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It’s a general impression that since we are working from home, we spent more time than before in front of our PCs. When we look at the numbers pulled out from our TimeTracker system, we don’t see any significant differences to confirm this impression.

However we have some tips to avoid hanging around your PC all day. Try a few of these, you might end up doing some exercises 😉

#1 Stop multitasking
Stop focusing on multiple directions, regardless of what your impression is, you never do two things at the same time. With current technology, multitasking is an issue that isn’t going away. This can affect our memory, our stress level, and our creativity. It is more a task switching, so the best way to stop doing this is to turn off everything that disrupts your attention. For example, close other browsers and close all other apps that are not related to the task on which you are actively working.

#2 Organize effective and efficient meetings
Now that we all work from home, the time spent in meetings significantly increased. So far, we were able to clarify a lot of things in the office without any official meeting. Now every attempt of communication with your colleagues means a meeting or a video call. Don’t forget to use the KISS principle of keeping it short and simple.

#3 Busy is not the same as productivity
Being busy should never be the goal of business, it is just an illusion, at the end, the main goal is to deliver the product. Delegate the work to others if things got crowded at your end. All of us are working in teams, so you should raise your hand at the daily stand-ups if you feel that things got out of control. If the work is structured properly, everybody will be covered but not overbooked.

#4 Use the Pareto Principle
According to the Pareto Principle, 80% of the project’s benefit comes from 20% of the work. Most certainly, you are familiar with this principle if you were a student, and during exams, you always had 80% of your paperwork done in the last 20% of the timeline.
If 80% of your results come from 20% of where you spend your time, then you should find out what are the things in your best 20% that produce the most important results.

#5 Declutter your workspace
If it’s a mess on your desk or around you, your level of concentration is seriously affected. Try to eliminate everything that is not needed for your work, throw away garbage from your desk. Wipe the desk down and keep it clean to be able to focus only on your tasks. Try to get everything digital anyhow your laptop or PC is the only place where almost everything happens related to your work.

#6 Stop the infinite scrolling on social media
This is serious stuff; we are capable of keep scrolling for hours. There are many apps which can track the time spent on social media, don’t be afraid of using these. You would be surprised how much time we spent on Facebook, Instagram, FB Messenger, WhatsApp, Skype, etc. Imagine for how many, more valuable, activities you could use that scrolling time, like learning, getting certified, doing sports, reading.

#7 Start laughing more
Laughing releases chemicals in our brain, it relieves physical tension and stress. Laughing boosts your immune system, decreases stress hormones, and increases immune cells and antibodies. Definitely, it improves your resistance to viruses and infections. I guess it’s pretty beneficial in these days/months…Being in a good mood and smile a lot can lower your blood pressure, it can reduce anxiety and other negative emotions. Ok, we said enough, you should start laughing more.