For folks all across America, including future residents of our student apartments in Austin, homes have had to morph into classrooms, study lounges, and offices too. While working and studying from home has its pros, it also comes with its own set of challenges, especially when it comes to time management and focused attention. With a few simple tips, however, you can make your time working from home as productive (if not more so) than working elsewhere!
Do you know anyone currently working from home near our student apartments in Austin? Be sure to be a good neighbor and send this post along to them once you’re done reading! For now, sit back for a quick read through our work-from-home tips!
Set Work Hours
One of the biggest challenges when it comes to working from home is making sure work and study time doesn’t bleed into personal time and vice versa. Make sure to set consistent work hours and communicate them to anyone who might be vying for your time right now, whether it’s a coworker at your remote campus job or a friend looking to play video games online. Mark these work hours on your calendar if applicable and stick to them as best you can. This will benefit not just yourself, but also your employer, friends, and anyone you might be living with, who can form concrete expectations about when you’ll be working and when you’ll be available for other things.
Establish a Dedicated Work Space
When you work from home, it might be tempting to work from your bed or the couch, but you’ll do better work and enjoy better relaxation if you keep some separation between your work area and your relaxation areas. Even if it’s just a small desk or a dedicated corner of your dinner table, establish a consistent work area and try not to migrate from it too much during your workday, except when taking breaks. This helps your mind and body pick up on cues that it’s work time and avoid confusion from relaxation- or entertainment-oriented parts of your environment.
Schedule Your Breaks
You should take breaks no matter where you’re working, but be intentional about them. When working at home, it’s particularly easy to take a break whenever you want, but if you’re getting up from your computer, browsing the internet, or playing with your cat every 15 minutes, you’re not going to get much done. Schedule a few breaks (a couple 15-minute breaks and one longer break midday is a popular structure, but you can choose whatever works for you) and avoid getting off-task outside of those breaks. That way, you get all the benefits of break time without letting breaks unintentionally steal your productivity.
Avoid Multitasking
You may think you’re a multitasking master, but the truth is that our brains are terrible at multitasking, no matter who you are. Focus on one task at a time as much as possible, and eliminate unnecessary distractions like a TV playing in the background or a Twitter feed open in one tab of your browser. The fewer distractions you have and the less context-switching you can do, the more efficiently and effectively you’ll do your work.
We hope we’ve given you the tools you need to work and study from home effectively! If you’d like to see any future tips and recommendations from us in the future, make sure you bookmark our blog page for easy access to upcoming posts. Finally, if you don’t want to miss out on special promotions, community updates, and events at our apartments near UT Austin, follow us on Instagram!