How to Boost Mindfulness When You Work from Home

It’s terrific working from home. You can complete tasks without anyone looking over your shoulder or a busy commute to the office. But there’s a snag. One of the toughest challenges you’re likely to run into when you work from home is difficulty focusing. Distractions abound and your mind might stray. Gaze out the window too long, for example, and the working day will be over before you’ve tackled important jobs or made headway with projects.

Luckily, there’s a way to improve your concentration. Boost mindfulness and you’ll soon get back on track. The more mindful you are, the easier it is the stave off boredom, stop distractions from diverting your attention, and improve work productivity.

Bring your attention to the present

Often, when you don’t concentrate on your work, you aren’t truly present. You run through memories or contemplate the future. Here and now, though, is where you need to stay to work from home well. Mindfulness pulls you back to the present because to be mindful, you observe each second as it unfolds. You also tackle tasks without reaching for irrelevant thoughts that ruin flow.

The great benefit of practicing mindfulness...is presence of mind within a storm of emotions. - Phillip Moffitt

Use a reminder, a cue in your environment, to help you stay present. A post-it note on your computer screen, screensaver, or poster will do the job. Develop the habit of calling your attention to the moment at hand. Reign your mind in when it wanders. The more you practice, the easier it will be to focus.

Generate a positive mindset

The day drags and you achieve little when your mood’s low. Negativity slows you down and makes working from home arduous. You need not be a ray of sunshine to manage well, but staying positive will give you the energy to succeed. Stay mindful of your mental state, and if your mood dips, alter the way you work for a while. If you’re seated, for example, get up and stretch or use a standing desk. If you’ve cluttered your workstation, organize it so it’s easier to do your job. Your vitality and frame of mind improve when you shift your behavior and environment.

Remember how lucky you are to work from home too. List perks like being able to enjoy a coffee break in your garden and play background music as you reply to emails. Recalling the contrast between working in a busy office and the comfort of home will increase positivity.

Increase well-being

Stop to consider how you feel before you begin work. Do your feet hurt? Is your chair the right height for you to use your computer? Is the screen too bright? Is it difficult to breathe because the temperature and airflow in the room are unsuitable? Check what doesn’t work and needs adjustment. Make sure controllable conditions help rather than hinder and use mindfulness to make working pleasant.

Meditation clarifies our minds and opens our hearts, and brings us to unusual depth and stability of happiness, whatever life brings. - Sharon Salzberg

Recognize how to create the greatest rewards

Be mindful about the quality of rewards tasks generate. When you rush to tick them off your to-do list, you’re liable to forget to prioritize. It takes just as much energy to complete an unrewarding job as it does to do one that yields a plentiful harvest. So consider which chores will help you garner the most benefits and are imperative and do them first. Give your attention to profitable jobs and you’ll create a momentum of vitality that makes working from home simple.

Mindfulness about the way you work, your mindset, and the environment in which you work will help you get the best out of doing your job at home. Increase your well-being, reap the biggest rewards, stay positive, and be mindful about keeping your attention focused on the present and your home-based job will work for you.