Productivity Tips for the Home Office
August 15, 2007 by Oli · 19 Comments 
I have been working from home for just over a year now, in the beginning I found it hard to focus and my productivity dropped, especially in the summer months when the sun was shining and beckoning me to go out. Today I’m going to share a few tips that I have put in to practice…
- Write Goals down – If you work from home, you have to do this – There are just too many distractions and no boss breathing down your neck to get you to meet deadlines. On my desk I have two lists – one I write down for the whole month what I need to achieve, I then break this down at the start of each week into a smaller list which I must do that week. My motivation is a weekend off – If I don’t finish everything on the list I don’t go out Friday night.
- Get up Early- Set a time to get up each day and stick to it, I used to start work at 9 when I worked in an office – Now I start at 7.30 so I’m gaining an hour and a half in the morning to get extra work done and once you’re in the routine of getting up at certain time it becomes second nature.
- Turn Off Phone and IM – Constant interruptions are no good – Its ok when Im mocking up designs in photoshop but if I’m coding html and css I can’t be interrupted so say goodbye to the phone and IM for an hour or so at a time and get your head down!
- Exercise – I find going to the gym in the morning gives me so much more energy and motivation for the day, if you don’t regularly do exercise, try it for one week and see how you feel. Will not only improve your productivity you might shed a few pounds along the way!
- Tidy Office – Working surrounded by piles of papers and month-old to-do lists will only drag you down – have a big tidy up once a week and you’ll feel so much better.
- Music – Not for everyone but I find music really helps me along while I’m working, I often forget to actually put in on in the first place though and only realise half way through the day.
- Daily Schedule – Even though you are working from home and don’t have to follow the usual office rules, try and set out a daily plan for yourself – start at the same time, have lunch at a set time etc – I find it helps to have a daily routine.
- Just Start – If you’re like me you have certain jobs that you try and put off because they’re dull or take ages – I make sure I tackle these jobs first thing in the day, that way it feels like a weights been lifted off you and you can tackle the more enjoyable jobs for the rest of the day.
- Outsource – Even though you can do a job doesn’t always mean you should do it – Why not outsource that boring coding job which will leave you free to concentrate on more important jobs or jobs that you enjoy doing more.
- Close your door – If there are distractions at home, like people calling round or noisy kids, make it a rule to not be disturbed when your door is shut.
All of these are pretty obvious things to do but if you don’t do any of them, give it a go and see if your productivity improves.
If anyone has any other tips to share then I’d love to hear them, please leave in the comments …
I love this post. The most important ones for me are:
-Write goals down
-Shut down the IM
-Close the door
Of course there is one more that should be high on my list: Resist the urge to check the feeds for blogs such as this
.. they always chew up heaps of time 
I have been working from home for 11 years and I have found that the only way to survive the summer months is to get up early – before the rest of the house does – and get a few hours of work in.
Great job! Keep up the good work!
As a productivity expert you have hit the nail on the head. I’ve been working from home from 17 years and still get distracted too. It takes discipline, which I applaud you for, to do all of the things you’ve listed in this post. If you fall off the cart one day, just get right back on! That is part of the process too.
Two additional thoughts that work for me and I tell my clients:
- Get out of the house some times. Take your laptop or a pad of paper to the beach, the park or even a Starbucks and work on a project. Most times you can get more done in that alotted time than you can sitting at your desk. Your mind is more free to think and is not as distracted with “office” tasks.
- Only check email twice a day (or much less frequently). Actually turn it off while working so you don’t see or hear the notifications. You’ve already mentioned IM, this is the same too.
Again, congratualtions and thanks for sharing. You are moving in forward direction!!
Debbie Gilster
Center for Growth & Productivity
www.CenterForProductivity.com
One further tip I have, is to link tasks. So when I am creating a new calculator for my main site (www.calcresult.com) I add exactly one new feature with each one. I have found in the past that if I do everything that I want to, then nothing ever gets finished!
Congratulation! This is a perfect plan
I have many problem with the work. But your article is a new hope for me!
Thanx man
Who wrote this? I think you nailed it with that list, well done. I am going to take your advice and try get more exercise!
Good Tips. I am working from home for the past 5 years.
I am finding it difficult to work between 2.30 to 4.00 PM as I find sleepy. I am managing by moving around.
I would suggest you to get some toys from thinkgeek and enjoy the time you find boring.
Great article.
I change between my studies and working from home (as a freelance graphic designer). But when I’m working from home, I use a different time scheme: I get up at 11 in the morning (quite late), start working at 12 and then continue to work till 24 in the night (with some breaks, obviously). I find that I can better work at night, maybe also because a lot of people and clients(who have day jobs) are online then.
Oh, and the music thing: really works. Especially when starting out on a creative commision and you need the precious “inspiration” flow in ..
Hey there very nice article
this one was the best point
Just Start – If you’re like me you have certain jobs that you try and put off because they’re dull or take ages – I make sure I tackle these jobs first thing in the day, that way it feels like a weights been lifted off you and you can tackle the more enjoyable jobs for the rest of the day.
Thanks for the refresher. You have hit on many of the hindrances that get me when I am working at home.
Now, if I could just convince my really old-school boss to let me work from home more often.
When I first mentioned working from home 2 days a month he laughed. What a progressive thinker…
I pretty much do all of these, but yeah, I need to learn to turn off AIM.
I can’t push myself to do the tedious crap so what I do is write them down on paper and fish them out of a bowl. Let destiny decide for me..
Yoga @ 6am, then I work at 8. It’s been a good way to keep me in shape (actually, I lost a lot of weight this way) and gives me energy.
The kid screaming in the background, though, I can’t seem to get that one to stop.
Great tips, I have problem with kids in my house. I am helpless about it. Any way nice tips.
Excellent post. One point that really stands out is: Daily Schedule, I actually enjoy planning…
I have got another productivity tip for you:
Do everything not related to work in the evenings, say laundry, doing the dishes, clean the house and such. I even started to shower before I go to bed so I can get on with work right when I get up from bed.
Thanx!
Thanks for tips. I need it
I also find planning a *busy* day helpful. It puts you under a little more pressure to get things done, since there is so much to do.
I also find having a daily to do list really helpful, and I enjoy crossing tasks off the list as I move through them
Hi,
those are really great tipps, thanks! Iam mostly working in an office but have pretty free hands, so many of those tipp will help me too, not only at home
I have this same situation, the only things I don’t do is gym and early morning
I guess I have to try it out LOL
PS. nice blog dude
PPS. a tip from me: if you are working on projects that take months, use an excel calender and plan your month ahead. assign tasks for each day, then print and stick the calender on a sight so reminds you what to do every day. This also helps you to manage the pressure load and worries of working with big projects. This has helped me a lot to overcome the stress of work. I hope it helps.