One day you succeed in working productively and the next day you feel miserable. You don’t feel like moving forward.
Here are a few tips and tricks for Home Office.
1. Make a clear distinction between work and leisure
Work and leisure time mix quickly when you work from home. As a result, we feel stressed, depressed or confused. Therefore, it is important to keep them clearly apart. Without a clear separation, you feel 24 hours available for work or just the opposite, you feel more in the leisure mode and feel easily distracted.
Tip: Set clear times when you work and when you have free time. Determine weekdays where working is a taboo. Instead, you can spend on this «work taboo day» more time with your family, do something with your friends or pursue your hobbies more actively. On all other days, set clear working hours, take short breaks in between and decide a clear workplace at home. Changing your location supports variety and clear separation.
2. Keep a routine with a daily goal
Home Office sometimes leads to irregular eating times, sleeping times and working hours. We quickly lose focus. It is important to maintain a routine with good habits. Routines help us to move forward productively and reduce bad habits. Work proactively. It is all about progress.
Tip: Establish a morning routine. Get up every day at same time. For example: 7.00AM Wake up, 7.00–7.30AM Meditation and Sports, 7.30–8.00AM Shower and get ready, 8.00–8.30AM Breakfast and read news, 8.30–8.45AM Check mails, 8.45–9.00AM Write down 5 new ideas, 9.00AM Read through your daily goal and start the day positively.
Every night before you go to bed, set a realistic productivity goal (e.g. finalize budget planning) and a social goal (e.g. doing something with my family in the evening) for the next day. If you have trouble getting up early in the morning, set up your meetings early in the morning, thus, you are forced to get out of bed earlier.
3. Stay mentally and physically fit
The best remedy against stress is active stress prevention — not to let stress arise in the first place. The second-best remedy against stress is stress-reducing measures such as sports, meditation or walks in nature. Stay mentally and physically fit.
Tip: Integrate at least 30 minutes of sport and exercise into your daily routine. It does not have to be extreme sport. A walk can already help to refresh your mind. Keeping yourself mentally positive is a matter of practice. Write down every evening in one sentence: What you are grateful for today, what you have learned today and what you do better tomorrow. Read books, watch motivational videos, think about your mission, be proactive and take time for self-reflection.
4. Hyper focus sessions with clear boundaries
Everything is suddenly so much more exciting than the work itself when sitting in front of the work. You are focused for a while and the other minute your head is completely somewhere else. Distractions come in many different forms. It’s not easy to stay disciplined all the time.
Tip: Do at least 2–3 hours of hyper focus sessions every day. Give yourself a time limit, for example 1 hour. Then put away your phone and any other things that might distract you. Next, work for 1 hour in a concentrated and focused way to complete an important task. Start your workday with the most important task right at the beginning. The more you focus on one thing, the more you will get done, and the higher the quality of your work will be. When you have finished this task, take a break to recharge your battery.
5. Stay in touch with others
Remember the current situation with COVID-19 may be a physical distance, but it is not a social distance. In the Home Office you might feel isolated, unmotivated or depressed more quickly. Keep yourself in good mood and stay in touch with your friends.
Tip: Do something social every day. Make virtual video calls with your friends, talk to your friends on social media, if your situation allows it meet your friends with enough distance, exchange with new people with similar interests (e.g. join a LinkedIn or Facebook group for technology entrepreneurship), write letters and emails, talk to family and loved ones. But don’t let it make your day unproductive.
Set boundaries but stay social.
Motivate each other. Remember, you are never alone.
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Same Article in German available: Jun, O. 2020. Startupdate.ch. 5 Tipps für den Erfolg im Home Office. Online: (11. 06. 2020). https://startupdate.ch/5-tipps-fuer-den-erfolg-im-home-office/
