Working from home: productivity, motivation & success

How to be healthier, happier and at your best when working from home.

Working from home is becoming the norm. More and more of us are now required to work this way. In these situations, we must often balance the demands of our professional roles with family and domestic issues. This means being motivated, efficient and feeling well is more important than ever.

Tougher Minds Founder Dr Jon Finn shares 10 easy-to implement and highly-effective rules to follow. These are based on the best neuroscience, behavioural science and psychology:

1. Use behavioural science to help you succeed

Behavioural science tells us that we need regular reminders (or triggers). Try modifying your home environment to give you these. For example, set up short morning and afternoon planning and reflection video meetings with your team to keep everyone connected and focused.

2. Big goals boost motivation

Big goals boost our motivation by driving our short-term behaviour. If you want to be a chief executive in five years-time, you should align your medium / short-term goals, so what you do today supports your long-term development. You’ll also be able to see your immediate progress and stay motivated.

3. Self-watch your habits (helpful v unhelpful)

Intelligently self-watch your daily habits, so that you can build more helpful habits for working from home (and recognise unhelpful habits). For example, take the free A.P.E. Brain Test to learn more about your most unhelpful habits.

4. Work hard on your sleep

Sleep is vitally important. It’s a prerequisite of good health and effective personal performance. Lack of sleep stops the brain clearing out unhelpful toxins that damage short and long-term health.

5. Get smarter by exercising

Exercise breaks can release hormones to improve brain function. Plan to take regular activity breaks and experience the well-being and performance benefits.

6. Fuel your brain for happiness and success

A healthy diet is key to brain function. Use a search engine to find foods that you like which are ‘complex carbohydrates’, ‘rich in Omega 3’ and ‘rich in antioxidants’ to fuel your brain for happiness and success.

7. Create a Will Power Story

Use daily Will Power stories as an immediate motivational and habit building tool to help you get more done every day. The brain has high, medium and low charge states, like a battery. Plan to match your brain states to different types of work. This will improve your effectiveness.

8. Save time by planning to refocus

Learn how to focus and get more work done. We only have a finite amount of focused brain power in any one day. By developing a plan you will use it more efficiently and re-focus faster when your attention wanders. Create mental images and use self-talk to help manage your thoughts.

9. Tame your brain and recharge

The importance of recharging your brain, and how you can do it at regular intervals throughout the day is key. The ‘attention economy’ means that it is easier than ever to be always on. Plan to ‘ switch off ’ for short periods throughout the day and you will feel better.

10. Write, re-frame, relax

Reduce stress, build confidence and finish the day well, so that you can relax and let your brain recharge. At the end of every day try a positively weighted reflection exercise. Write down what went well and then what you can do better. This helps to manage stress and build confidence for the next day.

Dr Jon Finn is the Founder and Director of Tougher Minds, an awarding-winning solution for Well-being, Performance, Transformational Leadership and Successful Change Management in work, education and life. Tougher Minds’ programmes are used by major businesses and organisations in the U.K., Europe and the U.S., they have helped tens of thousands of people. They have advised the Government and think tanks, had their work featured in The Sunday Times, The Sunday Telegraph, People Management and T.E.S, and published peer-reviewed papers.

Jon shared his advice at our webinar on "Working from home: 10 Rules for Well-Being, Productivity and Success- Part 1". This was originally on April 16th but is available to watch for 10 days from this date. To access the recording, please visit this link. Part 2 will be recorded and streamed on April 30th, to book your place click here.