Are you more productive at home or in the office? We’ve heard this question countless times over the past year, with a large proportion of the population being forced to work from home due to the pandemic. Some have found working from home to be beneficial to their productivity levels yet various studies have shown that homeworking leads to people working longer hours. This could be due to a bigger workload but admittedly, it’s hard to stay focused when you have house chores and Netflix to contend with.
Regardless of if you’re at home or already back in the office, here are our top tips for staying focused and boosting productivity during your workday.
Take a break
It may sound counteractive to start with taking a break to be more productive but taking short breaks away from your work station is vital to maintain focus. Microbreaks can consist of anything from grabbing a coffee to checking your phone – but to keep your eyes fresh try going for a walk. Studies have shown walking increases the likelihood of having a eureka moment as your creativity is higher than when stationary at a desk, so what better reason to take a wander.
Use a Task App
Multitasking works for some, but for most, not setting time to dedicate to one task alone an be detrimental to your productivity levels. If you’re frequently distracted and find yourself on particular website or app whilst you should be tackling a certain task, then a focus app is a must. There are quite a few variations out there (paid and free) but one tried and tested is StayFocusd, a chrome extension you can install onto your browser that restricts the amount of time you spend on time wasting websites. It really helps stops the mindless scrolling you don’t even realise you’re doing.
Listen to music
Listening to music has been shown to increase happiness and productivity. By putting you in a better mood, it’s even been proven to provide better relief from stress and anxiety than anti- anxiety medication! Make sure it’s along the lines of classical music (or just music without lyrics) because belting out the Spice Girls definitely won’t help you focus.
Add plants to your workspace
Plants are guaranteed mood boosters, with studies showing that they can also increase productivity by up to 15%. The addition of plants to a workspace are good for your physiological health and are even thought to help you destress…If you needed an excuse to get a living wall for your office then this is it.
Reward yourself
Using positive reinforcement on yourself can help you achieve your goals. After completing a task, treat yourself to something you enjoy, be it; chocolate, reading a book or the next episode of your favourite podcast. By treating yourself after hard work you can form good habits which will also lead to higher productivity in the long run too!
