Are you one of those students who are not required to attend seminars and lectures and who can therefore easily work from home? Or do you generally work from home occasionally? Time for joy, because being able to give yourself the way to university or work often saves time and stress. Nonetheless, there is a risk of getting bogged down at home and not plunging into productivity, but into any distractions or boredom. But it doesn’t have to be – the following 10 tricks will help you to stay on course and not get bogged down!
Tip 1: Think about what you want to do on a specific day
Lecture time out, lecture-free time ago. In principle, it doesn’t matter whether you prepare and follow up a lecture or start a seminar paper. It is important to determine some time in advance what should happen on day X in the home office and what materials you need for it. Those who have everything on site and know what they will do will most likely do it more productively.
Tip 2: Set your daily goal including intermediate steps
Where do you stand at the beginning of the day, where do you want to be in the evening results? Think about what the big goal is (e.g. passing an exam or submitting a seminar paper) and what intermediate steps are involved (such as writing a table of contents, a list of references or an introduction). Prepare to-do lists that help you to keep an overview and show you exactly which aspects you should work on in which order. A little tip: If there is a better order in the work process, just rewrite your list. Riding a dead horse has never really brought a hero forward.
Tip 3: Nothing beats order
In order to learn and work effectively, you need a tidy desk (at least at the start) with all the relevant documents. Even a certain work routine does no harm under any circumstances. So before you start working in your home office, ask yourself some general questions:
At what times are you the most motivated and fit?
Where is the place in your apartment where you really get going?
How high is a workload that you can handle in a concentrated manner?
After that, you are definitely smarter and can get to work systematically.
Tip 4: Your biorhythm as an ally, not as an opponent
Using natural light and starting early in the summer in particular has the advantage that you can see success early on in the day, which motivates you for your further work. That is why it is best to always plan the day before and know what is going on the next morning after looking at the list. However, it is just as important as a good start that your performance does not drop so much over several hours that you can no longer get out of it. Regular short breaks after half an hour to three quarters of an hour of about 5 minutes help you generate yourself for the next session. This game lasts three times on average before a break of around half an hour is announced. Important: These are empirical values that can differ from person to person. The best thing to do is listen to your body, it will tell you more precisely.
Tip 5: Movement is the be-all and end-all
If
– Different work positions in different workplaces,
– walks or
– Sports:
Everything that provided temporary movement and variety is good for your circulation and your brain. Just like fresh air and a few minutes of break in the company of inspiring people (like half an hour of jogging).
Tip 6: Healthy mind in a healthy body – the right food
Sweets, chips, nachos, ready meals: If you sit in your home office but don’t take the time to eat healthy and varied meals, you can quickly end up in a sugar-fat trap. It is best to prepare fruit and / or vegetable sticks in one of your breaks and then take them directly to your workplace. This gives you direct access to healthy delicacies and tends to gain weight rather than involuntarily.
Tip 7: A lot of brains, a lot of knowledge – invite comilitonists!
Learning groups that have a common goal are particularly productive. This is due to the fact that many different priorities are often set and a topic is illuminated from several perspectives. Win-win for everyone.
Tip 8: Distraction is the beginning of the end of working hours
Admittedly, technical devices such as smartphones and Co. offer a lot of variety. But this is exactly what you should avoid during your working hours if you really want to be productive. So put your social media channels on a temporary break, just answer your emails too firmly