How to work smarter from home

All across the country, thousands of people have suddenly found themselves working from home. For small business owners and the self-employed, this poses a new problem: how do I stay on top of things in a less structured environment? To help you and your employees ensure that you’re making the most of your time, here are our top six tips for working smarter at home.

1. Create a designated workplace

Establish a space in your home that is dedicated purely to working. Your brain needs to retain the separation between your work life and your home life if you want to function at your best. Redesigning your surroundings is a practical and powerful way of ensuring this separation stays intact.

2. Make a list, but keep it short

One of the biggest challenges when you start working from home is organisation. And one of the easiest solutions is to write yourself a list of outstanding work and deadlines. But keep it short – five items maximum. You should only be listing your most important tasks – and one of those tasks should always be related to your own goals as a business owner. Complete each task before moving on, and you will slowly discover a more productive version of yourself.

3. Don’t add extra hours

You need to be as effective with your time as possible. Dragging work out is bad for business – it eats away at the time you should be spending on your own business, doing admin, marketing, chasing down new clients, and more. It’s also bad for your clients, who will eventually realise they are not getting their moneys’ worth.

4. Keep fit and healthy

It’s impossible to perform at your best if ill-health is holding you back. That’s why it’s vital that you take regular breaks, try to get out of the house for a little exercise every day, eat healthily, and keep hydrated. It’s easy to let these habits slide when you start working from home, so remember: looking after yourself is the same as looking after your business.

5. Keep in contact

Modern technology makes it easier than ever to stay in contact with colleagues and clients from the safety of your own home. You can use apps like Skype, Zoom, and Microsoft Teams to ensure your business relationships don’t suffer. Avoiding isolation is a major challenge to those new to working from home, so be proactive, and schedule team meetings from the outset.

6. Stick to a routine

Your working day will be much easier if you get a routine in place straight away. The brain loves routine: it frees up your attention for the things that really matter (like running your business) and eliminates time-wasting decisions like when to have lunch or how long you should spend checking your emails in the morning. You can use alarms, calendars, and other organisational tools to help make this easier.

Working from home can lead to new levels of productivity and enthusiasm. We hope the above will prove helpful, but if you need more guidance on how to get the most out of your business, give J W Hinks a call on 0121 456 0190.