Working from home: Increase productivity

It might sound tempting, but working from home requires a whole new level of motivation. Here’s how to stay productive and make it work for you.

working from home in pjs

Keep the TV off and stay away from the fridge. There’s a few productivity rules anyone working from home needs to stick to.

It might sound like the dream: working in your pjs or trackies from the couch, but the reality can be starkly different. Staying motivated and productive when there’s a constant temptation to throw on a load of washing is a challenge foreign to office workers, but it is a daily reality for the thousands of Australians who work from home.

Tara is a scriptwriter from Sydney, and said while she “loves the freedom of it” there are challenges she faces when trying to meet her tight deadlines. “There’s a definite temptation to just go to the fridge and check if there’s anything new in there. And of course there isn’t, you didn’t go to the shops.”

Jokes aside, Tara said she has learned some key skills over the years about remaining productive when there’s nobody watching how she works. “I’ve set up a home office that’s a separate space from the rest of the house. It’s a bit of a sanctuary. It looks out over trees, and it’s really quiet. I just make myself a cup of tea and get stuck into it.”She said it was important that the office has everything she needs, so she can keep focussed on work when the deadlines are pressing. This includes her laptop, a good quality printer, a filing system and an ergonomic set up. But she’s also made it a space she wants to spend time in, by adding personal touches, such as nice stationary, and indoor plants.

Tara explained one of the key advantages in having this space is that while she’s happy to spend the day in there, she can close the door on her work when she’s done. “I don’t work outside that area. I don’t want to feel like work is encroaching on my home life.”

Tara’s set up will become more common as our economy shifts, allowing more remote work.

In fact, according to Dell’s Institute for the Future research, 83 per cent of Gen Y and Gen Z workers are looking for the ability to work from home, and they need to invest in the technology to do that.

And while ideally you’ll have the space to close the door on your office like Tara can, it’s not a deal breaker: it’s possible to work successfully from home, even if you’re at your kitchen table. The same Dell research has shown that by doing simple things, like investing in apps and services to streamline your admin can make a massive difference, and cut back on the need for extra space to handle basic things like invoicing and inventory.

Jane Lowder is the founder of Max Coaching, a Sydney-based career advice company. She works with many clients who are struggling to make the best of their home and work balance.

She said that no matter how somebody’s home is set up, to work productively outside an office, you have to create a dedicated work space. If there’s only the kitchen table to work from, you need to set up and pack away your work each day.

“Treat it as a substitute for commute time. If you look at it like that, it can be more motivating to put things away every day.”

She said even though that might feel like a waste of time, it’s critical to create some space between work life and home life. “If you don’t put (your work equipment) away you’ll never have that separation.”She also said a huge pitfall many people fall into is not setting up their workspace correctly, or investing in the right equipment. “It can be as basic as having the right height desk and chair. Some people prefer a monitor and a separate keyboard with a laptop.”She added that while we’re moving more to a paperless society, people often need things like whiteboards, pinboards, filing and storage space. And getting these things wrong will impact long term productivity.

Ms Lowder said that one of the biggest things she’s found speaking with her clients is the different ways people thrive working from home. “Some people work sticking to set hours, and treating their work-time as if they’re going to the office. They might get dressed in more professional clothes, and be sitting at their desk by 9am, and then get changed at the end of the day. “Other people work best when they’re far more flexible.”

It’s fair to say that there’s more than one way to be ‘productive’ when working from home. While some home workers are employees, many are self employed - and they need to be productive to survive.

According to the Small Business and Family Enterprise report, there’s over 1.2 million businesses run by sole operators in Australia. They might be working flexibly, but they are still producing a huge output, with small business providing 33 per cent of GDP. Clearly people have found ways to produce an output even if it’s just from a laptop at home.

Ms Lowder says these people in particular need to be disciplined about the way they work, even if they want to be flexible. The temptation to work harder and put in extra hours at night will always be there if your computer is on.

“Most of the time extra hours won’t add any productivity. Once people are tired, they won’t work as effectively.”

But she said there was one way of working that was almost universal to the success of working from home, and that was following a work plan. “A lot of people work really well to a list. Have an organised plan for the day - including break times. And stick to it.”

She added that it’s important to recognise that in most workplaces the pressure ebbs and flows.  “Think about work in terms of what needs to be delivered, as opposed to the hours that you are at your desk. Some weeks you might do long hours, other weeks might be shorter.”

The day to day plan isn’t the only important thing to consider. You have to plan for the future. The Dell Institute for the Future research shows that by 2030 every organisation will be a technology organisation, and we need to get the tools in place now to communicate effectively.

One thing that’s also critical for people working from home is recognising that stepping out of an office also might mean losing a connection to your colleagues or a wider community. Ms Lowder said she finds the best way to combat that is to set a regular time to meet up with colleagues or clients, or spend time on a hangout-style chat to stay connected.

For Tara, however, working on her own projects can mean there’s no colleagues to immediately turn to when she needs support. “You can spend a whole day by yourself - you’ve got nobody to bounce off or talk to. “I try to go the gym in the morning to break it up. And I need to stay connected to the community around me … I spend a lot of time chatting with my neighbours”

Productivity hacks when you’re working from home

• Have a set routine
• Know what hours you’ll be most effective in. Some people can work late at night, others will work well in the morning.
• If you need to feel like you’re at work, dress like you are going to work (this also helps if you have any video meetings)
• Write down what you need to achieve at the start of each day. And tick it off as you get through it.
• If you’re easily distracted, turn the wifi off. Even if it’s just for a short time before you have to answer emails.
• Don’t  give into the temptation to get domestic work done outside of break times.
• Get up from your desk on a regular basis. Don’t work longer than 90 minutes without a break.
• If you’re missing work camaraderie, create a community around you. Maybe go to the gym each day, or connect with people in your local cafe.