If you work from home, run your own small business, or otherwise spend a lot of time in your home office, you may be wondering how you can become more efficient, and do more work – in less time.
To help you do just that, we’ve put together a few of the best home office time management tools, tips, and techniques. Find out how to boost productivity in your home office now!
- Create A Set Schedule For Work
Even if you’re working from home, it’s important to have a set schedule, and know when you’re working, and when you’re “at home”. One of the benefits of working from home is flexibility – but if you don’t have a dividing line between your work time and your home time, chances are you’re going to end up being less productive.
- Don’t Let Your Personal Life Interfere
While it might seem convenient, don’t do laundry when you’re supposed to be working. Try not to let distractions like researching a vacation or shopping online draw your attention from critical work tasks.
Sure, it’s nice to have the option to do these things – without a manager or your boss finding out – but the more time you waste doing personal tasks, the more time you’ll spend in your home office. You’ll have trouble focusing on work, and performing efficiently.
Related: The Advantages of the Mobile Office or Working from Home
- Keep Track Of Your Working Hours
Need a tool to help you keep track of what you’re doing – and how many hours you’re actually working? Try using time tracking or project management software. Depending if you work as a team or on your own, there are very helpful tools available online. You can easily track the hours you spend on each project – and find out how much time you’re spending in your home office. This helps you prioritize more effectively.
- Block Distractions With StayFocusd
If you have problems browsing social media websites like Facebook and Twitter, or going to sites like Reddit or YouTube when you’re supposed to be focused on working, StayFocusd is a very valuable tool. It’s available as an extension for Google Chrome. When it’s active, StayFocusd blocks some of the most frequently-used, distracting websites – allowing you to focus on tasks like answering emails, writing, coding, and other work projects.
- Keep A Calendar Close At-Hand
You don’t have to use a physical calendar, even though this is still quite useful for many reasons. You could also use a digital service like Google Calendar. Either way, a calendar is a very useful tool for home office time management. It will help you keep track of important deadlines, and prioritize your work tasks. With a calendar, you can always be sure that you know about upcoming meetings, due dates, presentations, and more.
- Declutter Your Office Space
It’s hard to stay focused and concentrate in a cluttered home office. If you have documents, books, reference materials, computer equipment, and other such things scattered around your desk, it will be harder for you to find important documents and tools – which decreases your productivity.
A clean desk is an efficient desk. Take a few minutes to declutter and store unnecessary objects – and your productivity will thank you for it!
Read more tips for an organized office.
Follow These Tips For Better Home Office Time Management
When you streamline your workflow and become a more efficient worker in your home office you open yourself to new opportunities. Take another look now – and see which tips you can start using today.