You may be a month into working from home and wondering how to remain productive while working from home. You are not alone. There are many things that you can do to create a home office that ensures success. Lets jump into some specific tips to remain productive while working from home.

Regardless of how long you have worked and seeing yourself as not productive, you can adopt new methods to be productive. Indeed, because you don’t commute, working from home is ideal, with a lot of freedom. The time you could have used commuting can be shifted to doing your work tasks. You can exercise at home, alongside other things connected to your social life.  Also, with less distraction from all sorts of questions from workmates, you can concentrate more on your work and improve productivity.

Conversely, you can still have challenges while working from home, which can make you doubt your productivity. For example, small kids needing your attention or roomies who are not working and want to join you and tell stories are both distractions you may encounter working from home.

Regardless of how your situation is, the below tips will help you develop and remain productive even while working from home. 

1.  Take Purposeful Breaks

It is important to take breaks because “taking short breaks throughout the day renews your focus, helps keep your energy levels consistent, and reduces your stress.” Purposeful rests give your body energy, and you can remain focused on your job.  It is also recommended to use the breaks to attend to the factors of distractions. If you can plan to talk to that roommate or return some missed calls from your friends during these purposeful breaks, then you will be the right path of being productive. 

The amount of time you allocate for the breaks depends on you, but you should make sure it addresses both your job and distractions. The primary purpose of this break is to help you refresh and remain industrious, enabling you to finish your daily work duties without getting exhausted.

2.  Separate yourself from the distractions

According to Phyllis Korki, in her contribution to this NY Times article, the best environment is one in which you handle one task until you’re through, and then begin anew. It is commonly known as monotasking. She also said, “actively resist the urge to check unrelated social media while you are working on a task.”

In my opinion, there two types of distraction that you should avoid as much as possible.  The first is interruption from unrelated forces, like your roommates or kids. The second distraction comes from your laptop or computer. To escape this interruption and remain productive in your work, plan your schedules in a way that gives you a break from your computer. If you can prioritize these distractions and contain them in time, then you will be on the safe side.

3.  Set A Schedule That Maximizes Productivity

You can get lost when trying to understand the meaning of coming up with a schedule that maximizes your productivity. The main advantage of working from home is flexibility around your work schedule.  It means that at home you can easily see what hours you will be most productive and working at that time. 

You may end up working at odd hours and not observing the traditional working hours.  You can schedule with your boss and let them know that you will be working at certain intervals during the day, but you will meet your daily or weekly target. For instance, small kids can make it hard for you to concentrate on your work during the day. You have to work with them, and maybe utilize the times they are asleep or playing outside.

4.  Engage with friends and family

The best way to spend these purposeful breaks while working at home is connecting to your friends and families. Emma Seppälä Ph.D., in her article in Psychology Today, argues that “Social connection improves health, well-being, and longevity.”

When you take a break on your work, you give yourself time to focus on other important matters of life. If, for example, you can talk or engage in any other activities with your family members, it gives you a rest and improves mood in your job, hence making you productive for the remaining part of the day.

Ben Tejes is the co-founder of the Ascend Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Means Test Calculator and writes for JanMarket Bankruptcy with the goal to help lead people to achieve debt and financial freedom. He covers topics such as Chapter 13 Bankruptcy Missouri, How Chapter 13 affects credit, and Chapter 13 and 7 Bankruptcy Kansas. When not working, Ben enjoys going on adventures with his wife and three young daughters.