One of the biggest challenges of working remotely is procrastination.

Time management is a big issue and in most times than not, you will find your work being mixed up with other household responsibilities. On the flip side, you could start working early and free up most of the day for other responsibilities. To help you work effectively remotely, we have compiled some productive tips that you can adopt. 

Set Daily and Weekly Goals 

Since destructions are inevitable when working from, it is vital that you set the goals that you wish to achieve every day as you slowly build to a bigger goal at the end of the week. In essence, is that the objectives that you set to achieve on a daily basis should be part of the bigger weekly objective. 

Set Working Hours 

Maintaining a strict work schedule can be difficult since everyone else knows you are at home and think that you are available. Because of the above distractions could eat away into your time, the more reason, you need to set a strict work schedule as the day begins. For this option, you could set a mental plan alternatively you could make a monthly schedule that you can stick to.

Make Time for Breaks

Short breaks are handy as they help you unwind and refresh after completing a task. You will need at least five minutes away from your work desk, and you can use this time to reflect and reset, minimizing the chances of experiencing burnout. 

Minimize interruptions from family members 

Family members might not understand the importance of following a schedule and as such you must set strict rules that should be followed by both adults and kids. Remember that kids could very easily forget the rules while adults will assume that the rules don't apply to them. Ideally, you should remain firm when it comes to interruptions, and with time everyone will conform to the set rules. If you have a caregiver, they should also be let in on the rules in advance.

Create a remote workspace 

Depending on the orientation of your house, you can create an office space either in the spare bedroom or the garage. This helps inform everyone else that you have serious work to do while enabling them to respect your space. Ensure that everyone knows your office space is out of limits more so when you are working. 

Take your lunch 

Eating your lunch at the same time every day, ensures that your body sticks to a routine, besides you will be able to get longer breaks, with which you can squeeze in other activities such as Yoga. Check on your pets, or take a short refreshing walk. 

Dress for Success 

There is something that your work clothes do to your mind that makes you want to focus and finish your daily tasks. Besides when fully dressed for work even when working from home makes it easy for you to transition to the zoom meetings. Some people work with their pajamas but the problem is your mind associates the pajamas with lounging. If you however find putting on your official work clothes a bit too extreme, you can always put on nice casual wear to get to a working mood. 

Do Not Stray from the Normal Working Hours 

When working from home you might be tempted to oversleep and begin working late in the afternoon. For consistency and to be able to reach timelines, you need to stick to the normal working hours, this will allow you have enough time to rest in the evening. You should also restrict yourself from checking emails, or engaging in work calls until the next morning.  

Do Not Multitask

You definitely want to remain productive even when working from home, for this reason you must have a proper timetable that distinguishes between your professional and house chores. So some of the things that you must avoid are removing laundry from the wash line while engaging in a conference call. Multitasking is a burden for your brain and if done constantly it will affect your overall productivity and the quality of your work. If you therefore, focus on one task at a time, you will finish the job faster and move on to the next. 

Find Your Most Productive Time 

There are moments when work might seem difficult and you must therefore find a way of determining your most productive time. Invest in a work journal and then track how you work for two weeks, take note of what you have been able to achieve in the morning and in the afternoon, while at this you might want to evaluate whether working at this specific times was easy or hard. The above should enable you establish your most productive time.