Home Office: How to Overcome Procrastination?
15 August 2012
Read by 1977 persons
Working from home means you can choose when and how you work. But it also means: without a boss, there's no control - you have to motivate yourself. Here are nine tips to conquer your inner demon.
1. Separate Private Life from Work
Ideally, you should have a dedicated space, an office, a room you can close the door to. The more comfortable you feel there, the more you'll enjoy working there. Make sure you have good lighting, a comfortable and ergonomic chair, and air the room regularly. If this "office" is not used only as such, make sure you keep your documents and files in a reserved place so that you can find them quickly.
Important: Agree with your family on time slots that guarantee the necessary peace and quiet to do your work.
2. Avoid Chaos
"Nothing is more annoying than a disorganized workplace," says Willy Knüsel, who runs productivity workshops. When you arrive at your "home office" and a mountain of files and other objects hides your computer, you only want one thing: to run away! Knüsel advises to nip chaos in the bud to prevent papers and files from piling up. How?
Apply the principle of immediacy: immediately deal with all tasks that do not require special preparations or additional measures - what is done is done! This principle is much better than managing these tasks by writing them down on a note to avoid forgetting them or making big lists. Prioritize everything that cannot be dealt with immediately, knowing that when the time comes, you will get to it.
Important: Postponing tasks is unacceptable. If you do it anyway, you will quickly find yourself in a mess of unfinished tasks - and starting again from scratch will be even more difficult and discouraging.
3. Set Priorities
Without a clearly defined objective, you scatter your abilities and lose sight of what is important. Plan your workday carefully: it only takes a few minutes. Knüsel advises making a list the day before of tasks to be accomplished the following day, if possible in order of priority. A satisfying corollary effect: ticking off or crossing out completed tasks is so motivating!
4. Group Similar Tasks
Grouping similar tasks is another way to combat the tendency to scatter resources. For example, it is wise to concentrate phone calls in specific time slots.
5. Eliminate Distractions
Lothar Seiwert, a time management expert, recommends: put your email alarm on standby. "It doesn't matter whether it's a simple beep or just an optical signal - every email, no matter how insignificant, distracts us," he says. Nothing costs more time and causes more stress than starting a task without fully concentrating on it because you're dealing with your emails at the same time.
Fatal detail: any distraction is welcome when you have to deal with an unpleasant matter, and you will only too readily prefer to check and reply to your emails. Therefore: deal with your emails "in bulk", in a fixed time slot in the morning, at noon and in the evening. And if possible, do not spend more than two minutes per email: decide immediately whether you react, archive or delete the email.
6. Say "Stop"
External distractions are annoying, but those that haunt your head are even more malicious, says Willy Knüsel. Examples: you could start by mowing the lawn before making phone calls to find new clients. Or: take care of the laundry before writing the project report. If you prefer to do any job rather than what you have to do, you only have one solution: discipline yourself! "Become aware of these kinds of mechanisms and unmask them!" Categorically tell yourself: stop! I'm going to start by doing my work, and then I'll have time to do something else. A valuable aid in complex or laborious tasks: defining intermediate objectives.
Example: you want to develop the overall concept until ten o'clock, then take a short break.
7. Breaks
When you write your schedule for the next day, remember to schedule breaks. A break is not a waste of time, but a simple necessity that allows you to stay fit and productive.
8. Find Your Own Rhythm
Working in your home office offers the opportunity to work during the time slots that suit you best. Take advantage of your performance curve. If you are a morning person, take advantage of your "strong phase" in the morning and start working as soon as you have had breakfast, tackling the most difficult task. If you have trouble getting started, do it more slowly by first tackling simple tasks, such as administrative work and routine tasks.
Important: set a time limit, i.e., a time by which - at the latest - you will really start working.
9. Think About Your Well-being
Being productive is not an unlimited capacity that can be exploited indefinitely by extending working hours. Make sure your days include more than just work. Set aside enough time to recharge your batteries, relax, pursue your hobbies, and spend a few hours with your friends. And if you have successfully completed a particularly difficult task or finished a project, reward yourself by going to a good restaurant or to the cinema: you deserve it!
Vera Sohmer.
Monster.ch
Posted on August 15, 2012.
1. Separate Private Life from Work
Ideally, you should have a dedicated space, an office, a room you can close the door to. The more comfortable you feel there, the more you'll enjoy working there. Make sure you have good lighting, a comfortable and ergonomic chair, and air the room regularly. If this "office" is not used only as such, make sure you keep your documents and files in a reserved place so that you can find them quickly.
Important: Agree with your family on time slots that guarantee the necessary peace and quiet to do your work.
2. Avoid Chaos
"Nothing is more annoying than a disorganized workplace," says Willy Knüsel, who runs productivity workshops. When you arrive at your "home office" and a mountain of files and other objects hides your computer, you only want one thing: to run away! Knüsel advises to nip chaos in the bud to prevent papers and files from piling up. How?
Apply the principle of immediacy: immediately deal with all tasks that do not require special preparations or additional measures - what is done is done! This principle is much better than managing these tasks by writing them down on a note to avoid forgetting them or making big lists. Prioritize everything that cannot be dealt with immediately, knowing that when the time comes, you will get to it.
Important: Postponing tasks is unacceptable. If you do it anyway, you will quickly find yourself in a mess of unfinished tasks - and starting again from scratch will be even more difficult and discouraging.
3. Set Priorities
Without a clearly defined objective, you scatter your abilities and lose sight of what is important. Plan your workday carefully: it only takes a few minutes. Knüsel advises making a list the day before of tasks to be accomplished the following day, if possible in order of priority. A satisfying corollary effect: ticking off or crossing out completed tasks is so motivating!
4. Group Similar Tasks
Grouping similar tasks is another way to combat the tendency to scatter resources. For example, it is wise to concentrate phone calls in specific time slots.
5. Eliminate Distractions
Lothar Seiwert, a time management expert, recommends: put your email alarm on standby. "It doesn't matter whether it's a simple beep or just an optical signal - every email, no matter how insignificant, distracts us," he says. Nothing costs more time and causes more stress than starting a task without fully concentrating on it because you're dealing with your emails at the same time.
Fatal detail: any distraction is welcome when you have to deal with an unpleasant matter, and you will only too readily prefer to check and reply to your emails. Therefore: deal with your emails "in bulk", in a fixed time slot in the morning, at noon and in the evening. And if possible, do not spend more than two minutes per email: decide immediately whether you react, archive or delete the email.
6. Say "Stop"
External distractions are annoying, but those that haunt your head are even more malicious, says Willy Knüsel. Examples: you could start by mowing the lawn before making phone calls to find new clients. Or: take care of the laundry before writing the project report. If you prefer to do any job rather than what you have to do, you only have one solution: discipline yourself! "Become aware of these kinds of mechanisms and unmask them!" Categorically tell yourself: stop! I'm going to start by doing my work, and then I'll have time to do something else. A valuable aid in complex or laborious tasks: defining intermediate objectives.
Example: you want to develop the overall concept until ten o'clock, then take a short break.
7. Breaks
When you write your schedule for the next day, remember to schedule breaks. A break is not a waste of time, but a simple necessity that allows you to stay fit and productive.
8. Find Your Own Rhythm
Working in your home office offers the opportunity to work during the time slots that suit you best. Take advantage of your performance curve. If you are a morning person, take advantage of your "strong phase" in the morning and start working as soon as you have had breakfast, tackling the most difficult task. If you have trouble getting started, do it more slowly by first tackling simple tasks, such as administrative work and routine tasks.
Important: set a time limit, i.e., a time by which - at the latest - you will really start working.
9. Think About Your Well-being
Being productive is not an unlimited capacity that can be exploited indefinitely by extending working hours. Make sure your days include more than just work. Set aside enough time to recharge your batteries, relax, pursue your hobbies, and spend a few hours with your friends. And if you have successfully completed a particularly difficult task or finished a project, reward yourself by going to a good restaurant or to the cinema: you deserve it!
Vera Sohmer.
Monster.ch
Posted on August 15, 2012.
