Tag Archives: WFH

Strategy

Rainy Day Realignment

The Memorial Day weekend weather has been a bit disappointing so far this year, so rather than wasting a day I took yesterday to realign my office to a “new” layout. I included new in quotes because it’s actually an old layout, but one far more receptive to the type of work I have coming over the next couple of months.

It’s important to take time to reassess your working environment occasionally and determine if it is meeting your needs. In my case, clutter was catching up (I live with an amount of clutter because of how my brain works, but that’s for a different post) and I needed to reset to feel like the space was working for me again. Take time to look at your work space, especially the parts that seem to hamper your process and make you less effective.

Organization is critical in any workspace, but equally as critical is a sense of satisfaction with the space. We can sabotage this with constant scrolling through Pinterest or Instagram looking for “new office ideas” or “organization hacks”. If we convince ourselves to never be satisfied with our space and always are on the search for the new setup that will solve all our issues, we’ll likely never find it nor will we get our work done either.

The important part is evaluation and changing those things that have an impact, not the things we’re “told” should be changed. I’m taking more personal ownership of my workspace and you should as well.

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Recommended Reading

Recommended Reading for Week 21, 2021

Here are this weeks’ reading recommendations. Included are more discussions about hybrid working, measuring success, a great productivity hack, and the difference between professionals and amateurs.

  1. Work From Home to Lift Productivity by 5% in Post-Pandemic U.S. – Bloomberg
  2. A new measure of success: Counting hours worked isn’t cutting it anymore – Fortune
  3. Find a To-Do List Strategy That Works for You – Entrepreneur
  4. A Harvard professor suggests we all steal the ‘Feierabend’ productivity hack. – Inc. Magazine
  5. Professional Amateurs and Amateur Professionals – Thrive Global

If you’ve read something interesting and worth sharing, pass it along and I might include it in future posts of Recommended Reading.

Being Productive, Strategy, Techniques, Working from Home

Hoteling – working without a home base

Episode 57 of Being Productive is all about this concept of hoteling: going in to work in an office with no dedicated desk or location of your own. I’ve done this myself for multiple years and in multiple locations and can tell you that you can work effectively this way but it takes planning, strategy, and more than one concession. If you have comments, questions, or thoughts you’d like to share, please do so in the comments or even better drop the show a voice message. Your message might even be included in a future episode!

Episode 80 – Slow Processes – Being Productive

In this episode, host Art Gelwicks dives into the art of productivity and the power of intentional habits. From rebranding his platform to embracing Substack as a distraction-free content hub, Art shares insights on how we can take control of our workflow, avoid the social media rabbit hole, and focus on what truly matters.He also reflects on the shift from analog to digital tools, comparing the patience required for film photography to the instant gratification of smartphone cameras—an analogy for how we approach productivity in the modern world. Are we too focused on speed rather than meaningful progress?Join us for a deep dive into the tools, mindset, and strategies that can help you work smarter, not harder. Don't forget to visit BeingProductive.me for more insights and resources!Share this with friends, family, and colleagues if you found it useful!📌 YouTube Chapters0:00 – Welcome & Updates (Art Gelwicks is back!)0:28 – Rebranding to BeingProductive.me (New site, new direction)0:37 – Why Substack? (Escaping social media distractions)1:06 – The Photography Analogy (What taking pictures teaches us about productivity)1:33 – The Slow Process of Photography (Developing film vs. instant results)2:06 – Old School Film Development (Steps to creating the perfect photo)3:06 – Understanding the Process to Improve It (How mastery leads to efficiency)5:01 – Shortcuts vs. Quality (What we sacrifice for speed)6:50 – The Danger of Prioritizing Quantity (Why more isn’t always better)7:58 – Redefining Productivity (Speed vs. meaningful work)9:12 – Final Thoughts & What’s Next (A new approach to productivity)Subscribe today so you don’t miss out on any content from BeingProductive.me To hear more, visit beingproductive.substack.com
  1. Episode 80 – Slow Processes
  2. Episode 79 – Anti-Social Media
  3. Episode 78 – Mindmapping, Flowcharts, and Checklists
  4. Ep 77 – Achieving Work Life Balance
  5. Ep 76 – Linking Your Information
Coaching

Working from home – Maintaining Order

One of the downsides of working from home is my office can get to look a little “lived in.”   Nothing hoarder-like,  just a little too comfortable for what should be in a professional office.

How do you keep your home office working as an office?

In an effort to keep that under control,  beginning today I am blocking 30 minutes out on my calendar to,  as the old term goes,  “sharpen the saw.”   A little work on the working area will hopefully be a positive contribution to the productivity of the space and myself.

Spending time making sure your space is ready for work is as important as doing the work itself.   A good mechanic keeps his or her tools in order and clean,  the workshop safe,  and everything where it can be found for the tasks at hand.   This is a rule we should all follow in our work.

How do you keep your workspace under control?   Any tips or tricks you’d care to share?   Post them in the comments,  please!

Coaching, Full Length Articles, Strategy

Working from home motivation – Get dressed

I’ve been working from home for more than three and a half years now and over that time I’ve found that maintaining the motivation to get things done can be just a challenging as in an office.  Recently I’ve started to try some new things to get me going and I thought I’d share my successful/unsuccessful efforts here.

It’s easy to fall into a level of comfort when working from home.  No business casual dress code needed if you’re not seeing people after all.  But I’ve found that staying in the “casual” mode too long tends to create inertia in the brain and doesn’t let me do my best “business work.”  My solution…get dressed.

Now, I’m not talking about putting on a suit or anything like that.  The simple act of putting on a dress shirt can change my mindset completely when it comes to focusing.  I’ve heard the process equated to putting on a uniform in sports…you get your game face on.  Combining this with the option to do video calls more frequently, and I’ve found “gearing up” can be just the catalyst I need to get over a hump of inactivity.

Put away the bunny slippers, put on some good clothes, and go comb your hair.  It’s amazing what mixing things up a little bit will do for your productivity.

What gets you motivated working at home?  Share in the comments section if you please!