Bringing Your Efficiency Home
During a typical weekday, I would say that I generally have two āmodesā in terms my time management/motivation/overall efficiency level.Ā I have a Work mode and a Non-Work mode.Ā As you may have guessed, at work, I am much more efficient with my time, I use less energy on looking up YouTube videos, contemplating which channel to watch or which game to play, and generally am all around much more productive.Ā At home or with the friends, I am full swing in my Non-Work mode (unless Iām blogging of course, then itās half and half).Ā As you may have guessed it, that means getting a snack, then dinner, then a snack, then a drink.Ā It also means watching a YouTube video, then working on my blog, then checking the news, the checking up on Face Book, then back to my blog, then petting the cat, and so on.Ā If I were that unproductive at work, things would not go as well.Ā Thus the topic of my post: Brining Your Efficiency Home
What I mean by the title, is how much more could you accomplish at home if you brought the same efficiency home with you that you use at work (assuming you are more efficient at work than at home)?Ā I recently posted about Time Management and how an efficient time management mentality allows me to save a lot of time both at work and at home.Ā I guess you could consider this post an extension of that topic ā we are just diving a little deeper into this awesome topic of efficiency!
If I brought home my efficient mentality, I feel that Iād have 300+ readers, and have a monthly income of $500+ by now from my blog.Ā Why?Ā Because every 5-20 min I would not check the news, drudge report, YouTube, or Face Book (Sodding ADD).Ā Why do I spend so much time getting distracted?Ā I think it has a lot to do with my comfort level/environment at home as compared to at work.Ā It is for this reason that I have considered going to the library to work on my little laptop despite my two 24 inch monitors I have at home ā being in that environment may allow me to accomplish more in a shorter amount of time, despite have less adequate equipment to work with.Ā Iām sure thereis some psychology experiment on this as it seems like more of a topic of a psych magazine as opposed to a PF one.Ā Anywayā¦.
I think my problem derives from my need to relax for a certain amount of time when I first reach home.Ā If I reach home at 5PM, and I relax until about 6:27, then I take 30 minutes for dinner, already I am at 7PM.Ā Assuming I start getting ready for bed at around 10PM, that leaves me with only three hours of good blogging time.Ā Through in at least 30 min to an hour of ādistractionsā and you potentially only have two hours remaining!Ā WOW!Ā This is where the library may have to come in.
In college, anytime I needed to get some work done, I would head for the library.Ā Sure I had an awesome set up in my apartment, but I just got distracted so easily, either by my roommates or my computer.Ā Changing my work setting to that where everyone around me was also āworkingā was very beneficial, and I feel that the same results may occur if I go there again today for my blog.
This topic brings to question another topic, which Iām sure there are studies about ā Productivity from Stay at Home Workers Compared to Commuters.Ā Iām just going to throw this out there, Iād wager that the commuters tend to be slightly more productive. Ā The Stay at Homers have the huge benefit of have 0 commute time to and from, but are also potentially susceptible to increased distractions, at least I would be hahaJĀ Changing your physical environment really helps me get into the āwork Mentalityā, and Iām sure Iām not alone.
How do you guys fare when it comes to getting work done at home?Ā Are you easily distracted?Ā Have you tried a change in setting to increase your focus?Ā Are you overall more productive with you time at work than at home (concerning blog time at home with completing tasks at work)?
June 14, 2010
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myfinancialobjective Ā· 
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Tags: About Me, determination, Jobs, motivation Ā· Posted in: Good Finds, Personal Accountability
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9 Responses
I feel that the extra hour and a half that you relax after work should be considered part of your workday, because you wouldn’t have to relax if it weren’t for the job. The sad thing is that you don’t get paid for it!
And I’m definitely not as productive at home. Sadly, there’s more clutter and distractions at home. I usually go to the library to work on posts for the blog. It’s more quiet, and people don’t bother you.
DarrenĀ“s last blog ..The Rule of 72 ā How It Helps, And How It Doesnāt
I’ve read that it’s not a good idea to do work an hour or so before going to bed. So that’s when I try to relax, catch up on reading.
I agree with Darren though, it’s important to give yourself some time to relax after work and consider it a part of your workday.
I’m not productive at home at all. I usually have to go to a coffee shop or to the library to consider getting work done.
WolfBridge FinancialĀ“s last blog ..Inexpensive Ways to Have Fun for the Movie Lover
Interesting point, I never really considered the extra hour pat of my work day. Makes sense actually, I guess I could also count my commute home as part of my work day, though there is a bit of relaxation there as well. I get 40 min of air conditioned Dave Ramsey, not too shabby…
Coffee shops sound like a good idea as well, though I like to really s p r e a d o u t when I work, not sure I’d be able to do that at a coffee shop as well as at the library.
I had never heard of not working at least an hour before bed. Makes sense though, winding your brain down as opposed to using it more would probably cater to a more restful sleep.
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I can get distracted easy working at home. something I need to work on.
Hi,
I enjoyed viewing your blog site, very informative, looking forward to your future blog posts. Not every day is productive, these are low energy days. So, you must be fit mentally and push the body to follow your thoughts. Best way I feel is to have a written schedule and allow a block of time to do your things, not get too comfortable because it can change quickly to lazyness or procrastination which hurts your objectives. If, you eat heavy then the body will tire, since your trying to digest your food now. So, salads & fruits will keep your energy up. Not an epert but it all makes sense. Applying common sense to your goals is smart, I believe.
thanks,
Vincent James – VJ Global
I have a 100 mile round trip commute and I always feel like I need to relax once I get home and ask myself why? I just spent the last 75 minutes sitting. My drive is not the most enjoyable, although thankfully it is not in rush hour traffic. Your post is something that I have been working on in the last few weeks. So far I am tracking what I do spend my time on and hoping to find some ways to streamline and maybe eliminate others. Good luck with becoming more efficient!
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Vincent, excellent points, I try to eat fruit sporadically throughout the day, and if i can’t get enough, I have a “global fruit” product I can take:) Low energy days are the worst.. They leave me feeling Completely worthless haha..
Mrs. A, that commute is ROUGH, I thought mine was bad! I definitely know what you mean by “needing to relax”. I think driving can be stressful if you focus on how much time you are wasting..
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