then retire into the armchair that’s right there in the corner of the room!

This is where you need some productivity hacks!

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So, you’re stuck working from home? There are now two ways this can go.

One option is that you work like so many other people who are confined to home offices. That means you’ll spend a huge chunk of your day procrastinating before you actually get anything done, which will result in work spilling over into your evening.

You’ll go to bed with work still on your plate, feeling stressed and behind. Meaning you’ll wake up the next day and start work in your pyjamas.

Without someone looking over your shoulder or structuring your day, it’s all too easy to fall into bad habits. You make yourself that morning cup of coffee, you check your emails, you read Facebook… you neglect to shave! It feels like liberation at first, and it’s a great feeling not having to rush out of the door.

But as a result, you end up with no structure. You spend all of your day “half working” and you spend all your time cooped up in one room. Your work life bleeds into your downtime, and you end up falling behind in all kinds of aspects of your productivity AND your personal life.

So what is the other option?

The other option is that you grasp this opportunity with both hands: that you apply a little strategy and discipline. Most importantly: you gain the correct mindset that will help you to tackle this unique challenge in the best way possible....

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Powerful Tips for Home Offices That Will Drastically Increase Work Flow

If you work from home then you will probably be familiar with what a struggle it is constantly to remain productive and to get work done when you're surrounded by distractions. When your work environment is the same as your home environment either all the time or sometimes, it's far too easy to make excuses to pop to the kitchen or to pick up that tempting book lying on the coffee table and these things can actually destroy our productivity.

Another problem is that home offices are designed and maintained by us. There's no boss telling us to keep our desk tidy and no HR team to advise us on the best posture or the best point in the room for enhancing productivity. Below are some fixes that can help you stay on task.

Paper Trays

Having papers everywhere is a problem that affects not just home workers but pretty much everyone else too. The first solution to this issue is to get paper trays which allow you to quickly and easily 'dump' your papers out the way so they at least aren't making mess.

Here you're going to have two trays. One will be your 'working memory' and one will be your 'short term memory'. Anything that you're done with but not ready to get rid of will go in your 'short term memory', whereas anything that you're currently still working with or that you'll be able to throw away later will go in your 'working memory'. At a predefined time every day/week/month you'll then sort through the trays and move anything from the short-term memory tray into a filing cabinet – your 'long term memory'. This mimics the way the human brain stores information and it makes it much easier to keep on top of everything.

Portable Scanners

Portable scanners are scanners that can take paper through a feed in a similar manner to a printer. Some of these can even take multiple sheets of paper at once and this actually makes it much easier to quickly scan reams of documents, while OCR (Optical Character Recognition) software will automatically catalogue and organize them. This allows you to get rid of an awful lot of paper and to thereby create far less paper for yourself. Likewise you should of course go paperless with your bills, statements and everything else you can.

Desk Toys

If you do struggle with procrastination then a desk toy can go a long way to help. This can include things like small rakes and sand pits, or like cat's cradles. The reason these work well is that they provide work for idle thumbs but aren't nearly as engaging as a mobile phone. In other words, you can play with these little toys while your computer loads and not risk getting 'sucked in'. They also add to that business feel and make your home office feel more like a real place of work.

The Very Best Productivity Apps for Working From Home

Working from home introduces a number of challenges when it comes to being productive and getting work done. Apart from the issues relating to remote collaboration, you also have the challenges of staying on task (avoiding distractions), avoiding data leaks, and accessing the powerful tools you would normally use in an office.

Here are some of the best apps to help you solve those problems.

Google Drive (Android, iOS)

Not only is Google Drive a great app for storing your files on the cloud but with access to Google Docs you also get a full office suite for editing them on the go. This is really handy if you're working on a spreadsheet remotely and you want people in the office to see the live changes.

Dropbox (Android, iOS, Windows, Mac)

Dropbox is a cloud sharing app that gives you lots of space and makes it very easy to access your files.

Splashtop Remote (Android, iOS, Windows, Mac)

Working on at home and find you left an important file in the office? Splashtop Remote is thankfully on hand and will allow you to access your desktop and stream it through your device. The framerate's not always the best but if you're not watching movies that's hardly a problem. Another alternative is TeamViewer.

Mobile Office365 (Android, iOS, Windows, Mac)

When it comes to getting work done, few tools are more powerful than Microsoft Office. This is the industry standard when it comes to producing documents, spread sheets, presentations and more. It has lots of powerful features too, such as the ability to track changes which is crucial for collaboration.

Keep in mind that you can use Sharepoint in a similar manner to Google Docs, but with added workflow tools.

Zoom (Android, iOS, Windows, Mac)

Zoom is by far the most widely used video conferencing software. It is very quick to install (great for clients and business partners that don’t already have it), it syncs seamlessly with Google Calendar, and it has lots of features – such as the ability to record sessions.

Notion (Android, iOS, Windows, Mac)

Notion is a great note taking app that will let you capture your ideas then view them elsewhere. Notion’s true power is that it actually has the functionality of a full CMS, meaning you can also create tables, or even entire websites! This has the potential to become a “second brain.”

Asana (Android, iOS, Windows, Mac)

Asana is a project management tool that is extremely useful for juggling projects with lots of contributors.

Making Your Office Conducive to Work

Most of us know that we need to think carefully about office design if we’re going to work productively. But what many people don’t realize, is that it’s not just the furniture in the office that can support or hinder your attempts to work hard. Factors that influence your physiology can also have a big effect.

Light

For instance, it's crucial that you keep your rooms light enough if you want to be able to see what you're doing and to feel like you have space and air in the room. There are few things that make you feel less productive than being in a claustrophobic room.

At the same time, this also has an impact on our mood. A dark room has the tendency to make us feel tired, whereas light helps stimulate cortisol and wakefulness hormones. One great investment for a home office therefore is a daylight lamp, which creates light with a similar wavelength to the sun. It can combat SAD and it also improves productivity.

Distractions

At the same time you need to remove distractions – but not to the point where the room is so bland that you completely lose inspiration. Plants and colors can help to keep you feeling creative, but something like a TV is just begging for you to not work. Remember to put anything else you buy for your home office on your expense account!

Separation

Treat this room in your house like a real office too. Don't go in there when you're not working and make sure you take regular breaks to sit outside with a cup of tea or to just grab lunch.

Doing this will help to create an association between work and the office space – thus walking into the office will put you in a more productive headspace that will help you work longer and better.

Temperature

Even the temperature of your room has an impact on productivity. Ideally, this space should be lightly cool. This will help you to feel more awake and avoid drowsiness. Did you know that many theaters maintain a cool ambient temperature in order to keep the audience engaged with the stage show?

Smell and More

Even the smell has an effect! The right essential oils can stimulate the production of positive hormones that stimulate creativity and productivity, conversely, a bad odor floating in from outside can have a very negative impact.

Air quality is important too.

In short, do everything you can to make your office a space that nurtures and protects your productive instincts!

Powerful Gadgets for Working From Home

When working from home, the right gadgets can make a huge difference to your productivity. Not only do these help make work more enjoyable (not waiting 10 minutes for a computer to load up), but they also let you work in ways you otherwise could, and shave minutes off of your routine tasks. Here are some powerful work-from-home gadgets you might not have considered.

Echo Show

This device from Amazon is essentially a housing unit for the company’s digital assistant Alexa. The great thing about this one, is that it also has a camera.

The Echo Show can be an amazing tool for collaboration, thanks for the ability to “drop in” on family members to get a live-feed from their camera.

At the same time, an Echo Show will let you ask questions such as maths problems and get a quick answer without having to look up from the keyboard. Keep one in the office and you can also use it to set reminders.

Apple Watch

One of the best productivity gadgets is surprisingly the Apple Watch. While this device might not appear to do much that your phone can’t, the convenience of having it on your wrist, and the highly personal nature of the tech, makes it quite game-changing in this regard.

For one, an Apple Watch lets you put “complications” (widgets) right on your wrist. One of the best ways to use this is to show to-dos from Todoist here. By keeping these on your wrist, there is no way you can possibly miss them!

Getting notifications to your wrist also means you know whether something is important without needing to stop what you’re doing. And being able to talk to Siri on your wrist offers many of the same benefits as an Echo.

That’s before we talk about the indirect ways that health tracking can improve your productivity and performance.

GPD P2 Max

The GPD P2 Max is a surprisingly powerful laptop that is almost small enough to fit in a pocket. The reason this is notable, is that it gives you an option for typing up work that can be brought with you on a train, or that you can type on in bed without feeling like you’re glued to a massive laptop. This is perfect for when you just need to do some quick work, which can in turn make you productive at times you didn’t know you could be!