Working from home has become a sought after “side-gig” or “side-hustle” depending on who you follow on Instagram. Following the success of Tim Ferris’ book The 4 Hour Work Week, more entrepreneurs are seeking to work in the comfort of their dwelling rather than commuting to an office. Startup companies are starting to offer work from home options for team members who live too far away. As tempting as it is to work from home, it can be hard to be productive with so many distractions around you. Here are some tips and tricks on how to hack your working from home experience to delivery result.
It Doesn’t Have to Literally be From Home
You don’t have to literally be at home to work from home. We’re social creatures and require human interactions once in a while. Most people who work from home actually don’t just wake up and roll onto their laptop in their slippers and bathrobe. Most people still get dressed appropriately and head to a local coffee shop or library to work. Depending on the type of your work (a recording artist may not do so well in libraries), choose a location that you actually like being in and often times you’ll end up getting more done being out.
Choose Your Softwares Wisely
Nothing is going to hack your work life more than softwares that are literally made to hack your work life. But often times you’ll end up subscribing to too many softwares that do too many things. And constantly keeping up with them is work itself. Do yourself a favor and choose softwares from the following categories.
ONE software for Managing your to-do lists and tasks. Our personal favorite is Trello.
ONE software for managing your time (if that’s required of you). There’s a ton of iOS/Android apps for this. We recommend choosing an App on your phone rather than a desktop software.
ONE communication software that’s universal and readily accessible. We prefer Slack as it’s a great chat software for teams, companies, and even with your clients. It’s also free.
Get Dressed
Treat working from home like a real job…because it is. Don’t just roll out of bed and slug your way to your desk and start your day. Make sure to get dressed appropriately as if you’re always expecting a spontaneous video call from your boss. Getting dressed up does wonders psychologically to boost your productivity.
Keep Snacks Within Reach
Listen…you’re at home. It’s completely okay to pig out because no one’s watching. No need to hide the snacks in the kitchen or pretend like you’re not going to hunt them down as reward every time you complete a task. Take it from the experts, keep your slacks within arm’s reach. It will save you a TON of time from shamefully raiding the kitchen in between your tasks. You’ll end up wasting more time and be less productive that way. Depending on your diet, we recommend hitting up Home Goods this weekend and collecting those random snack packages that you can never find anywhere else. Whatever you do, don’t ever let your stash run out.
Take 3-4 Breaks a Day
As obvious as this one sounds, many freelancers don’t take enough breaks. When you’re working from home, what matters is that you deliver your work on time. No one is keeping track of how many breaks you take as long as you’re delivering quality work. One of the biggest perks of working from home is the ability to take breaks whenever you want. Don’t let this perk slide and take those breaks. Taking breaks also allows you to release tension and be more productive and energized when you’re actually working.
