This is How You Can Boost Productivity in a Home Office

1. How is Home Office defined?
2. Productivity in the Home Office - is it realistic?
3. What challenges may arise in productivity in the home office?
4. Which tools can help with productivity in the home office?
5. We have 7 tips for you to improve your home office effectiveness:
6. Conclusion about productivity in Home Office

Free self-determined work, creative breaks, time savings without long commutes, and environmentally friendly at that. As beautiful as that sounds at first, a few hooks bring work in the home office with it. This certainly includes maintaining daily Motivation and productivity without the colleagues* and superiors* next to you, without the coffee chat in the tea kitchen and without joint lunch. In the office and as an employee*in, the responsibility for a varied workplace is shared by many. In the home office, on the other hand, it's up to us to create a healthy and productive place where we feel good and where we don't let ourselves be distracted by the additional distractions from the focus of work.

In recent years, working from home has significantly increased, as the following chart from the Federal Statistical Office shows:

Source: Federal Office of Statistics

How is Home Office defined?

Home Office is defined as follows: „Employees* work in the home office from home. They are either employed in the company or act independently on behalf of various companies. For this, they have a separate study with desk, PC and internet in their own flat to manage the tasks.“ (Source: Home Office: Regulation of home work - Labor Law 2023 / 2024 (arbeitsrechte.de))

For employees*in, there is either an additional agreement to the employment contract or an employment contract with „Home Office“ as the place of work. Also, the option of hybrid work is possible. Here the work then takes place either in the operation or in the home office.

Many self-employed work from home or rent for projects in Co-Working-Spaces. These are available in almost every city and also offer a little variety for employees. If you could also imagine working in a co-working space, have a word with your superiors and ask for the budget. If there is no budget available, a few hours a month in a quiet café can work wonders.

Productivity in the Home Office - is it realistic?

Many professional groups have been working from home for years, for example employees*in the IT industry. This is because many need the peace and quiet to focus highly concentrated on their work for hours. Others save themselves the daily journeys to the office and the parking space search, because they are with their customers* a lot, as the following statistic shows:

Source: Federal Office of Statistics

Employers can also benefit from a home office variant. For instance, start-up companies that have to be careful with their resources. Through working from home, they can save rent. It is important that employers*in still keep an eye on the health of their employees*in and, for example, host sporty team events.

What challenges may arise in productivity in the home office?

There can be some challenges in the home office. Distractions by falling housework, distractions by family members or fellow residents. Mental stress plays a big role here too. There are people who need daily direct and physical csustainable healthyto be able to work. Working at home can make people sick in the long run, depressive moods and depression can develop. (Source: Home-Office leads to mental and physical stress in the long run - TÜV-Verband (tuev-verband.de))

If you notice initial signs in yourself or your colleagues*, talk about it in the team and get HR or your superior involved. You are not alone and with a few simple changes, something can be achieved. A hybrid solution is possible in some cases.

In some cases, it is difficult to separate private and work life if the workplace is in your own home. Therefore, a separation between the workplace and private rooms is important. In addition, you should comply with the legal provisions for working hours and break times.

Which tools can help with productivity in the home office?

To increase home office productivity, certain tools can be helpful. In a team or a work group, a Project Management Tool can help to find all information bundled, to organize and edit in parallel.

We have 7 tips for you to improve your home office effectiveness:

1. Plan short breaks: To work effectively for a long time, it is also advisable in the home office to plan short breaks, for example after 20 minutes for 5 minutes. It can be helpful to set an alarm or timer, change rooms during the break and air well. Afterwards you can continue working with a recharged battery.
2. Healthy and balanced diet: In order to stay efficient in your work for hours, it is advisable to have a healthy and varied diet. Prepare meals and snacks in advance. Many can be stored in the fridge fresh for a few hours or days. Creating a weekly schedule has also proven to be sustainable and efficiency-enhancing. To pull the whole team along, you can also make an internal challenge out of it: Each person posts their healthy lunch from the home office once a week. Different Collaboration tools can be used for this.
3. Clothes make people: Before you enter your workplace, dress as if you were going to the office. Because good work clothes change the body posture, the voice and can increase the productivity. If you find this difficult, you can also take a short walk to simulate your route to work.
4. Please do not disturb: Inform your family members*in or roommates*in that they should not disturb you at certain times. For this you can for example hang a sign with the note „Please do not disturb“ on the office door. This way you signal to the others that you want to work undisturbed. The greatest distractions are according to this survey private conversations and the noise. This can be prevented well in the home office.
5. Movement and fresh air: Whoever wants to work effectively in the home office for many hours should move in between. You can optimally combine this with fresh air. Plan small movements into your break, in the forest or by a river, creative thoughts can flow again. Natural sounds have a soothing effect.
6. Daily digital meetings: Daily or several times a week digital meetings can help against loneliness and for team feeling and identification with your employer. We have summarized some video conferencing software for you and the best 6 video conferencing tools compared. To keep the feeling of community there, you can set a common Background in the team.
7. Define Goals: To make efficiency measurable, you can set realistic daily or weekly goals. Achieving these goals boosts motivation and productivity. In the team or for yourself, every partial goal promotes the drive. Together it connects you and you are regularly exchanging with each other.

Conclusion about productivity in Home Office

In some professions and industries, home office is more productive, in others not. In addition, it depends on the individual personality of the employees*, there is no universally valid answer.

An employee in home office should be able to master the challenges of home office a self-organized, self-determined and self-motivating every day and long term.

In the future, we will face new challenges in everyday work. In order to measure productivity in the home office, the following Effectiveness Measurement Tools offer themselves. This can make long-term healthy and productive work in the home office possible. Whether as an employee or as a self-employed person, the intrinsic motivation to work is crucial.