No Pajamas! A Few Tips on Staying Productive While Working from Home
Studies have shown that most people are more productive while working from home. Why is it, then, that so many entrepreneurs working from home often find it tough to avoid distractions and focus on being productive for their business? We’re only human. It’s a struggle for the best of us. But once you get into the groove, nothing can stop you. Here are a few tips on avoiding distractions and staying productive while working from home.
1. No Pajamas: Get Dressed for Work.
If you work from home, it may be tempting to just roll out of bed, wipe the sleep from your eyes as you stumble to your home office, and plop down at your desk still wearing your pajamas. But you might notice something when you do this: you’re not able to truly switch into work mode. You get stuck browsing Twitter or Facebook instead of getting work done. Getting dressed in the morning, as if you were going in to work at an office, primes your brain for the transition to work mode. Staying in your PJs suggests to your brain that it’s time to be lazy. So get dressed.
2. Get Out of the House.
Every once in awhile (or more), it helps to get out of the house. Grab your laptop and set up shop at Starbucks or another cafe with Wi-Fi for the day. Studies have shown that working in relaxed public environments like cafes can stimulate creativity and increase productivity. It also gets rid of the impulse to pick up around the house, do your dishes, or binge on House of Cards well after your lunch break is over. And if you like coffee, that’s just icing on the cake. You might find yourself working at Starbucks more than your home office.
3. Set Boundaries for Friends & Family.
As most people who work from home know far too well, friends and family often treat your gig as if you’re not really working at all. Maybe mom calls a little too often during work hours just to chat. As your own boss, you probably let things like this slide and end up working later to make up for the lost time. It helps to set a schedule (even if just a rough one) and let close friends and family know that you’re actually working during those hours. You can always call mom back after the day’s work is done—and enjoy the conversion without stress because of how productive your day was.
4. Give Yourself Breaks.
It’s important to give yourself breaks. Very important. Tony Schwartz, CEO of The Energy Project and author of Be Excellent at Anything, wrote an excellent piece for The New York Times in 2013 called “Relax! You’ll Be More Productive” that questioned the “more, bigger, faster” ethos that has been ingrained in our society since the Industrial Revolution. Schwartz discusses how research shows that “strategic renewal—including daytime workouts, short afternoon naps, longer sleep hours, more time away from the office and longer, more frequent vacations—boosts productivity, job performance and, of course, health.”
READ MORE FROM AMERICAN COMMERCIAL CAPITAL
Houston Factoring Companies: Why Choose American Commercial Capital for Invoice Factoring?
Image: SeanPavonePhoto / Envato Elements
If you are a Houston-based entrepreneur who has been searching for ways to improve your business cash flow and get the capital you need to grow, chances are you’ve come across a dozen Houston factoring companies who all claim to be the answer to all your problems. Invoice factoring is when a business sells its accounts receivable (invoices) to a third-party company at…
Business Video Roundup: Future of Retail, Responding to Negative Reviews & More on A.I.
Image: djile / Envato Elements
How should you respond to negative reviews of your business? What’s on the horizon for the retail industry in this climate of economic uncertainty? Is artificial intelligence coming for your industry? These are just a few of the questions tackled in this week’s roundup of great videos for entrepreneurs and business owners. Things kick off with Harvard Business School lecturer Hise Gibson making…
Business Video Roundup: Strong Foundations, Second-Chance Employment & Succession
Image: drazenphoto / Envato Elements
In this week’s business video roundup, two Wharton professors highlight business lessons from HBO’s hit show Succession (whose series finale airs this Sunday!), the CEOs of Lafayette Square and Verizon make the case for second-chance employment (and how your business can get involved), and Gary Vaynerchuk talks about how to build a strong business foundation (hint: don’t chase trends in areas you’re not…
