It
wasn't so long ago when working from home was sold as the entrepreneur's dream.
"Work
from home, get stuff done while wearing your pajamas and take as many breaks and
naps as you want. All you need is your laptop and an internet connection,"
said almost every ad, every guru, and every promotion. Maybe not in those specific
words, but that certainly was one of the benefits, even if it was not
explicitly said.
Then,
Covid-19 happened. Many people were forced to work from home - and most of them
discovered that it's not all it is cracked up to be.
Of
course, you'll hear all kinds of stats. For example, research firm Valoir
claims that employees who were suddenly required to complete their assignments
from home only suffered a 1% productivity loss.
I
don't know about that. It might be somewhat true... but only perhaps because
most people work longer hours.
There
was an article on Bloomberg that said that in the U.S., homebound employees are
logging three hours more per day on the job than before lockdowns, according to
NordVPN.
People
are overworked. Stressed. Afraid of losing their jobs.
So
"only 1% productivity loss" comes at a great cost.
Stanford
economist Nicholas Bloom says that the global work-from-home movement could
generate a worldwide productivity slump and threaten economic growth
for many years.
Now,
let's back up a little.
A
lot of people reading this email - and that probably includes you - either have
a day job and are currently looking to build another stream of income or are
building a full-time online income.
Either
way, you're probably doing it from home, and if it's not your first day, you're
probably already aware that maintaining a productive environment is
challenging.
So
what I'm going to do is I'm going to share things that worked for me when it
comes to improving my work environment at home.
By
the way, it's crucially important you pay close attention to this. Because your
work environment can not only affect your decision-making and performance...
but mood and even physical health.
#1
- Have a Structure To Your Day
I
don't mean you should join the 5 am club. I know that this has been all the rage
for a while now (if you want to see an extreme example of this, look up Miracle
Morning by Hal Elrod), however, I think that we're all created differently. If
you're not the person to naturally get up at 5 am and you function best after
midnight, why bother molding yourself into someone you're not?
What
you need to do instead, is have a structure. By all means, sleep until noon and
get all your work done from 2 pm to 10 pm or whatnot. But do it with purpose, and
make every day the same. The structure and the routine is what gives your brain
peace and order - and once you don't have to think when you're up and when
you're doing what, you'll find your productivity soar.
By
the way, if you're afraid of having a "routine" because you think it
will stifle your creativity, don't be. Most of the time training
yourself to create at a specific time of the day helps your
creativity.
And
get out of your pajamas. While it's a nice soundbite, it hurts your
productivity - because if you leave them on, that serves as a subconscious clue
to your brain that you're still in "relax" mode, not "work"
mode.
#2
- Have a Professional Space
Make
it dedicated, too, if possible. Meaning, it's a place where you just work. Even
if you have a small house or an apartment, figure out a way to have a corner
where all you do is work. If you relax on your laptop, stop. Make it your work
tool and get an iPad instead for watching Youtube videos, reading articles, and
whatnot.
By
professional I mean that you should only keep work-related stuff in your field
of vision as much as possible. If you make it happen, you'll find your ability
to focus grows exponentially. The reason why this works is we only have a very
limited amount of working memory available to us at any given time, and if it's
constantly flooded with clues to stuff that's not relevant to what you're
trying to do, you're going to have trouble focusing.
#3
- Know, At All Times, What You Should Be Doing
The
best way to start the day is to hit the ground running with a clear action
plan.
The
trick is to create it the night before. Then, when you wake up and start the
day, you don't have to wonder, and you don't have to decide anything. Forget
about email for the first couple of hours of the day. Just blast through that to-do list. And when you're done with at least 2 of your most important things,
then you can pause and look at the email, and make sure you haven't missed
anything.
You
should also prioritize. For example, if you have a day job and are building a
side business, you could decide that the first couple of hours of every workday belong to you. During those 2 hours every day, you work hard on things that
will move the needle in your own business. Then, you go to work - whatever that
means in this day and age, maybe you just log in to work and stay in the same
place. But that's beside the point. When you work in your day job, you do it
with confidence and peace... because you've already invested 2 hours into
building your own business.
Conclusion
While
working from home isn't all it's cracked up to be, there are quite a few things
you can do starting tomorrow that will make you more productive and happy.
And,
if you do this right, it will also let you work fewer hours - meaning, you
could get back to normal sooner.
To Your Success, Paul Hanson
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