Getting Proper Downtime and Rest One of the most important things you can do to optimize yourself for productivity and output, is to make sure that you get proper downtime and rest. Think of this as the “yin to the yang” of productivity.
What many people don’t realize, is that their effort and their focus are based on energy. That their energy is a finite resource.
When you work from home, you might feel tempted to work longer hours in order to get more done. Because your office is in the same house, you can very easily put in an extra hour in order to better satisfy the client/earn more money/make tomorrow less stressful.
But guess what? If you do that, then you’ll start tomorrow more tired and you’ll be less likely to get work finished.
We have a tendency to think that working late will help us to get more done, but studies show us that the work done at this time is lower quality AND that it tends to be far less pressing than we imagine.
This is why it’s so important that you make a clear distinction between “work time” and “down time.” Only by resting properly – which also means forgetting about the stressful aspects of your job – can you then come back to work the next day feeling restored and productive.
This means you should stop work at 5pm (or whatever you have designated as the end of your day) even if there is still work left to do. It means that you should stop looking at your work emails. Many apps like Slack will allow you to turn off notifications outside of office hours. However, you can also do this by owning two phones – one for work and one for getting things done.
It’s also important that you enjoy yourself during your down time with things you like doing. That means reading books, playing games, chatting with friends, or watching movies.
One of the reasons we feel distracted at work, is that our brain wants stimulation and entertainment. If you don’t have any set time where you get to enjoy those things planned, then you will find it hard to turn off and focus on work during work hours. You need to “get it out of your system” so to speak!