How to Stay Productive After Work
This is a guest post by FocusMe.
Work or study is an important part of life.
It is the daily tasks that keep a routine in our lives, and routine is healthy, however, sometimes life can become monotonous doing the same thing again and again every passing day.
Sometimes, our circumstances allow us to be spontaneous but some of us are not that fortunate. We can’t break the routine of our job or study because we need these to survive in a competitive world.
Tough days can leave you drained and many will find themselves just wanting to fall onto the couch and play video games when they get home. The question is, is there anything more to life than; wake up, go to work, eat and sleep?
Rest is essential, but you also need creativity and to get away from the mundane tasks sometimes in order to live a healthy and happy life. Productivity is not just about meeting deadlines and making money. Life needs fun, too.
So, how to stay away from the couch when work for the day is done, and how do you utilise your free time to be productive?
Optimizing Free Time after Work
Here are five strategies to utilise your free time to stay productive:
Make Plans Before Hand
This is great if you plan to go out somewhere after work. You stay motivated to stick to a plan if each detail of it has already been outlined and confirmed.
It also helps you get through the work of the day in a much better way as you know you will have some time to relax after work. Pre-planning keeps you committed and you will be less tempted to stay on the couch just watching the television.
Watch: How to Relax Without Playing Video Games
Take a Refreshing Break, then Get Started
It is natural to take some time to refresh yourself once you reach home after a long tiring day at the office.
However, if you plan to stay productive, then don’t spend too much time relaxing because you will become lazy and eventually procrastinate on the plans you had outlined. Set a time limit you need to for refreshing and then get to work.
Set a Cut-off Time
How many times have you found yourself still on the computer or watching TV well after midnight when you should be asleep, or at the very least winding down without being in front of a screen?
The answer is to decide on a cut-off time beforehand and then stick to it religiously. There are tools to help you to block access to your computers/media center at a set time, like FocusMe. Knowing you have a deadline will also help to motivate you to achieve your goal.
Stay Outside
It is easy to get distracted at home. There is television, the internet, smartphones, and food. All of these, especially gaming can make you lazy, and inactive. People who plan to stay productive and know that they get easily distracted avoid comfort zones like the couch.
Once you are done with the office, instead of going straight home, find a café or library to continue to work on your personal projects. There are many successful writers who have daytime jobs, but they find a cozy place when they want to write the novel they intend to get published.
Don’t Be Too Hard On Yourself
It is not easy to adopt a new habit so easily. Therefore, cut yourself some slack in case you slip on your path to staying productive. Set achievable small goals at first.
Remember, staying productive in your free time does not mean taking no breaks. Just keep taking the good kind of breaks, like taking a walk, reading a book, or having a healthy meal. It’s recommended to keep your breaks “digital-free.”
Take some evenings off to enjoy your favorite TV show guilt free, because you know you’ve been productive the rest of the week.
If you would like software to help block distractions, remind you to take breaks, and enforce a cut off time, we invite you to look at FocusMe (Windows and Mac compatible).
About the Author:
FocusMe.com is the brain child of Jon Goodwin. Working as an IT professional at home, Jon felt the need for software that would help him work with 100% concentration.
The existing products that Jon found were not as effective as Jon wanted them to be, so he came up with his ground-breaking software, FocusMe.
It has been 10 years since the first version. From that day, to today, it has been incrementally improved to become the world’s most effective, robust and hardest to get around website and application blocker. It’s even impossible for Jon to bypass its protection when it’s in Forced Focus mode.
FocusMe boosts your productivity by blocking time-consuming websites, social media and video games.
Being a power bank of productivity, it can make the difference between being overlooked to being promoted at your workplace. Beyond promotions and admiration, realising that you have produced more will go a long way towards feeling more satisfied and happy with yourself and your work.
FocusMe plays a vital part in your career and keeps you on track when it comes to performing at work. FocusMe comes bundled with timers, schedulers and time tracking features which are suitable for parental protection and business use as well. If you feel like enhancing your productivity at work, look no further than FocusMe!