Hello to all the beautiful people reading this post! This is a very special blog post because it is a collaboration between ATouchofLipstick and sincerely,gagan.A Touch of Lipstick was created by Mandy Kaur, a pre-law graduate who has a passion for shopping, fashion, and beauty. Mandy created ATouchOfLipstick to share her travels, shopping tips, and beauty reviews. sincerely, gaganwas created by Gagan Kaur, a marketing professional by trade and a content creator by passion. Gagan created sincerely, gagan to establish a platform to share knowledge about effective digital marketing and lifestyle tips.

It’s been a wild couple of months due to COVID-19, which has most of us stuck and safe at home. Several of us are fortunate enough to work from home. Working from home can be tiring and challenging, so in today’s post, we put our heads together to share with you some useful tips to stay productive while working from home. Make sure to like, follow and subscribe to both blogs and follow us on Instagram @ATouchofLipstick and @sincerelygagan.

1. Establish a One-Thing

You can be at your most productive when you make a to-do list of everything you want to accomplish during the day. You can always plan each morning what you plan to do for the day depending on how important the task is. Always do the most important or time-sensitive work first, and then work on the less important tasks. Creating a “One Thing” that has the highest priority and focusing on completing that before the day is over will help you give a laser focus. Laser focus on that particular task until it’s over instead of scattering your focus across several tasks leading to none being complete. 

2. Take Breaks

Taking breaks can help increase productivity by giving your brain a chance to rest and recharge. By stepping away from your computer and taking a short walk or grabbing a quick bite to eat with help replenish your brain’s resources. Going without breaks can cause stress and accelerated exhaustion. But taking breaks when you are in “the zone” isn't the best idea, interrupting your flow by taking a break can hinder your creativity. Using a timer will help keep your break not too long, use your phone or a physical timer like this one (https://www.amazon.com/Secura-60-Minute-Classroom-Countdown-Management/dp/B07PGVNH59/ref=sr_1_34?dchild=1&keywords=timers&qid=1586120011&sr=8-34) to help keep track of your productive and non-productive times.  

3. Stay in Touch with Co-Workers

Staying in touch with your co-workers while working from home will help you stay motivated to complete your tasks at hand. This also promotes a sense of teamwork even though you are working from home, especially if you have projects that you are working on together. Every team communicates differently but using tools like Zoom, Slack, Microsoft Teams or even group messages are great ways to stay connected. Use an online calendar to schedule weekly meetings to hold on Zoom to help communicate to do’s and help divvy up tasks. 

4. Create a Productive Workspace

Creating the right atmosphere for your workspace is important because that can help you focus on your work. Headphones are a great way to help to create your perfect workspace. We both use Apple Airpods Pro as they have the noise-canceling feature which is great when you are working at home alongside your family during quarantine. If you find it hard to work with headphones, you can always play calming music at a low volume which will still help with the distractions around you so you can focus on your tasks. Besides using headphones, organizing your workspace with all of your essentials is a great way to boost productivity. Some of the items we keep on our desks include an agenda or calendar, laptop, pens, sticky notes, books, a candle and a lamp. 

The entire nation is in a weird place today but as long as you stay inside you are protected. Working from home, you are safe even though you are stuck. We hope you enjoyed today’s blog post and make sure you stay tuned for our next collaboration. For more posts like this one follow us on Instagram @ATouchofLipstick and @sincerelygagan.