The current situation with COVID-19 has forced a lot of us to work from home to protect our family. Even though this may seem like a dream, I can tell you from experience that working from home is not easy with lots of distractions, like kids, "quick" home projects, and your bed for a quick nap :-), keep you from being productive. So, you need a system to stay focused on work that needs to get done and give your family the care they need.
Over the next few days, I'm going to share with you ways to maximize your productivity while working virtually from home.
Click here get worksheets, checklists, and assignments to make you more productive, right now!
Let's get started...
"The difference between successful people and very successful people is that very successful people say no to almost everything." ~ Warren Buffet
One of the biggest challenges we're going to face daily is how to tackle our huge to-do lists and get everything done in the limited time we have.
You may find yourself saying, "How am I going to be efficient and get everything I need to get done and much more done while helping my family stay healthy!" And, with the time you save, you could spend more time taking care of your family, pursue other things you want to do, or simply have more time to prepare for the current situation or relax and enjoy life.
When people talk about "working smarter," this is what they mean. They mean that you don't necessarily get more done by working longer hours. Instead, you get more done by making the best of that time when you're actually engaged in work.
Over the next few days, you're going to learn tools and techniques that will help you maximize your productivity so that you can truly get more done in less time. These productivity tips don't only apply to virtual work from home, but any kind of work you do in your daily life. You can apply them to your work around the house, creative work, and even leisure activities where you have some goal you're working toward.
The Basics of Productivity
Maximizing productivity is all about identifying obstacles that slow you down or destroy your focus, and then removing them. These obstacles are things you'll face every day and may not even be aware of. You may have no idea, for example, that procrastination is the real factor that's killing your ability to get things done. With the tools I'm going to share with you, you can identify these obstacles and then create a strategy for dealing with them.
Productivity is also all about managing time and identify your 'time drains'. Although these may be essential tasks, they bog you down. So, you need to figure out how you can take these 'time drains' on your time, then eliminate, delegate, outsource or automate them and remove them from your to-do list. With this ability to remove distractions, you can focus on the things you need to get done sooner than later.
Self-awareness is key. You can improve your productivity just by monitoring your schedule and using this data to make changes. When we throw around terms like "monitor" and "data," it may sound complicated, but it is actually straightforward. I show you easy ways to discover data and give you the tools to monitor your activity.
Check back often to see different articles so you'll be able to:
- Improve your focus by setting goals and priorities, planning in advance, eliminating distractions, and understanding when you should STOP working and resume at another time.
- Gain an understanding of your natural rhythms and energy cycles so that you can work with them rather than against them.
- Identify and manage the biggest drains on your time through better scheduling, delegation, and automation.
- Learn tips on tidying up and organizing so that you have a clean and efficient workspace.
- Stay in optimal health with minimal effort so that you're in the best physical and mental shape possible.
- Learn about specific tools to help you enhance and optimize your productivity.
Along the way, when you click here and provide your email, you'll get worksheets, checklists, and assignments to help you put what you're learning to use immediately.
Think of these articles as a productivity toolbox.
You'll find much in it that you can put to use immediately. You'll find some techniques that work well for you, as well as those that you may not.
The key is to take what you learn here and modify it to suit your needs.
ACTION STEPS:
Over the next few articles, we'll get into the details, but for now, take a few minutes to think about how you've set up for virtual work from home.
Ask yourself:
- How do you spend the bulk of your time each day?
- Where do you feel that you're not being productive?
- How would you rather be spending your time each day?
- What are some things you already feel are time wasters?
You don't need perfect answers… just some ideas to get the ball rolling, then post your answers below...
