Boosting Productivity When Working From Home

Work From Home 🤝 Productivity. Yes, it is possible to be productive in your own, cosy environment. But whether you’ve been working from home for years or you’re just starting out, it takes some practice getting used to it. 

Let’s check out some ways to establish a solid work from home flow to help boost productivity.

Create a workflow you love.

Okay, first things first…we aren’t always going to be motivated to show up for work. Just like going to the gym requires dedication and discipline, so does working from home. So think about what breathes life and energy into your day. Start with that boost of energy. This could be a form of exercise, a good breakfast, time outdoors, anything that breaks through that morning fog.

So now you’re feeling energised and ready to sit down for work. What does your work environment look like? If you haven’t already, we highly recommend creating an inviting space to do your work. If you have the space for a home office, amazing! Or maybe you’re starting out at your dining room table. I (Debbie) actually started on the bed of a spare room at my parent’s house. Not ideal, but I made it work!

Whatever the space available to you, make it yours, keep it tidy, and start to let your brain switch into work-mode. 

Amazing, we’re energised, we have a dedicated workspace, now what? This is one of the biggest tips I have for beginner VA’s and remote workers; create a schedule of tasks and minimise distractions. It sounds intuitive, but oftentimes we can be tempted to bounce from one task to another, mixing client work, and then not actually completing tasks. 

So create a workflow YOU love. And a big part of this will be how you schedule your time. Working from home does not mean sitting at your desk 9-5…we escaped that for a reason, remember??

Being a master scheduler will not only increase your productivity, but also keep you on task. Key things to consider scheduling into your days/weeks:

• Appointments: doctor, dentist, beauty, house
• Meetings: clients, schools, miscellaneous
• Work Tasks: time blocking for clients (scroll to see more about time blocking), social media posting schedules, client check-ins
• Non-Work: exercise, social occasions, break times

And if you need, set alarms for when you need to leave for school run or appointments.

Minimise distractions

Having a dedicated workspace will help here, but there’s also a couple other ways we can help to minimise outside distractions and focus in.

Identify your main distractions. Knowing what can distract you can really help to prepare you before you sit down for work at home. 

• Turn your phone notifications off
• Start work on a full stomach (I will ALWAYS make an excuse for food!) 
• Have a tidy environment, including those dishes in the kitchen

Remember, this takes practice and doesn’t always come easy. If you need to, change your environment for an hour or two. Pop across to your favourite coffee shop and knock out some tasks to reset yourself. 

Leverage your tools

Virtual assistants use a variety of tools, and task management is no different! Depending on what you need to achieve, using a task manager such as Asana, Trello, ClickUp or Dubsado can be really beneficial.

Asana and Trello are great when starting out, and if you expand into a team dynamic, ClickUp can be a great option! All 3 give you the ability to create and assign tasks, schedule deadlines, and more.

And if you’re looking for a complete system from onboarding to contract signing to invoicing, Dubsado has it all. You can quickly automate so many processes, saving you time for other projects. Sort of like your own assistant!

Now, there are a ton of tools you can leverage for your business to help create, automate, schedule, sync, integrate and more. Take some time to really explore what you actually NEED support with and what you find easiest to work with.

Time Blocking, Task Batching, Time Boxing, and Time Tracking

That’s a lot of “time”. But stay with me. Earlier I mentioned time blocking as a way to increase productivity, and personally, I find this great for really busy times when I need more structure.

Sometimes these time management strategies can get used interchangeably, so first let’s unpick what each of these mean. 

Time Blocking is where you are essentially scheduling every. part. of. your. day. This technique gives us a real sense of how we are spending our day, by breaking down the work week into smaller time-slots for our tasks. You can also include personal things such as exercise, social engagements, breaks, self care, etc. 

Task Batching is like the younger sibling of ‘Time Blocking’. You’re ‘batching’ your tasks based on how connected and similar they are. This reduces the amount of time we spend on miscellaneous tasks, and from bouncing from one thing to another. This keeps us intentional about how we work.

Time Boxing is a little more detailed than Time Blocking. You’d create a separate time box for each individual task, rather than a block for a set of tasks. This is a great option for pre-set time constraints.

Time Tracking is how much time is spent on a particular task/time block/project. Using a tool like Toggl helps you to understand where your time is being spent throughout the week, and can also help to analyse any areas that might need outsourcing or automating. 

If you’d like more detail in what this can look like, check out the differences Asana highlights here.

Keeping these strategies in mind, think about times of day when you are most productive and schedule your focused tasks in these slots. Realistically, we can only be hyper-focused for a relatively short amount of time. So time block/batch/box the things that are important, work and personal. 

Top tip: schedule time to unplug and switch off! Sometimes if it’s not in your calendar, it won’t get done. Creating balance is really important.

Review and Reflect Regularly

At the end of each day or week, have a quick review of what you've accomplished and identify areas for improvement. Check in with your time tracking, completed tasks, unfinished tasks, and what’s in your calendar for the next day/week.

Learning your productivity patterns will help you to understand when you're most focused, the tasks you complete easily and where you may need more support!

We cover everything from time blocking and task management to creating a workflow and finding clients that you love in The ROCKET VA™ Academy. Find out more and join our FREE 3-day Masterclass Live Series: Virtual Assistant in 90 Days.