How to be more productive working from home: 9 Rules for the “New Normal”

Being efficient with our time during the workday is more challenging than ever. With the switch to remote work, many of us don’t have the built-in parameters of office life to regulate our productivity. That means we need to learn – and lean-on – self-directed strategies if we want to be more productive working from home.

A major new global study into remote working, conducted by Paper Giant for Atlassian, found that 40% of respondents felt that working from home translated to significantly longer hours.

The good news is that it doesn’t have to be this way. As we move away from traditional office spaces, there are a number of hacks and tricks you can deploy to boost your own productivity. The goal? To hit all of your targets without impinging on your wellness or work-life balance whatsoever. Read on for our nine science-backed, expert-approved principles of self-productivity.

1. Master desk-scaping

The Paper Giant study found that 49% of workers felt they needed a better working space if they were to continue working from home – with more than a third (34%) saying their workspace was less comfortable than the office. The solution? Stop shuffling piles of paper and get desk-scaping.

A recent report published by the Journal of Neuroscience proved that clutter limits the brain’s ability to process information correctly. So, if you want to start completing tasks more efficiently, it’s time to get tidying.

First, try “zoning” your home office, by creating separate spaces for reference materials, supplies, and long-term projects, before assigning discard dates to as many as possible. Then clear your desk itself and only replace items that are essential for daily use.

Finally, add pops of color wherever you can – from a picture on the wall, to a screensaver or even your choice of mug. Color can have a major impact on mood, with greens and blues particularly proven to increase productivity, so reach for that ocean vista or add a leafy plant to the proceedings. (As well as their greenness, a study from Washington State University found that plants have additional benefits in terms of inspiring productivity).

2. Embrace mono-tasking

The brutal truth is that very, very few of us can efficiently multi-task. In fact, it’s roughly 2% of the population, according to Professor David Strayer of the University of Utah, an expert in cognitive distraction. The problem is that when we bounce from task to task, we aren’t actually getting more done. Instead, we’re forcing our brains to constantly switch speeds, steering through tasks more erratically and burning out our internal gearboxes. The answer is to slay the multi-tasking monster, and embrace mono-tasking.

“We’ve been sold the myth that multi-tasking is a valuable skill, giving us the ability to get it all done – but this couldn’t be further from the truth,” says business coach Ryan Jackson, author of “The Success Rebellion.”

“A more productive approach is to devote days or half-days to themes, or closely related tasks,” he explains. “That way, it’s easier to knock jobs down one at a time and even if you do get distracted, it’s quicker to pick up the thread again.”

3. Plan tomorrow, tonight

The Paper Giant study discovered that 44% of workers believe it’s now more important to know how to motivate themselves apart from the parameters of office life. One of the best ways to do that is with a to-do list – and the best time to make that list is the night before.

While you’re still in work mode, take the final 10 minutes of your day to assess what you really need to get done tomorrow – a task which could take twice as long when coming to it cold first thing in the morning. The key trick is to keep your to-do list short so it doesn’t seem overwhelming. According to Niamh Graham, head of Global HR at Workhuman, the Urgent-Important Matrix is a great way to do that.

“Otherwise known as the Eisenhower Matrix, this is an excellent tool to help prioritise tasks, especially when working from home,” says Graham. “The matrix helps you organise tasks into four quadrants by urgency and importance.” Then you can hone straight in on the ‘Urgent-Important’ tasks and schedule, delegate or eliminate the others.

4. Make a not-to-do list

You’ve made your to-do list now, but if you want to be truly productive, you’ll need the opposite, too. A not-to-do list should be a permanent addition to your workspace, featuring all of the time-wasters that are obstructing your daily goals – from checking social media, to clicking on cat videos, to wandering into the kitchen to wash the dishes.

“Without the prospect of your boss loitering behind you, even the most disciplined workers are susceptible to the temptation of time-wasting,” says Jackson. “Creating a [forbidden] list helps remind you what to avoid, while actually blocking yourself from certain websites during the working day will help you even more.”

To make this easier, check out apps like RescueTime, LeechBlock, or SelfControl that you can configure to prevent access to selected websites during certain time periods.

5. Block out your flow times

Your “flow” time is when you’re most efficient: a period of hyper-focus when you work most smoothly. For some people it’s early in the morning, for others it’s the afternoons or evenings. Once you’ve identified yours, block out 90 minutes in that window each day for pure, deep work on your biggest tasks.

“Deep work needs to be performed in a state of distraction-free concentration and is important because without it, you’ll find yourself constantly focusing on small, non-value adding tasks and never making progress on your bigger, more important pieces of work,” says certified high performance coach David Grieve. “Blocking out time is a great way to ensure this crucial period happens every day, without any rings or pings to distract you.”

6. Prioritise Pareto and pomodoros

Named after Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto, the Pareto Principle (also known as the 80-20 Rule) states that 80% of your results come from 20% of your actions, and vice versa. In other words, to become more productive, you must identify the 20% of your work that is having that 80% impact, and always prioritise it.

Next, you should maximise your minutes spent working on this crucial 20% via the Pomodoro Technique – a series of 25 minute focused “sprints” on a task, followed by a complete five minute break each time.

“The level of our concentration is deeply affected by our mental stamina,” says Grieve. “Pomodoros and Pareto Analysis are two techniques that can help us manage our time more effectively – as is the Getting Things Done (GTD) method by David Allen.”

7. Learn to nap like a pro

Unless you’re looking for an excuse to get fired, napping isn’t an option in a regular office – but it’s a strategy you can use to your advantage when working from home. The secret is to harness your body’s natural circadian rhythm and employ a 20 minute power nap (sometimes called a Stage 2 Nap) in the mid-afternoon, to boost your memory, cognitive skills, and creativity.

By restricting yourself to just 20 minutes, you reap the aforementioned benefits without falling into deeper REM sleep, which will leave you feeling groggy and disoriented. To maximize your energy, drink a cup of coffee immediately before your power nap. Researchers have found that caffeine takes about 20 minutes to show its physiological effect, so it will kick in just as you’re waking.

8. Dress for success

When you’re working from home, it doesn’t really matter how you dress – or even if you dress at all below the waist. But not making a sartorial effort is a major mistake when it comes to your productivity levels. The act of preparing for the day ahead, including the selection of slightly smarter clothes, sends a message to your brain that it’s game time – and that sparks more mental energy.

“Dressing appropriately switches your work mindset to ‘on,’ which is crucial for concentration levels and will give you a sense of added purpose,” says leading business and innovation expert Erica Wolfe-Murray, author of Simple Tips Smart Ideas: Build a Bigger Better Business. That doesn’t mean you have to wear a pencil skirt or three-piece suit while you work from your guest room. But it does mean you should leave the sweat pants in the wardrobe on work days.

9. Set up a “force quit” to your work day

Elite athletes know that rest is as important as training when it comes to optimal performance – and if you want your productivity to increase, you need to learn that lesson, too. When you’re working from home, it’s easy to let tasks drift into the evening, but that can be problematic – not only for your personal life, but for your output the following day, too. (The Paper Giant survey found many workers were beginning to resent the ways work is “colonising” their home home lives).

“Overworking can lead to stress and burnout, harming not only your productivity but also your overall mental health and wellbeing,” says Graham. “Instead, set a firm time to bring your work day to a close and stick to it at all costs.” If you struggle with this, find an accountability partner – a colleague, friend or manager – and set up a call to officially end the day. A hard finish not only means a softer start to the following morning after a good rest, it also means you’ll work faster and more efficiently each day, knowing that your finish time is non-negotiable.

Put these tips to work right now

Want to get the most out of the advice in this article? Pick two tips and implement them right now.

And then, if it happens to be the end of the day where you are, call it a night and start fresh in the morning. Tip #9 makes good sense, right?