20 Productivity Hacks for Working from Home in Canada

It's an amazing feeling to work remotely. Unfortunately, many people who work from a home office fall into the trap of working below their maximum efficiency. In Canada, it's great to stay in the house, especially when things begin to get cold. Productivity hacks for working from home can go a long way in ensuring that you get your job done to the best of your ability.

Pros & Cons of Working from home

Working from home

• A heightened sense of freedom that comes with working at your own pace
• The ability to work in an environment that is most comfortable for you
• The elimination of the transit time it would take to go to and from a traditional workspace
• No need to worry about your outfit, unless you are going to be a part of a video conference
• The convenience of home-cooked meals is always present
• You can spend breaks doing your favorite activities at home

• The freedom may cause procrastination to creep in
• Employers may have doubts about the amount of work you're putting in from your remote location
• The whole operation can get crippled by a lack of internet connectivity
• Familiar distractions and the presence of family members or friends can throw your work off course

Productivity Hacks for Working from Home

Now that you've gone through the ups and downs of working from home, it's time to review some valuable information on how to stay productive while working from home in Canada. Implementing most of these is very simple, which means that you can start yielding a greater output in no time.  

1. Take Breaks

It's hard to stress the importance of taking breaks enough. You go through physical and mental diminishing marginal returns as you continue to focus on your work without a pause. Taking some time to relax allows you to settle down and refocus. Try to take a 15-minute break for every 90 minutes of work. Do some exercises or even move away from your desk, and spend the time doing something that's not work-related. 

2. Get a Standing Desk

Why do you need a standing desk? Sitting consistently is an unhealthy practice, especially if you work for long hours. A top-tier work from home productivity tip is to get yourself an adjustable standing desk. 

The active nature of alternating between standing and seated positions helps you maintain a good energy flow, improving your ability to get through your tasks. Consider the Autonomous line of standing desks for the best performance. 

3. Get a Comfortable Chair

There is no point in mentioning the desk without mentioning the chair. There are various chairs to choose from, but Autonomous has a catalog featuring some of the best ergonomic chairs. You can browse to see multiple materials and evaluate the benefits and drawbacks of some of the most popular alternatives, such as mesh and leather.

The Autonomous ErgoChair 2, Kinn Chair, and MyoChair are a few of the best options money can buy. 

4. Stick to Your Designated Hours

Whether you have a traditional shift or not, you need to have set hours in which you work. If you fail to establish this range of time, you are going to find it hard to separate your personal life from your work.

Apart from setting the hours, it would help if you also stuck with them. You never want to get to the point where it feels as if your life revolves around your work. 

5. Plan Your Day

Another of the best productivity hacks for working from home is to plan your day efficiently. Think of the process of setting a road map to ensure that you adequately get through all the tasks that you need to.

It would help if you documented your plan in a scheduled form and put it somewhere that you look frequently enough to abide by it. 

6. Personalize Your Workspace

Making your workspace feel like yours is another excellent work from home productivity tip. Productivity depends heavily on your comfort, and if you feel like a workspace matches you, you are more likely to feel at home in it.

Remember that you're working remotely anyways, so this is your time to exercise whatever measure of control you may have over the work area. 
 

7. Keep Your Housework Out of Work Time

This is yet another one of the most essential time management productivity hacks for working from home. In the same way you should keep your work outside of personal hours, practice keeping your personal activities outside of your work hours.

If you don't, you're going to lose valuable work time, which may leave you wondering where the day went. 

8. Automation Is Your Friend

If you ever stumble on any reliable automation features, don't hesitate to use them in your workday. Indeed, any repetitive task that you have is best handled by a computer system. Depending on your job description, you may not be able to build an automation platform. However, there are several around for you to take advantage of, though. 

9. Keep Social Media Away

A list of productivity hacks for working from home can't be complete without discussing social media. The various platforms can be very distracting, and you can lose track of time quickly as you browse them. Limit your social media use, and try to keep it outside of your active work periods,   

10. Try Pomodoro

Here is yet another work from home productivity tip. The Pomodoro technique is one of the most popular and effective time management methods that you could use. Using a timer, you can segment your work into predetermined intervals with short breaks between. As you are not continuously going at any task, you get the benefit of refocusing during breaks. 

11. Start Early

Here is another one of the best productivity hacks for working from home. It's easy to sleep a bit longer because you don't have to go to an office, isn't it? However, you severely limit the amount of time you can focus on the job at hand. Therefore, it becomes that much harder for you to keep work time confined to any set period.  

12. Get Dressed

Why should you get dressed if you're not going anywhere? It turns out that making yourself appear presentable provides you with a confidence level that can help you get through your day. Additionally, if you find yourself in a position where you need to jump into a quick video conference or call, you are already prepared.  

13. Get Your Favorite Music Involved

Whether it's the lyrics or the beat, bringing your favorite music into the mix is another of the best productivity hacks for working from home. You need to be careful if you choose to listen to music, though, as it's very easy to start focusing on the songs instead of your work.

It's best to have the music playing in the background at a low enough volume for you to realize it's there, without it messing with your workflow.  

14. Set Expectations for Those Around You

It's not unlikely that you are not the only person in your remote workspace. If you have a traditional Canadian family, you need to think about the other people and how they may impact the tasks you have to do.

Sometimes, you need only set adequate expectations for everyone. Let them know that you are working, and how limited interaction can be. Going this route also prevents some disturbances.  

15. Prepare Meals in Advance

If you are trying to cook when you should be working, you take valuable time from getting your job done. A very efficient work from home hack is to prepare your meals well in advance. If you can do so from the night before, you should.

You get much more done when you can pick up your food and eat during the workday instead of preparing it late.  

16. Check in with Co-workers

The feeling of isolation can creep in ever so quickly when you have been in a remote workspace for a long time. If you have a team, you can alleviate this problem by talking to them from time to time.

Not only does this work from home productivity tip provide the human interaction you need, but it also reminds you how important your job is. Morale plays a massive role in your output potential.  

17. Establish an Office Space

What if you don't have an extra room to dedicate to this cause? The office space being spoken to here does not necessarily need to be a whole room. The idea is to establish a dedicated space that you use for work daily. Anyone else around you should also know the purpose of the area you choose.

This is one of the top-ranked productivity hacks for working from home, as you get the benefit of being organized. Not only do you get to keep all your work-related items in one place, but there is no scramble to find somewhere convenient to work daily.  

18. Exercise and Stretch

Your body still has its need for daily activity. If you work around a desk consistently, remember to take a break to get some stretches in. Apart from that, try to get yourself into a regular exercise regimen. The work from home experience can bring a sedentary aura, which you want to avoid.  

19. Go Outside

Even if your objective is nothing more than walking around your house once, going outside is another of the best productivity hacks for working from home. Things can get a little chilly in Canada, but it's still a good idea to take in some of the fresh air. You'd be surprised to find out how focused and sharp you feel when you return to work. 

20. Use Your Transit Time

The final work from home hack is to make use of what would typically be transit time. When you work from home, you don't need to drive or take public transportation to get to work. Instead of using that extra time to get your tasks done, use it for your mental health. Before you start working, get in the right frame of mind, and plan your day. After you finished working, use the time to unwind before heading back to your personal life.