Ah yes, procrastination. The number one enemy of efficiency and productivity. Procrastination has always been a problem for many of us, but it seems to have gone worse as we shifted to working from home. Work from home procrastination has been harder to avoid, as our homes have so many distractions in them.
But just because avoiding procrastination while remote working is hard doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do it still. To help you prevent procrastination, here are some tips that you can do to regain your motivation once again.
Of course, most of these tips will revolve around disciplining yourself. Without it, you won’t be able to remain consistent with your commitments, and you’ll return to procrastinating again. After all, being disciplined is the number one way to counter procrastination.
Set Routines.
Now, without further ado, let’s begin this article with setting routines. Setting routines is one of the best ways to discipline yourself and avoid work from home procrastination. Having one provides you with a sense of direction and purpose on how your day should be. Just be careful not to get stuck with following them too strictly.
A simple routine that you can do every day is waking up at a specific time, let’s say around 6 am, and fixing your bed. Once that’s done, eating breakfast is next. After breakfast, take a bath, get dressed, and prepare for your work. Following this routine helps you prevent procrastination by properly orienting you on how your day should start.
Before I forget, don’t confuse routine with a schedule. The difference between the two is planning. The former doesn’t require any sort of planning, while the latter needs it. An example of a routine is the previous paragraph, while a schedule is your work schedule.
Avoid Distractions.
Another tip that can help you prevent procrastination is simply avoiding distractions altogether. Yes, I know this is common sense, but what do people say about common sense again? In my experience, the number one cause of procrastination while remote working is the number of distractions in your house.
These distractions take away your focus on your work and make it difficult to regain them. An example of this can be your housepets. Yes, they can be a stress reliever. But they can also be a source of stress and distractions as well. These distractions range from the amount of noise they make to making you want to pet them instead of focusing on your work.
So how can you avoid distractions from negatively affecting your work? One method that you can use is establishing a proper workstation at your home. Having one allows you to form a boundary between your work and home, allowing you to focus on your work while limiting distractions.
Another trick that you can do is to limit your online browsing. Because you don’t have a supervisor watching over you, at least physically, it’s easy to waste your time on social media or Youtube. Limiting your usage of these apps allows you to focus on your tasks and helps you avoid work from home procrastination.
Pace Yourself while Working.
Another mistake commonly made by Filipino workers is working hard during the first weeks of work, then slowly start to procrastinate later on. We even have a term for it in Filipino: “Ningas Kugon.” Even I suffered from this when I first started working at Remote Staff. Fortunately, I recovered from this by finding the right work pace for me.
Properly pacing yourself allows you to remain productive and on time with your deadlines while still working comfortably. Set your pace in a way that you can still take a break if your work gets too stressful while keeping up with your deadlines. Doing this ensures that you won’t suffer from remote work burnout while remaining productive at work.
Believe in Yourself.
Another source of procrastination while remote working is the lack of self-confidence. I would be lying if I were to say that I’m confident that I can do my work every day. There are times that I struggle to find a topic or find the appropriate words to write in my article. Situations like these happen, so you don’t have to be so hard on yourself for it.
If you’re experiencing procrastination while remote working, ask yourself why you’re feeling it in the first place? Is it because you find your current tasks to be too daunting? Or because you don’t like your current assignments? Perhaps, you are experiencing personal problems right now?
Addressing these personal issues is the first step in helping you regain your motivation and productivity at work. Avoiding these issues won’t solve anything, and in fact, worsens your procrastination problem in the long run.
Take Care of Yourself.
Aside from having faith in yourself and your skills, taking care of yourself is also crucial when dealing with work from home procrastination. Another reason why you’re procrastinating is a lack of energy and exhaustion from work. So don’t forget to take breaks and eat on time so you can regain your strength.
Aside from not forgetting to eat, don’t forget to practice basic personal hygiene as well. Just because you’re working from home doesn’t mean you should forget about your appearance. It’s hard to find the motivation to work if you look like a slob in the first place. Taking a bath and brushing your teeth also helps build good work routines as well.
And to further motivate you to work, give yourself rewards from time to time. These rewards don’t need to be grand, just so long as you feel happy upon receiving them.
Remind yourself on Why You’re Working in the First Place.
And my last tip to prevent procrastination is to remind yourself of the reasons why you’re working in the first place. These reasons could be as simple as wanting to get paid to working to support your family. When procrastination hits, keeping your motivations in mind will help you resist these temptations.
During your spare time, consider reflecting on your reasons for working and assess whether or not you’re still on track with them. Doing this helps you know whether or not you need to make changes in yourself to remain on track with your goals.
For example, if the reason you’re working is for your family, do you still spend time with them? Or perhaps, your reason for working is to save money for grad school. If so, are you saving enough money to do so? Asking yourself these questions helps you better manage your time and inspires you to remain focused at work.
Conclusion.
And we’re finally done! Here are some helpful tips that you can do to avoid work from home procrastination. Experiencing procrastination is something that all workers experience every day. No matter how hard we try, it will always remain in our thoughts, tempting us. But with these tips, I hope that you’ll find it easier to resist procrastination and its temptations.
