What Working From Home Taught Us About Productivity Anywhere

Tried and tested tips and tricks from the HomeTree Community

12 weeks of working from home has taught us a lot. For some of us, we now know whether working from home does not work for us. For others, we have found our groove with it, but still enjoy the company of our lovely co-workers. However, whether we choose to work from home, or from an office of coworking space, these learnings shared by our co-creators will be useful for you to approach the New Normal in the world of work.

1. Plan your day beforehand and stick to it. This can singlehandedly help you get things done instead of having you wonder how the day went by.
2. Avoid checking your phone as soon as you wake up. This changes how your brain functions for the rest of your day. Learn Why
3. Try to stick to one sleep routine. It is tough, but worth the effort!
4. Go out and get your daily dose of sunlight — our tropical selves are used to it and lack of sunlight can affect us negatively both physically and mentally.
5. Exercise in the morning to get yourself in the right state of mind.
6. Be mindful of the time and don’t overwork. Time track. Remember: When you’re working from home you are doing more intense work than the usual routine in between commuting, meetings, etc. on a normal day.
7. Schedule breaks! Learn More
8. “Ease is the bigger threat to progress than hardships” — Denzel Washington
   Be mindful of distractions and conditions that allow you to slip into a non-productive mode. Eg: It might be easier to doze off or just slouch away if you are working on the couch or the bed.
9. Helpful tools: Notion to keep track of all your tasks, Google Keep to save useful links that you come across (easy access across devices)
10. Managing tasks: Highlight important tasks for the week, bring it out onto a whiteboard or a notebook where your eyes will meet it often.
11. If you’re feeling sad or lonely, don’t ignore it. Acknowledge what you’re feeling, write it down, let it out! It’s normal to feel down during a crisis, sometimes even more when you work from home.
12. Talk to people you trust, maintain a healthy lifestyle — proper diet, food, exercise and adequate social interactions. Don’t use alcohol or drugs to deal with your emotions. Limit the time spent on media coverage that you find stressful.
13. Enjoy, appreciate and be grateful for every little thing in life. It is all part of the process!
14. Overcommunicate to avoid miscommunication. Especially when the team isn’t in the same room, it is not possible to see facial expressions and therefore it is easy to misunderstand. Be very clear on what you communicate.

Incorporating these habits one, two at a time has helped our community keep going through the compulsory work from home phase and even to build growth habits for life. Remember consistency is key with building habits!

Thank you HomeTree Co-creators for the inputs: Dulitha Wijewantha, Sajid Salih, Hansini Sovis, Nevindee Amarasinghe, Fiyoni Pinto and Praveeni Senanayake