How To Fight Procrastination When Working At Home: 7 Quick Tips
Discover seven quick tips that will help you fight procrastination when working from home.
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Procrastination, according to Angela Ash, is a tricky habit; it comes easily to most people and is difficult to define but it can have a profound impact on your productivity. Learn how to fight that pesky procrastination when working from home using these seven quick tips.
Angela Ash is an expert content writer and editor, and she works with Flow SEO. She writes on a multitude of topics but places a special importance on SEO, productivity, motivation, time management and wellness.
Because many people have been working from home for a while now, they tend to mistake the extra time they would normally spend commuting and preparing for leisure time while they are actually procrastinating.
For example, checking social media feedback once too many times is exactly that – procrastination. By no means is it quality spent time.
Of course, procrastination is not difficult to beat once you know it for what it is. It only takes some extra will power and a good schedule.
Let’s see how to stay productive, enjoy the extra time and yet not procrastinate.
Pesky Procrastination Tip #1. Draft a schedule.
For numerous people, daily schedules keep them organized.
It is not recommended practice for everyone, though, as freelancers, for example, have their own methods and lifestyles. But for the majority of office workers, it is just the strategy they need to beat procrastination.
Draft a daily schedule that will include all activities for the day. Start with waking up, taking a shower, dressing, eating breakfast and so on. Remember to include regular breaks for lunch, exercise, etc.
What’s important when drafting breaks is to define them to the letter.
Thus, a lunch break should be spent eating lunch, a workout break should be spent on exercise, and leisure time should be spent in a defined manner. In other words, use a time slot for reading, watching TV, cleaning, and all other activities you will be performing.
RESOURCES:
How To Get More Free Time – Written specifically for multitasking, creative free spirits like myself, this post will give you 3 actionable tips you need to get more free time.
Plus: A list of 4 personal time management systems that will help you accomplish your tasks in as little time as possible – resulting in more free time for all the other things you want to do.
Pesky Procrastination Tip #2. Sort tasks by priority.
Working at home doesn’t differ greatly from office work, except it gives one more freedom to have some coffee whenever and dress more leisurely (not to mention enjoy a home-cooked meal). This is to say, all the tasks are still there.
Because you will have a more relaxed schedule when working from home, it is important to sort the tasks by priority in order to boost your productivity. In that way, you will ensure that the day’s job is done efficiently without you having to spend extra time on certain tasks.
In a similar way, sort other activities by priority. For example, reading and watching TV can be interchangeable and also switch positions with more urgent tasks.
Pesky Procrastination Tip #3. Allocate some time to slack off.
Slacking off is not necessarily bad, especially if your job is stressful. Nobody likes to have their whole day planned out without a possibility to add an extra activity in accordance with their mood.
To beat procrastination, allocate a slot or two for such activities.
For example, you may allocate two timeslots for checking incoming messages (one in the morning and the other in the evening), and one slot for browsing social media. Remember to stick to the schedule, though. Otherwise, you’ll end up spending more time doing effectively nothing.
RESOURCES:
How To Time Block Your Day In 6 Super Easy Steps – Learn how to time block your day effectively in six super easy steps that even the busiest person can do.
Pesky Procrastination Tip #4. Keep communication alive.
Who says that being cooped up at home makes your social life suffer? Such claims are unfounded, mildly put, since many people already keep in touch with their friends, families and colleagues online. Think in terms of international companies, and you’ll get an idea.
For many people, jobs imply lots of communication. Even if the setting has changed, the practice does not have to. There are numerous apps and tools for online conferencing and meetings, some of which you already used before. Skype and Zoom, for example, are widely used for such purposes.
Pesky Procrastination Tip #5. Keep informed about legal changes.
Admittedly, things stand somewhat easier for people working in their place of residency.
What about expats? They have a couple of extra cares now that things have become globally complicated.
The good news is, there are new measures aimed at making their lives easier, notably ones regarding taxes.
Perhaps the biggest challenge people are facing no matter where they are is the pace of changes being applied to all sorts of regulations. It is crucial to keep informed on a regular basis, even a bit more if you live abroad.
Not taking advantage of an extended deadline or a process dedicated to assisting you is just as bad, if not worse, than procrastination.
Pesky Procrastination Tip #6. Take time to unwind.
Remember those regular breaks in your schedule? Make certain to enjoy them to the fullest. Now that you’re performing the majority (if not all) of activities at home, you are free to add a zest of whatever you like to everything you do.
For people enjoying newspapers with their morning coffee, this means they now can enjoy lunch in a similar fashion. For people with families, this means you’ll get more quality time to spend with your loved ones. Seriously, how often do you get to enjoy lunch with your family during working days?
Last but not least, don’t laze off with your workout routine. Gym lovers have been complaining a lot, but the simple truth is – you can perform a myriad of routines at home. Try a routine you’ve never done before – you might learn something new about yourself.
Pesky Procrastination Tip #7. Think about things you always wanted to do but never had time.
Now that you’ve found yourself with heaps of spare time, instead of wasting it doing nothing, remember the things you wanted to learn but never had time to do it.
Many people are reporting they are learning new skills, which has never been easier or indeed more affordable in the wake of free content online. There is such an unbelievable slew of courses available for free that you may find it difficult to pick only one.
This is also a good chance to procrastinate. Browsing multiple offers without a clear idea of what you’re looking for is exactly that. That’s why we said, “remember the things you wanted to learn.” Don’t just “window-shop.” Rather, focus on the courses you are interested in instead of deciding what you are interested in after reviewing the offer.
RESOURCES:
The Best Skills To Learn – The best skills to learn (whilst at home) that will make you more hirable as an employee and more independent as a person.
50 Wickedly Productive Things To Do At Home If You’re Bored – A big list of wickedly productive things to do at home when you have loads of free time or are bored or stuck.
Final thoughts on how to fight procrastination when working at home
As is always the case with too much time and too rich an offer, procrastination is a given. There is nothing wrong with giving yourself all the space you need to unwind, but too many mindless activities will leave a sour taste in your mouth and even make you feel guilty in the long run.
Albeit there is no general rule to beating procrastination that fits all, stick to moderation. Personalize your schedule and stick to it, at least in the beginning. Once you’ve come up with a routine, you won’t need a reminder on how to spend time more creatively.
