How to work more productively from home
We’ve been proud of the fact that since our conception back in August of 2009, Chop Dawg has always been a remote first company. All of our team members work from their homes (and/or local coffee shops or coworking facilities). We do not have a tangible office that we rent or a warehouse that houses all of us. Our team is based throughout the entire United States.
There are a lot of perks to working remotely. That’s a different blog post to share entirely. That said, often times when I share with anyone that I work remote, I am asked this question almost immediately…
How do you stay productive?
It’s a fair question.
For those who do not work from home, and haven’t tried to before, the line between working from home or feeling unproductive can seem almost non-existent. Home is meant to relax, for family time, for spending time with friends. Work environment vs. home environment is two completely different things.
Well, there is an easy solution and one I highly encourage anyone who works from home (with the means to do so) to do.
Separate your work environment from your home environment by having a dedicated work area.
For me, personally, I have what I call my studio, which was originally meant to be the upstairs bedroom according to my apartment’s blueprints. Instead, this is meant only for one thing, to get work done.
Nothing else.
When you have a completely different area to work out of vs. live out of, you are training your mind to understand when it is time to work vs. when it is time to relax.
It’s the same strategies those recommended for the bedroom, about only using your bed for sleep and nothing else. Your bodies are programmed to understand which areas are meant to do what. The second you train your body it is okay to spend all day in bed on the phone, playing video games… well, it makes sense why your sleep schedule goes to crap. Same as if you utilize the same area to work as you do to play.
You’re not programming yourself right.
One more note about the home office/studio that most fail to recognize. You have full control of your workspace when you are at your home. No one is going to stop you. At a coworking space, you have limitations. At a desk in an office, forget about it. Working out of a coffee shop? Yeah.
Due to the fact that I have no restrictions, not only can I program myself to be most productive in my work environment, I can also literally structure my work environment to allow me to be as efficient as possible. Everything in my home studio has a purpose. It either is there as a tool to allow me to do my job, organized to allow me to be decluttered, there to motivate and inspire me when needed, or be setup to calm me or keep me focused during the tough and stressful times. Anything that contradicts my work environment to allow me to be as efficient, productive or motivated as possible, is not in my studio. No distractions. Only useful tools, organization and practical items, and all within an arm’s reach.
There are a lot of benefits to working from home. Outside of the cost savings, the lack of commute, the happiness factor, you can hack it to make you as efficient and productive as possible too. Talk about the ultimate win-win.
About Joshua Davidson: I build apps and help grow companies. Founder and CEO of ChopDawg.com. Co-host of #thePawdcast on iTunes. Featured on FOX, MSNBC, CBS, Technically, EliteDaily and Mashable.
Are you or your company looking for a talented development/design team to help build + scale your app? Email me personally (and directly) at Joshua@ChopDawg.com for a free consultation!
