Five Work-From-Home Productivity Tips from Legacy Homes

The challenges of our times are causing more and more of us to work from home for at least the foreseeable future. At the same time, we’re learning that matching your office productivity level at home is incredibly challenging.

Thankfully, there are freelancers and remote professionals who’ve been working this way for years and can provide valuable guidance for the rest of us. Here are five great tips from remote work specialists specifically designed to help new work-from-home professionals oriented and feeling positive!

Tip #1: Designate a Workspace

Here’s a lesson many of us are learning the hard way: the physical space of our offices and workstations provides us the structure we need to do our best work. Our homes are supposed to be places of comfort and relaxation, and it’s hard to break that cycle of thinking and get super productive sitting on the same couch where you unwind.

That’s why it’s important to carve out a specific workspace for yourself within the home and treat it like an office. If you have the space to dedicate an entire room (even a small one or walk-in) for office purposes, that’s ideal; but even a kitchen table or corner of another room can be turned into a productivity station. Most of our Legacy Homes floor plans include a flex space which can have French doors added to close off the space and make into an office space that is perfect for working at home!

Tip #2: Find Ways to Maintain Social Interactions with Your Colleagues

Seeing your coworkers every day helps you feel like part of a positive community that’s working together on shared goals. Once you start working from home, it’s easy to feel like an island cut off from the greater purpose and team.

 

One way to fight the blues of remote work and keep yourself invested is to maintain your collegial friendships. Whether it’s a team “happy hour” over a video conferencing service, a shared online workout, or even a little competitive gaming, there are many ways you and your colleagues can still make time to hang out and stay in touch.

Tip #3: Set Limits with Your Family & Roommates

One of the biggest surprises people have when they start working from home is how much their kids, spouses, and roommates seem determined to keep them from getting work done. Those folks just love you and are used to enjoying quality time when you’re home together, but it’s absolutely critical to establish boundaries and expectations during your work time.

For example, it’s completely reasonable to say, “Between these hours, I need to take care of some tasks for work. Once I finish for the day we can go for a walk or play a family game together.” Setting those boundaries can feel like a challenge at first, but it’s key to unlocking actual productivity.

Tip #4: Create Systems to Hold Yourself Accountable

When you don’t have colleagues in nearby cubicles or supervisors checking in throughout the day, it can be a little tougher to keep yourself honest about productivity. That’s why, when you work from home, you need to think more like your own boss and put accountability systems in place.

One baseline best practice is to keep a day planner and create at least a rough schedule ahead of time. You don’t necessarily have to stick to the exact letter of that plan, as flexibility is one of the main advantages of working from home, but you should still use that planning exercise as an opportunity to organize your thinking and ensure you aren’t forgetting anything.

Tip #5: Practice Self-Care and Self-Patience

Accountability and self-patience must be balanced in order to achieve work-from-home success. You must stay on top of yourself in terms of prioritizing and getting work done, but you also have to recognize that you’re not a productivity robot built to work from the minute you get up until the minute you go to sleep.

When you’re working alone, getting down on yourself is the easiest thing in the world, but it’s crucial that you maintain some perspective and don’t hold yourself to too a high a standard, especially if you’re new to remote work! Think about it: if your boss was never cutting you any slack, you’d be miserable! Now that you’re your own manager, you need to cut yourself some slack!

Setting a solid schedule for yourself is key to having a productive workday. Set your alarm and give yourself enough time to get up and do your usual morning routine. You don’t have to get dressed up, but if it helps, trade in your PJ’s for some jeans so you’re still casual and start work at your usual time. Make sure that you are implementing self-care so that each day feels structured and be sure to remind yourself that this is not forever.

Working from home is a unique challenge. It sounds easy on paper, but it requires incredible dedication, discipline, and self-care. Our Legacy Homes team salutes the millions of professionals making this difficult transition at this time and will continue to do everything we can to support families as they adapt to this new way of life.