TIME
MANAGEMENT
TIPS WHEN
WORKING FROM
HOME
Manage your time and get on track with your work

Time management--an essential skill
for any employee--becomes more
critical as you transition to working from
home where distractions and
temptations are a tenacious enemy

Create a
dedicated
workspace
Choose separate rooms or areas around the
house and designate the expectations for
each. E.g. the desk set up in your bedroom is only
for work, the living room for leisure time, and the
kitchen table for meals and kids’ schoolwork
time. This allows your mind to connect physical
spaces with either a “work” or “leisure” mind set
and helps you to improve your focus and
maintain a work-life balance.

Pretend
like you’re going
to the office
This may not seem like a time management
tip, but having a routine where you get up at
the same time each day, have breakfast and
get dressed in clothes you might normally
wear to the office will help you get in a frame
of mind to focus on your work projects. When
you’re focused, you manage your time more
effectively.

Set your
working hours
and stick to
them
If you can, set a schedule of working hours to
times in the day when you can be
most productive and are less likely to be
interrupted.
For example, in between breakfast and lunch
when your children are occupied with their
homework tasks, or if you’re a night person,
late at night when everyone else is asleep.
Set an alarm to remind yourself when to end
your workday and turn your laptop off and
put it away so you’re not tempted to keep
checking in.

Make
a to-do list

Try creating a manageable to-do
list the night before, and follow it
throughout the day
Include everything from work projects to making grocery lists and include how long you
think each task will take. If you’re working at home with a partner, you can collaborate on a
schedule each day or at the start of the week to determine who will be in charge of any
childcare or household chores. Cross off tasks as they are done as this will boost your
morale and feelings of accomplishment at the end of each day.

Schedule
breaks
It’s important to take breaks like you
normally would in an office setting. Schedule
them on your calendar like you would for
any other work meeting, even if it’s for 10 or
15 minutes at a time. Also, take real lunch
breaks where you close your computer and
avoid electronics for a set amount of time.
Use that time to take a walk outside, listen
to music or chat with a friend. This will help
you feel renewed and refocused to continue
your work in the afternoon.

Don’t multitask
You may think multitasking saves you time, but your brain takes at least 15 minutes to
refocus whenever you switch tasks. Focus on one task at a time and switch focus only
when you finish. You’ll be less distracted, and you may even complete tasks quicker than if
you tried to do them all at once.

AVOID
social
media
during
working
hours
Scrolling social media
and browsing the
internet can quickly
lead to large amounts
of wasted time. If you
have a separate
personal phone, turn
it off during working
hours. Log out of
social media
accounts and take
breaks away from
your computer if you
feel tempted to start
browsing.

Make use of productivity
apps
Calendar, Asana and Trello are some apps which help with assigning tasks and
scheduling deadlines. You can use these as a single user to monitor your own
productivity, or you can use them with other team members so that everyone can
keep track of who was responsible for which assignment and whether deadlines are
being met.

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info@gbestconsultants.com
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