As a result of Covid-19 many of us are now spending a lot more time at home and adjusting to a new way of living and working. It is normal to feel a lack of motivation and to see a drop in productivity. Latest studies suggest as many as 45% of us are struggling to adapt. As such Butler Ross have put together some tips to help you stay productive during these unprecedented times. We hope they keep you feeling energised.
1. Define your spaces
Separate work from home, have a room dedicated to working it doesn't have to be big. This way when you enter it you know consciously what you are there to do. It changes your mindset from "At Home" to "At Work". If you can close the door!!
2. Stick to a routine
It can be easy for hours to blend together. Having a daily or weekly routine can really help avoid this. Writing a to-do list can ensure you stick to it and gives a sense of achievement when ticking things off. It sounds simple but such structure can easily go out of the window. Get up, get washed and dressed and ready to attack the day as if you were going to work. If you can get started straight away, you don't have the daily commute anymore. Use that time to get right into the day rather than sluggishly and slowly getting around to it. Before you know it you've completed some tasks, before you'd normally be at work creating a positive mindset for the day ahead.
3. Give yourself breaks
Don't be locked in a room all day. Take a break and give your mind time to digest what it has just done before coming back to it. Your productivity and quality will improve dramatically.
4. Exercise
With your gym/leisure centre closed you need to find new ways to break a sweat and keep the endorphins flowing which is crucial in maintaining positivity. Whether it is going outside for your allocated exercise or staying in there are plenty of options for all levels of fitness but it won't come to you, you have to initiate action.
There are many online websites and apps offering free workouts or extended trials to help keep us active. YouTube is obviously a good place to start and celebrities like Joe Wicks and Davina McCall are offering such free viewing or extended trial periods. Set yourself goals, this helps with your sense of achievement. Go faster, longer, quicker next time.
5. Complete those life maintenance tasks
OK it's not work, work but it will really help. We all have them, that list of jobs we just haven't got around to doing (No. 74 - Jet wash the wheelie bins!!!). Now is the perfect time. Apart from them being essential to maintaining some life order, completing them offers a sense of achievement, creates a task orientated structure to your day and a level of calm as the environment around you becomes how you want it. It also gets you away from the computer for a break.
6. Take care of your finances
With such uncertainty in the world's economic climate now is a really good time to review your personal finances, re-assess what you spend your money on and plan for the future. In short re-set your financial landscape. Again it will bring with it a sense of achievement and hopefully a degree of calm knowing what you need to do to achieve your new budget and financial plans.
7. Achieve something new
Having something else to focus on really helps maintain focus and it can be anything at all. It is a great way to keep your brain active and engaged. A new hobby, skill, recipe, language or even a sporting challenge. This can be done individually or collectively. For sport based challenges Strava is a brilliant app for not only tracking your own achievements but also to compare and work together with friends and colleagues to achieve a common goal.
8. Stay in touch with friends, family and colleagues
The current restrictions can make us feel lonely and isolated leading to a lack of motivation. Technology however allows us to easily stay in touch. Take the time to message, phone and video call those close to you or those who you are used to talking to. You are probably used to having daily interaction with people so don't stop. Even take it a step further with pub quizzes, games nights and group chats so you have something to look forward to.
9. Work when you are at your most productive
Your motivation will naturally ebb and flow throughout the day, plan and schedule around it. Save your harder tasks for when you know you'll be in the right headspace for them and likewise use slower points of the day to complete the easier, logical tasks.
10. Communicate your requirements
Make sure any house mates, siblings, parents, partners, pets and children (granted pets and young children are more difficult) respect your space during work hours. Just because you are working from home doesn't mean you are home. Now this isn't easy to achieve, it takes planning and give and take. No doubt multiple parties are all trying to work at home in the same space and if you have young children it becomes even more challenging. Talk it through, plan it out and stick to it. As importantly communicate it to your employers and colleagues. So they know when you will be doing your hours.They will understand.
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