How To Be More Productive when Working From Home

How To Be More Productive when Working From Home

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Setting up and managing a business from home can be ideal for many people, allowing them a great deal more job satisfaction, flexibility over their working patterns and choices over how they organize their professional life. Many of the benefits for choosing your home over an office or other workspace are monetrary – it doesn’t cost money to travel to work, the premises and all the other costs, such as insurance and utility bills. However, there are some negatives to running a business from home, a lot of which are to do with remaining productive and being motivated. Here, we look at how you can work from home and still be efficient.

Create a workspace

The tempatation of sitting in your pajamas and working on the sofa in front of the TV can be strong when you work from home. While this is one of the benefits, it is not necessarily the best way to work, certainly not if you want to be productive. Take the time to create a dedicated workspace, even if it jut a nook in your bedroom where you can work in comfort with few distractions. If you do not have the space inside your house, look at converting the attic or garage, or even erect a summer house.

You don’t need many things;  a decent chair, a desk, some shelves and cupboards and good lighting. You can always add a few homely  little touches such as prints and plants to make it more aesthetically pleasing.

If your business involves food preparation – perhaps you work in catering or bake cakes – make sure that wherever you are working meets any hygiene regulations.

Inform the relevant people

Making sure that you have registered and told all of the necessary people that you are working from your home as soon as possible can take away a lot of worry and stress. One of the most essential departments to tell is the tax office so that you do not accidentally commit any sort of tax fraud or evasion. For certain businesses, you may have to register with certain regulatory bodies. Your mortgage company or landlord may need informing as well, as they may need to take out extra insurance to cover you.

Stay on task

As we mentioned above, it is really easy to get caught up watching TV, or doing the hoovering, or making the beds or any other job other than the one that you are supposed to be doing. Before you realise, half of your working time has gone, and you have achieved next to nothing. Start off the day creating a list of tasks you need to complete by the end of the day, and make sure that you do them.

Take a break

When you are absorbed in thinking about how much money you can make working from home and how much easier it would be, it can be easy to get completely lost in your work and let it take over your own time or time with your family. This is not healthy for anyone and can be counterproductive. When you are tired you are not working at your very best. Try using the Pomodoro technique.  This method involves you working for 25 minutes, having a five-minute break away from the computer or the task, and then working for another 25 minutes to help you take short, regular breaks. If possible, move away from your desk and stretch your legs or go outside for a few deep breaths of fresh air.

Keep hydrated

When you are sitting at a desk, bashing away at a computer, staying hydrated can be something  that slips our mind. Drinking gallons of coffee may seem like it is helping, but it really isn’t. Keep a bottle of water at your desk and try to drink it all before the end of your working day. Add slices of lemon or lime to give it a bit of zing if you don’t like plain water.

Switch off at the end of the day

Don’t give in to the temptation to check your emails before you go to bed, or to make that phone call just before you chill out after your dinner. Before you know it, you have worked for several more hours, often unpaid, and have had no down time at all that day.

It is important to set yourself working hours – and make sure that you stick to them! Swicth on an automatic out of office reply for your emails and switch the messaging service on your phone when you finish for the day and deal with them in the morning when you are back at your desk.

Outsource and delegate tasks

To try and save some money  do everything yourself. However, this usually end up costing you time – and therefore money – especially if it is a job that someone else can do more effectively. Many people can offer services such as marketing, accountancy, design, photography and virtual administration on a freelance basis. Delegate  these tasks and spend your precious time on growing and developing your business.

Get out of the house.

Working from home can be ivery lonely, especially if you are used to working in a busy and bustling office. Ensure that you take time out to meet up with friends and get out of the house for a walk, even if it is just grabbing a coffee or sandwich in a cafe at lunchtime.

Stay organized

If you have worked in an office before, you might be used to someone managing a schedule or your diary for you and telling you when you need to be and when. When you are working from home, unless you have employed a virtual assistant, this is something that you have to do. Keep a big planner on the wall in front of you, so you can be sure not to miss anything. You may also want to add appointments, deadlines and meetings to a digital calendar, such as on Google, which you can access when you are out and about.

It may also a good idea to create some sort of organisational system, so that your office isn’t covered in bits of paper and receipts. By filing away important documents, you will know where everything is when you need it.

Of course, if these tips don’t help you to stay on task and be productive at home, you might want to look at Finding Startup Office Space | The Complete Guide for some office spaces that give you the benefits of working for yourself without any of the negatives.

Easy Workspace Fixes

Easy Workspace Fixes

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If you have an office space that you use to work from home, when was the last time that you gave it a bit of an update? Have you just been using it for a while now and really reexamined with a pair of fresh eyes? It could be a cluttered space, an uninspiring space, a dull space, and not one that is going to be very conducive to a productive work environment. And if you solely work from home, then an office space that allows you to be creative and get your work done is definitely going to be what you should be looking out for.

So with all of that in mind, here are some of the things that you could be doing to your home office to make sure that you have a space that boosts some creativity, energy, and productivity.

Use Color Wisely

There is a lot of psychology behind color, and when you want a space that is going to help you to be productive, then you need to use color wisely. Color can really have an impact on things like stress levels, focus, and emotions. Calming colors are colors like yellow and neutrals, and blues can be quite calming, although they can leave a cool feeling which may put you off from being productive. Red shades can feel quite chaotic and can raise your stress levels, so they might not be the best for a home office space.

Decluttered Space

If you are in a cluttered space then it can be really counterproductive to getting things done. So being able to clear your space is really important. It might be that you simply need to have a clear out, but you might need to get some storage for your office space. You might also need to get your own storage, perhaps even something like looking into prefab metal buildings if you have a lot of inventory that is taking up space. You will know where everything is once it has been organized, and it will mean that your working day can be improved as you won’t have to search for things and spend a while doing so.

Light the Way

The benefits of natural light are really undeniable. Natural light can be really important for helping to life mood, as well as helping you to be happy, alert, and even more focused. It is better for your eyes as well too, when you don’t have to strain with unnatural light. That can lead to headaches and other things that can hinder how productive you are, if you don’t have adequate natural light.

Bring the Outdoors In

There have been many studies that support the claim that bringing the outdoors inside, such as plants and natural materials, can provide better air quality, as well as having psychological benefits. So the science suggests that if you have plenty of plants around the home, then it can decrease your number of sick days, as well as increase your productivity.

5 Practical Uses For Voice Recognition Technology

5 Practical Uses For Voice Recognition Technology

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Voice recognition can be more than a fun toy. In fact, it can have all kinds of practical uses that can be a huge convenience to our everyday lives. Here are just five practical uses for voice recognition.

Controlling your home remotely

Smart technology is becoming more popular in homes – using your smartphone, it’s now possible to control everything in your home from the heating to the lighting. But you can go one step further than home automation and also incorporate voice recognition, allowing you to control your home with your voice. If you’re in your bedroom getting ready for bed and you want to check that you’ve turned off the lights downstairs or locked the front door, you can simply use your voice saving you having to go downstairs. This could be via your smartphone’s voice recognition software or via a voice control device.

Handling texts/emails whilst driving

Reading and replying to texts whilst driving is illegal and dangerous, but when using voice recognition technology it can be made legal and safe. By using your smartphone or car’s voice command feature you can get your phone to read out messages and then you can write a response via voice command. This can also be done with emails and social media messages.

Dictating notes/recording meetings in business

Voice recognition can also be very useful in business, especially when multi-tasking. Many medical clinics are now using a hospital dictation system, allowing them to check patients whilst transcribing any findings. Many corporate businesses meanwhile are now using voice transcription in meetings in order to record the discussion both for easy reference and for legal strength. On top of this, many businesses are now using automated phone answering systems that rely on voice recognition to make dealing with customers easier.

Getting rid of your TV remote

Voice recognition could also render certain devices obsolete. For example, if you’ve got a smart TV, you don’t need a TV remote – you can simply control your TV using voice command. All those times you’ve misplaced the TV remote could be spared by simply relying on voice recognition.

Helping the visually impaired to use computers/smartphones

Voice recognition has also had a significant effect on aiding the visually impaired to use devices such as smartphones and computers. By using one’s voice, someone with sight problems can more easily select apps and programmes, as well as composing messages and selecting information on the internet. Whilst previously special braille keyboards and smart devices have been needed, the growing accuracy of voice recognition has made it possible for the visually impaired to use everyday devices.

Back to Basics: Top 5 Writing Tips to Become a Better Essay Writer

Back to Basics: Top 5 Writing Tips to Become a Better Essay Writer

By Taimoor Liaquat

From a business report or feasibility study, to more casual love letters and social media exposés, the uses of excellent essay writing skills are endless. Because of this, students are trained to develop their writing skills from primary school up to college, and beyond.

Unfortunately, not everyone can develop a passion for writing the best essays even with years of extensive practice in the academe. If you’re among those who need a little nudge in writing essays, then read on to learn about the top five writing tips to help you become a better essay writer.

  1. Read Other People’s Essays

Like learning any other skill, you would need to see samples of other people’s works when writing essays. Reading other people’s write-ups will help you develop your own writing style, especially if you choose to go through a variety of different essays.

Try to choose those that are expertly written and those that are penned by some of your peers. This will help you compare the quality and style of those close to your “level” of writing with those who have already developed an expertise in the discipline. Excellent sample essays are also abundant online in case you cannot get your hands on essays written by academics.

You can also sample the works of famous essayists such as Michel de Montaigne, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Joan Didion, Langston Hughes, Virginia Woolf, and so many other great writers.

  1. Expand Your Vocabulary

Since you will be using words to make stellar essays, you would need to have a vast bank of words to accurately express what you want to say.

This means you should expand your vocabulary and learn how to use certain variations of the different terms well. This will prevent you from beating around the bush when trying to make a point, and deliver the message to your readers as clearly as possible.

Some of the best ways to achieve this is by:

  • using a thesaurus to learn about synonyms and antonyms;
  • researching about words you’re not familiar with, with the help of a dictionary;
  • learning about root words, suffixes, and prefixes as well as their appropriate uses; and
  • starting a vocabulary journal.
  1. Use the Elevator Pitch Technique to Summarize Your Essay

The “elevator pitch” technique is a strategy used by people working in sales to summarize the reasons why customers should buy their product in a short span of time. In writing essays, using this summary style means you would have to pique the interest of your readers, so much so that they would want to read more of the essay.

While this can be a challenging exercise, it can help you become extremely concise when coming up with ideas for your essay and when choosing words to use. It can also aid you in improving the clarity and flow of your sentences and in penning your introduction faster.

  1. Consider Your Essay as Just Another Story

If you’re one of those people who would rather scroll over Facebook or write a lengthy post about how awesome your day was at the mall, then you probably feel that essay writing is a daunting task. Fortunately, this can be remedied by a simple mindset readjustment by thinking of essays as just another Facebook post or story.

Like any other story, essays describe a conflict and change—with the conflict referring to the ideas presented in the essay, and the change pertaining to your perception of those ideas as the writer of the essay.

  1. Tell the Reader What Your Sources Told You

Another neat tip you can try when writing essays is to put other people’s words into your output. This means you have to research reputable sources well and quote them in the body of your essay. You can also paraphrase the information using your own words, but make sure to offer proper attribution to the original creator of the idea.

You should also include contrasting views to showcase all sides of the argument and to cater to other readers’ preferences that may be different from yours. This will make your essay “source heavy,” which is a good thing when you’re looking to impress your teachers.

Of course, you should use this technique sparingly as not all academics like this style. Some prefer to read about students’ original thoughts and ideas in the essay assignments.

Practice Makes Perfect

Nobody is born an expert essay writer, so don’t worry if you don’t immediately improve on your first try.

Remember that even great writers had to hone their skills in writing before they reached the peak of their careers. That said, try to apply some—if not all—of these tips to help you get started.

AUTHOR BIO

Taimoor Liaquat is the CEO at MyPerfectWords.com, renowned as the global source for professional writing services at all academic levels. The company’s team of world-class native English-speaking essay writers with advanced degrees at elite US universities ensures high-quality custom content for all clients.

Three Ways to Make Your Office More Creative

Three Ways to Make Your Office More Creative

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Creativity is a really important aspect of business. Only when your employees are feeling creative will they come up with brand new ideas and directions for your business. And yet, the vast majority of offices and businesses completely fail to inspire any kind of creativity.

Creativity doesn’t come from nowhere. It is actually a combination of things and usually, the first spark of an idea happens when you find the right inspiration and you are relaxed enough to let the thought through. This is why a dull grey cubicle in an open plan office is rarely a place for great ideas!

Transforming Your Office

It might sound superficial but everything from the color of your office to the layout will have an effect on the way you work. Whether you are looking to boost your creativity or you want your team to be more productive, you should look at your office design first.

A bright space where employees feel that they can express themselves is really important. Indeed, being able to play – whether that means adding a foosball table or a stack of video games – is also really important. Adults learn through play just as much as kids do and being able to relax is vital for clear thinking.

If you can create a flexible space where your employees can make the room into what they need for their project, that would really help too. It’s incredible that something as simple as moving some furniture around could make a difference but, hey, at least that’s a fairly simple problem to fix! Have a look at Rieke.com to see what your office could become.

Be an Inclusive Office

Inclusivity is really important in any office but if you want to be more creative, you must ensure that you foster the right culture. Diversity is key to creating a team but we’re not just talking about socio-economic diversity, here, deep-level diversity including personality, values and abilities are also essential.

Though a group of people who all approach problems in different ways can be difficult to manage, they are much more likely to have a lightbulb moment than a group who all think in the same way. This is because as they discuss their ideas, they will be able to bounce off each other, finding flaws and solutions as they go.

But inclusivity is about more than diversity. Inclusivity is about giving people the chance to speak and to shine no matter whether they are a junior in their first week or a manager with years of experience. This article from Entrepreneur has some interesting ideas but the one that stands out most for creativity are the simplest: talk about something other than work.

Inspiration can and should come from anywhere and, though the office might be the most logical space for a business, you must adapt that space to make it work for you. Transforming your office is a good start to this process but you must also transform your culture to succeed.

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