Quick Tips for Working from home

Working in an office provides an extra level of accountability and dopamine (the brain’s reward chemical), that working at home, alone, doesn’t provide. This can make focusing on banal tasks even more difficult than they would be. One way to hack the brain’s reward system, keep your mind on these tasks, and get things done is to make them into a game.

Do you have 30 notes to complete? Use a stopwatch to time how long it takes you to complete the first note. Then, see if you can beat your time with the next note, and so on. Take breaks as needed.

Are you dreading your fourth Zoom call of the day? Make a checklist or bingo board of comments, questions, and items you think you might encounter during the call. Maybe you assume someone’s cat will walk across their keyboard, someone else will forget to mute themselves, and another person will ramble about a topic. Looking for these things in the meeting will not only help you pay attention, but it will also make things more interesting.

Do you have to input data? Pick a certain amount to input. After you input each chunk, jump up from your seat and do a dance move. If that sounds too goofy, remember that you are at home, in your room, and no one else can see you, so you might as well have fun!