Work-from-home (WFH) is great, innit?
No energy-draining commutes, no time-sucking meetings, no pesky co-worker conversations, no random birthday celebrations… and more family time… what’s not to love?
The dirty secret? For many of us, the office provides the necessary discipline to work. Actually work. And not fall prey to the three challenges of the home-office environment:
a. Distractions: Getting sucked into the unending temptations of the online universe (“Just one more video, and I’ll get back to work”) and other distractions.
b. Battling interruptions: Uniquely home interruptions such as the newspaper guy coming for his bill; the ironing guy for new clothes … and just when you are focusing on that critical proposal, a family member would ask for help with the printer. People assume that if you’re at home, you’re fair game and can be asked to do anything.
c. Managing low-energy periods: At office, the presence of others helps us power through the ‘low-energy’ periods (for instance that dreaded post-lunch nap, sorry dip, in productivity).
How can you cope?
In this long-form blog post, I’m sharing all the productivity lessons I’ve learnt from 5+ years of working from home.
(Disclaimer: There are much better sources of advice on this topic – for instance, the ‘Getting Things Done’ movement. I’m no expert on the topic. This is just a structured list of ideas that have worked for me).
Here’s a quick summary:
Let’s begin.
1. Break down your work into a prioritised list of tasks and record them
a. Break down projects to bite-sized, SMART tasks
At work, you have two kinds of tasks. Simple one-off to-dos (e.g. book Pune-Delhi ticket) and more complex ‘projects’ (e.g. prepare client proposal).
You cannot work on a ‘project’. You can only work on tasks that make up a project. But we often list down a ‘project’ as a to-do in our task list … and then get stuck – where exactly to start?
For instance, can you identify which of the following items qualifies as a ‘task’:
Answer: None of the above.
The above activities are all projects, that consist of a series of tasks within them. You need to break the project down into those tasks.
For instance, in the above cases, the following might be a specific task for each project:
When you are ‘breaking-down’ a project into component tasks, there are 2 guidelines to keep in mind:
The actual steps in creating a detailed MECE task list is beyond the scope of this article, but suffice to say that you should have tasks, not projects in your to-do list.
b. Record tasks in the appropriate place based on urgency
Now tasks don’t arrive neatly in a package at 9 am every morning. They are an unruly barrage of items that come at you with no order or frequency. If you just keep responding to each one as they came, you’d never be able to get critical work done.
Which is why you need a recording system for your tasks and thoughts.
Over many years of experimenting, I have figured out a system that works for me. Depending on the category of the task and when it needs to get done (today or sometime in the future), I have the following recording system in place:
Elaborating on the above, here’s what I do for the different categories of tasks:
My notepad – some tasks still remain to be done
Alright, so you have your list of activities for the day. Time to get cracking? Not yet. You need to categorise them into Creator and Clerk tasks first.
c. Prioritise tasks using the Creator-Clerk framework and urgency
Not all tasks are equally important. While we know that instinctively, we don’t follow that priority when executing them.
Way back in 2009, Y-Combinator founder Paul Graham had penned a famous essay: Maker’s Schedule, Manager’s Schedule. In it, he categorised all tasks into two – Maker tasks, which add most value and Manager tasks, which need to be done but aren’t value-generating of themselves.
I call them Creator and Clerk tasks, to make the distinction clearer. Creator tasks are what get you paid – writing a proposal, making a project plan, creating a presentation.
Clerk tasks are the routine everyday items that take up a lot of time but are not the reason you get paid. E.g. Filling time-sheets, expense reports, responding to routine emails.
Here’s an illustrative list of Creator and Clerk tasks to make the distinction clearer:
Once you have the list of tasks to be done, you need to classify them into these two categories.
And then comes the important step: At the beginning of each work-day, list down no more than three Creator tasks that you would like to accomplish for that day.
More than three would make it too ambitious and set you up for disappointment; less than three might be too easy.
Once you’ve categorised your task, we move onto the next section: using our resources – our T.E.A.M. – to complete the tasks.
2. Manage your T.E.A.M. (Time, Energy, Attention and Mood) to complete the tasks
That’s right – just managing your time isn’t good enough. You may have all the time in the world, but still not get any work done, because:
Which means you need to manage all your resources impacting productivity – your time, energy, attention and mood.
Let’s dive in.
a. Time: Schedule Creator tasks during your Biological Prime Time (BPT) and take frequent restorative breaks
In limited-overs cricket, the Power-Play is a critical phase. During this period, there are restrictions on how many fielders can be outside the circle – which gives the batsmen a freer license to take risks and score more.
Of course, that means you need to send the right batsman during this period. You would send a Virat Kohli or a Rohit Sharma; and not a Jasprit Bumrah or a Yuzvendra Chahal.
Similarly, during your day you have a PowerPlay time – it’s called your Biological Prime Time: the time of the day when you are most alert and raring to go. Typically it’s the first 2-3 hours when you start work in the morning (for some it may be the evening time; for others, it may be two slots across the day).
Now here’s the thing: During this period, if you end up doing ‘Clerk’ tasks, you would be frittering away your BPT advantage. It’d be like sending Bumrah (no offence!) during your batting PowerPlay.
So the key ‘time’-management trick to maximise your productivity: Schedule your Creator tasks during your BPT.
For instance, I would start my morning with any proposals that need to be sent, any research that needs to be done for an upcoming session or any writing for the blog.
Late mornings and afternoons would be for the mundane stuff – accounting, paying bills and taxes, booking flights and hotels. I try and keep my BPT free from such items.
Of course, this is easier said than done because of 2 issues:
Make the most of your BPT.
Divvy-up your BPT into smaller time-slots: Your Creator task should not be a large 2-hour lump of work. Break it down into smaller pieces. One approach that works here is the Pomodoro technique: you work in 25-minute intervals and take 3-5 minute breaks in between. This site gives an easy tool to implement this technique. In my own case, I break down my BPT into 30-45 min slots, with short breaks in between.
Go easy on yourself during the non-BPT: Conversely, go easy on yourself during the non-Prime time. Recognise that you can’t work non-stop for 8 hours at home. Which brings us to the next point: breaks.
Take frequent breaks. Now, a break doesn’t mean watching a video or catching up on your social media feed. You need to take restorative breaks – that enable you to come back to work refreshed.
For a break to be restorative, here are some tips from Daniel Pink’s ‘When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing’. According to him, breaks should be:
So, on Time: Focus on your BPT, go easy during non-BPT and take frequent, restorative breaks.
You may have the time, but what if you don’t ‘feel’ like working? We move onto resource #2: Energy.
b. Energy: Sleep, eat and exercise well to maintain energy for critical tasks
You need to acknowledge that your energy would dip during some parts of the day (that dreaded post-lunch period). What can you do? Three things:
One, do the basics right to get adequate energy for work. Get 7-8 hours of sleep, exercise and eat right. Also, designate one separate place as your workstation at home. Ideally not something comfortable like a lounge chair or sofa. Invest in a good work-chair and table, if you don’t have one. You’re gonna use it a lot going forward!
Two, smartly use deadlines and end-points. Our minds work faster when faced with a deadline, or when we perceive to be close to completion. Which means that you can ‘program’ your mind to be more enthused about work – by breaking your entire project into smaller components, each with its own deadline and end-point.
Three, acknowledge that you will struggle in some periods of the day.
And now, the next piece of advice I’m going to give would be blasphemous to some and music-to-the-ears to many: It’s ok to take a short afternoon nap.
What?! A nap during work-time? That’s terrible, you may think.
But it makes a lot of sense according to the aforementioned Dan Pink book. In fact, he suggests a 5-step process to ‘nap right’. He calls it the nappuccino (because you’re supposed to have a cup of coffee before you nap! The coffee takes about 25 mins to enter your bloodstream and that is adequate time for your nap). You don’t have to lie down on a bed – a nap can also be a quick shut-eye on your desk or sofa.
Recognise that you have differing energy levels at home as compared to office (because of the lack of social interaction). Plan accordingly and you’ll have a productive day.
Energy is still relatively easy to manage though – we now move on to the most tricky challenge: distraction.
c. Attention: Know the sources of distraction and engineer your workplace to minimise its impact, especially during the BPT
The biggest challenge of WFH is managing distractions. Unfortunately, they are all-pervasive and increasing in intensity. Distractions are especially worrisome when they hit us during our critical Creator tasks.
To cope with this problem, you need to break it down into smaller component parts.
Here’s a framework that I have created to classify distraction:
So distraction can be categorised on 2 axes – based on its nature (work-related or leisure) and its source (self-generated or from others).
Let’s take the first category: Work-related distraction. These could be you remembering to book your tickets (while in the middle of a Creator Task), your colleague pinging you for some old proposal or your boss asking you for some mundane clarification.
Here are the types of work-related distraction and how you can combat them:
Self-generated work-related distractions
Others-generated work-related distractions
Here’s a visual summary of how to cope with work-related distractions:
Managing work-related distractions is not easy, especially when the boss is involved. But the remedies are still easier than the big one: managing leisure distractions.
Self-generated leisure distractions
Let’s face it. Work can be boring. Creator tasks can be tough. And there’s no harm in watching just one more ‘Key and Peele’ video, reading one more Cricinfo article, or one more Instagram story.
Trust me, I’ve been there. The moment I’d get stuck on a tough proposal or a mundane expense report, my hands would instinctively reach for the ‘Alt-Tab’ key and begin scrolling through the endless joys of the internet.
I’ve listed below some of the tactics that have worked for me – but make no mistake: This is a constant battle and it never gets easier.
I categorise leisure distractions into two categories:
Others-generated leisure distractions
While the vast majority of leisure distractions are self-generated, there would be others-generated distractions too.
Here’s a visual summary of how to cope with leisure-related distractions:
d. Mood: Avoid unnecessary conversations and keep your mood positive
The final factor which impacts work is your mood. Despite having the time, the attention and the energy, you may still not be able to work – because of negative emotions flooding your mind.
Now this is a vast topic by itself, but I’m going to do a quick overview of the reasons:
Here’s a chronicle of my journey of reducing smartphone usage. It’s still an uphill battle… but it’s far better than what it was.
So there you have it – my life learnings on enhancing work productivity by managing your T.E.A.M. better. Here’s the quick summary again as a recap:
Please share any other tips or tricks that have worked for you in the comments and I will publish some of the best ones in a separate post.
Here’s a list of books that have guided me through this challenging productivity journey:
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Featured image credit: Photo by Glenn Carstens-Peters on Unsplash
