5 Ideas for Boosting Productivity and Wellness When Working from Home

03.05.2022

Today, the reality of working from home is here.

Without a clear line drawn between personal and professional life, many employees are working harder and longer than ever – while juggling kids, housework and a spouse who’s also facing same pressures of work from home (WFH) arrangements.

Sounds familiar?

These are five simple-to-implement ideas for eliminating stress from your workdays and adding a touch of wellness into your WFH environment.

Start your mornings with positivity

The first few minutes of your day are incredibly important, so let’s start our days right! Spend at least five minutes in bed practising mindfulness – try to clear your mind while focusing on your breathing for these five minutes.

If your mind is racing with thoughts, accept it and try to direct that into thinking on what you appreciate from the day before. This simple but powerful practice can completely change your mood, focus and energy levels for the day. Stick with it for a week and we’re sure you’ll feel the difference!

Have a proper home office

Variety can be fun, but consistency is essential for productivity! Instead of placing your laptop at random spots in your home every day, choose a relatively distraction-free room (or corner) as your “home office”, and stick to it.

We recommend skipping your bedroom or couch, as you could be tempted to sleep (when you should be working), especially after a meal. If there are distractions in the living room, try and avoid choosing that area too.

Consistency is key. Over time you’ll find that simply stepping into this space will get you in the mood for being productive and getting your best work done.

Commit to your working hours (and no more!)

Rather than gaining more freedom, many employees have found that the flexibility of WFH has led to them working longer hours – especially as “rest” and “work” blend into one big day.

Stick to your regular working hours and let your colleagues (and bosses) know that they can count on you during these hours. You’ll be right at your desk, working and responding to emails.

That essentially also means that the time outside of working hours are strictly yours! So, if they need you for an 8pm meeting, you’ll probably be playing with your kids, working out at the gym, or simply unavailable!

Reduce noisy distractions

Our homes are usually filled with distractions – whether it’s chatter from our partner’s Zoom meeting, the kids playing, or cars honking. All these noises can make it difficult to hear ourselves think.

If you don’t have the luxury of shutting yourself in a quiet room the entire workday, what you could do instead, is shut your ears off from noise with a pair of noise-cancelling headphones or earphones.

You won’t even need to play any music to drown out the noise. Modern noise-cancelling technology works by having a small microphone and playing a sort of “mirror image” of the sound that’s around you, into your ears – effectively “cancelling out” most of the noise, so you hear near silence.

For an easier, fuss-free solution that’s much more affordable and doesn’t require any recharging? A pair of ear plugs will do the trick! Choose from comfortable foam ear plugs that compress, then decompress to fit snugly into your ear – or silicon ear plugs designed to encourage focus and concentration.

Stop looking at yourself! Hide self-view on Zoom

When we meet colleagues we don’t look at ourselves in the mirror to see our every movement, so why do we do it while on video calls?

It’s only natural to be curious how we look when talking to other people but doing it for hours a day can be more exhausting than we think. When you are on your regular Zoom meeting, press the menu button on your video (the 3 dots) and choose Hide Self View. Others will still see you but now you’ll free up more of your attention! Try it on a meeting or two!

Eliminate strain with a neck pillow

A common issue that WFH employees face is neck and shoulder strain.

Going from an environment where you’re frequently walking around the office for discussions with colleagues, to sitting at your home office desk for hours at a stretch, means that you are more likely to suffer from these posture-induced aches and pains.

Prevent this from happening to you by buying ergonomic office furniture for your home or simply take the easier step of using a comfortable back pillow – like the Anomeo Ergonomic Back Support Pillow, which supports your lower back’s natural curve throughout the day, preventing strains and stresses!

Creating a more productive, happier WFH environment

WFH can be a fantastic working arrangement if you add some nice touches to it. So, start your days with positivity, set expectations right, and invest in simple solutions to improve your working conditions! Afterall, hybrid working that includes WFH looks like it’s here to stay!