Last Updated on April 12, 2024 by Lorna Barrow
7. Be deliberate about social interaction and exercise
When you work AWAY from home, you interact with many people in the course of a day.
Working from home is quite the opposite.
You can get caught up in work for days at a time especially if you’re trying to meet a deadline or finish a project.
But this is not good for you, your team or your customers.
To operate at your best, you need to deliberately include some social activity in your routine.
Your brain needs the break from your routine in much the same way that routine saves your sanity.
Just as you need social interaction, you need to exercise.
No, you don’t need a gym membership. You already know that exercise can take many forms.
What if you could combine your social activity with your exercise?
You know…like meet a friend and go for a walk or jog on a regular basis? You can even schedule this in your weekly planning.
Me, I hike once a week with friends and that ticks several boxes:
- I get a chance to have fun with a group of crazy friends
2. It keeps me up to date with current affairs
3. They serve as a sounding board for my ideas
4. The actual hiking improves my focus and my physical health
5. I’m out in the sun getting much needed vitamin D
6. After the hike I am guaranteed a fresh and keen perspective on whatever I am working on
Remember…if you’re not deliberate about your social interaction and your exercise, they may or may not happen. And so will your productivity.
8. Find your productivity sweet spot
Being productive is a concern of everybody…well almost everybody who wants to be successful at what they do.
When work happens from your house, that concern becomes a need and you should really go in search of some productivity strategies that can work for you.
You are in luck because there are so many out there. Some are backed by science and even more just by experience.
The key here is to find those that hit your sweet spot and will not disrupt how you work with your team too much.
Here’s a strategy you can try.
I’m not a fan of to-do lists because I write down the things to do and then they overwhelm me.
What I do is have about 3 – 4 what I call “I will not go sleep until…” And then I don’t go to sleep unless I complete these carefully selected tasks.
However, if you like apps and you want to try a few, you can try Todoist if you use windows or Things if you use a Mac. And no! I’m not getting any commission, I’m just trying to help you out.
And just for you, here’s the #1 productivity question people often ask me:
What is your best productivity strategy?
It’s one of my most effective solutions really…
I wake up early and when I start to work, I begin with the thing on my “I-will-not-go-to-sleep-until” list that’s most important or that I like doing the least.
I work until my energy begins to wane and then I switch to support things such as errands, cooking, resting and my hobbies.
When the sun goes down, around 6 p.m. I start working again until it’s time for bed.
I also try not to mix work with household chores since that reduces my focus.
