Is your home office as efficient as it could be?
There’s a lot to love about working from home, but there are also a few potential distractions. This can create challenges any time of the year, but it’s especially concerning during the busy Medicare Annual Enrollment Period (AEP). By implementing a few home office efficiency strategies, you can reap the rewards of working from home.
1. Create a Dedicated Space.
Managing both personal and work commitments from home sounds good in theory, but it can become a problem if there’s no divide between your work life and your home life.
If you can dedicate an entire room to use as your office, that’s ideal. If not, carve out a defined quiet nook for your desk and some shelves. Your work life will be easier if you don’t have to completely pick up your work, pack up your computer, and clear off your workspace every day.
Aside from the physical separation, be sure to create a psychological divide. Avoid working in your comfort zones – especially your bed. Sure, it sounds comfy, but the BBC warns that it’s an ergonomic nightmare. It can also harm your productivity and sleep habits.
2. Stick to a Consistent Work Schedule.
Just as you need a dedicated space to work, you also need some dedicated time.
Throwing in a load of laundry or taking your dog for a walk on your lunch break is one thing. Constantly going back and forth between work and home life doesn’t create work-life balance. Instead, it breaks down the divide between worktime and personal time. You end up getting less done during the workday, so you have to work later, and that’s a recipe for burning out.
To avoid these frustrations, schedule a consistent start and end time for your workday, just like you would at an office.
3. Create a Symbolic Commute.
Many people hate the morning commute, but it can help to separate your home life from work life and ensure that when you arrive at the office, you’re ready to get to work. When you’re working from home, you don’t have a commute, but you can create another ritual that tells your brain it’s time to switch gears and focus on work. This could be something as simple as your morning coffee, or it could involve some stretches and meditative breathing, or simply closing your office door and turning on some work music. The point: take a few symbolic steps to get into the right headspace so you’re ready to be productive.
4. Get Your Family, Friends and Neighbors On Board.
Ask family members and other roommates to respect your workspace and avoid interruptions. If possible, assign other caregivers for your children or pets during your defined work hours.
It’s hard to work when people keep interrupting you. Unfortunately, some people may think that means you’re available to chat, run errands, dog-sit, or do whatever else they want. You need to set firm boundaries to prevent intrusions. Explain that you’re working, and barring any true emergencies, you don’t want to be disturbed.
5. Invest in Your Office.
If you were working for a company in their office space, you’d expect the office to be stocked with all the paper, pens, notepads, and other items you need throughout the workday. You’d also expect to have a computer system with a reliable internet connection and the necessary programs to work efficiently. When you’re working from home as an independent contractor, all of this remains important, but you’re ultimately responsible for it. Create a list and equip your office with everything you need to work effectively before AEP.
6. Intentionally Overcome Distractions.
If you find yourself distracted by something, don’t just tell yourself to focus. Instead, try to find a way to remove the distraction. Are you bothered by noises outside? Try playing classical music or using a white noise machine. Do you keep checking your phone? Go into your settings and limit the time for the apps that distract you. (Here’s how to do this for Android and Apple phones.) Are you constantly checking email instead of prospecting? Try working in dedicated spurts, using a technique known as time blocking. By taking intentional steps, you can systematically improve your productivity.
Here at Western Asset Protection (WAP), we want to help you have a successful AEP. If you have any questions, please contact us.