Accomplishing everything on your daily to-do list isn’t always so easy when you work from your Central New Jersey home. With little separation between personal and professional lives, lower productivity can be a problem for at-home workers. Fortunately, increasing your productivity can be as simple as following a few of these tips.

Create a Designated Home Office

When the COVID-19 pandemic sent millions of employees home last year, many people were unprepared for remote work. While the couch or kitchen table would have made a fine workspace if the original lockdown had actually lasted just two weeks, makeshift offices often become uncomfortable as remote working dragged on.

Working in a corner of the family room may give you plenty of space, but the noise and constant interruptions could be interfering with your ability to get things done. Although we’ve all enjoyed seeing videos of kids and pets video-bombing meetings and TV interviews, interruptions aren’t quite as funny when they become daily occurrences at your house.

Creating a home office will allow you to work with minimal interruptions. A spare bedroom, basement or even a walk-in closet could become your new home office. As long as the space is quiet and large enough for a desk and chair, it can serve as an at-home workspace.

When you create your home office, keeping these things in mind:

• Comfort: Does your chair provide adequate support, or do you experience back or neck pain after just a few hours? Keeping ergonomic principles in mind when you choose furniture for your home office will help you avoid aches and pains.

• Décor: With no rules and regulations to follow, your home office can truly reflect your personality. Paint the walls neon green if you want or cover your desk with your sports memorabilia collection. Nothing is off-limits in your own home.

• Lighting: Poor lighting can make it difficult to focus on digital screens and may cause eyestrain. Floor or desk lamps may be better choices than overhead lights, which can worsen glare.

• Noise Level: Can you close a door and shut out distractions? Is your home office far from the noisiest parts of your home?

• Internet Connectivity: Check Internet connectivity before you choose a spot for your home office, particularly if you’re considering creating a basement home office.

If you plan to work from home for the foreseeable future and don’t have enough room for a home office, it may be time to buy a new house. Brand new homes, like the ones in Country Classics’ communities in Central New Jersey, are more likely to feature designated home offices or flexible spaces that can be used for working at home.

Maintain Regular Office Hours 

One of the best things about working from home is the ability to set your own schedule if your company doesn’t mandate specific work-from-home hours. You can start working at 5 a.m. if you want or sleep until 9 a.m. and work into the evening. 

Whether you’re an early bird or a night owl, setting a regular schedule and sticking to it can help you accomplish your goals. Constantly changing your working hours may make it harder to get everything done.

Maximize Efficiency with Ground Rules and Routines

Working from home offers a break from unending workplace rules and expectations. Leave your coffee cup in the sink if you want, fill your home office with plants, or microwave fish for lunch. Although working from home can be liberating, setting a few ground rules can help you stay productive.

You may want to consider creating ground rules that cover what times family members can interrupt you for non-emergency reasons or the types of household tasks you’ll take care of during lunch breaks.

It’s unrealistic to expect that you’ll never check your personal email or social media account during the workday or take a look at a funny TikTok video. Unfortunately, time can slip away from you when you’re reading the latest Twitter updates or virtually visiting towns in England.

Setting strict limits for non-work Internet activities can help you stay productive. For example, you might spend 20 minutes on personal Internet use after working for three hours or allot five minutes every hour for checking your personal email.

Not enough room in your home for a home office? Country Classics offers new home communities in New Jersey with plenty of space to create the ultimate home office. One of them may be the perfect place for you to put down roots.