While working from home offers many amazing perks such as flexible hours and a stress-free environment, it isn’t without its drawbacks. It’s not uncommon for remote workers to struggle with productivity and motivation due to the more relaxed schedule and various distractions, from family life to spending way too much time scrolling on your social media feed.
Luckily for procrastinators, there’s always a way to get out of the rut. No more endless tasks that never get ticked off the list, no more deadline extensions, no more frustration with yourself over how little you got done today. While everyone always has a chance to increase their productivity, not everyone’s brain works the same way. This means you might have to try many different techniques that help you trick yourself into getting things done before you find the right one for you.
Here are some of the methods that might just as well do the trick if you give them a try.
The Pomodoro Technique
One of the most popular productivity methods in the age of remote working would have to be the Pomodoro Technique. Whilst very simple, this time-management hack can increase your productivity a thousandfold.
When you realise how much time you’ll have to spend working today in order to get everything done, it’s easy to feel stressed out and overwhelmed. At this point, our brains prefer to choose the path of the least resistance and simply postpone all the tasks by ignoring them and finding a distraction instead.
That’s where the Pomodoro Technique comes in. All you have to do is:
- Choose one task.
- Set a timer for 25 minutes.
- Work until the timer goes off.
- Take a 5-minute break.
- Work for another 25 minutes, always rest for 5 minutes in-between.
- Take a longer break (20-30 minutes) after every fourth pomodoro.
It’s proven that rest helps you be more productive and focus better, which is why the 5-minute breaks are vital. What the Pomodoro Technique achieves here is giving yourself specific chunks of time to be fully immersed in work, with small breaks that let your brain rest before you plunge back in again.
What’s more, you also mentally prepare yourself for 25 minutes of work instead of a full day, which immediately reduces the feeling of being overwhelmed.
The 10-Minute Rule
The 10-Minute Rule is a great productivity method for anyone who’s procrastinating in their home office, letting time pass by while getting nothing done. There are days when you wake up and feel like you don’t want to do any work – no matter how much coffee you drink or how much you try to hype yourself up, it’s just immensely difficult to begin.
The truth is, starting is usually the hardest part. Once you start working, you’ve pushed through the barrier. You get immersed in the task ahead, time flows by quickly, and the work you feared all day suddenly doesn’t seem so bad after all.
The 10-Minute Rule is a great technique to use when you want to begin your work but feel discouraged by the sheer volume of tasks ahead of you. Here’s how it works:
- You tell yourself you only ever must work for 10 minutes.
- The task suddenly doesn’t seem so daunting anymore. 10 minutes is a very short period of time, so why not give it a try?
- You work for 10 minutes.
- Chances are, those 10 minutes have been enough to kick start your motivation, and so… yes, that’s right. You keep working!
It’s essential that you actually convince yourself it will only be 10 minutes, though. If your brain sees through the ruse, the rule might not be as effective. This means that if you don’t feel like working even after 10 minutes of focus, you should take a break and try something else a while later. Prove to yourself that you kept your word; the next time you try the 10-Minute Rule, your brain will trust you and you’ll be able to give it another chance.
The Flowtime Technique
One of the most effective ways of working is getting into a so-called flow state. During flow state, your brain is completely immersed in a task to the point where you almost forget your own surroundings – you are so present and focused on a single important activity that you don’t even notice time passing by. While this often happens with creative tasks such as writing or playing a musical instrument, it can be achieved in your home office environment as well.
What’s so amazing about flow states is that things are so easy all of a sudden. Every decision you make is effortless, every action you take is fluid, and work ceases to feel like work due to the high level of concentration. It takes practice to develop the ability to get into a flow state while working, however, having your own home office is actually a great perk – it means there are fewer distractions and less noise.
There are various ways that can help you reach flow, one of them being music. If you put headphones on, play specific music that you find helpful when trying to focus and completely shut out the world around you, you’ve made the first few important steps toward reaching a flow state.
Procrastination can be hard to beat, but the results are absolutely worth it. The techniques mentioned above are only a few out of the many amazing methods that can easily change the way you work – and in turn, transform your home office life for the better.
