Increasing Productivity While Working from Home

Medical coding is an industry with lots of remote workers. (Lots of us have experience with working remotely, in light of recent events.) We’ve covered some general tips for working from home, as well as ways to reduce stress while working from home. But what about if you’re struggling with productivity?

Let’s go over some reasons why productivity is limited and what you can do about it.

Why Productivity Suffers

The idea behind working from home is that it puts employees in as comfortable a situation as possible (and saves some commuting hours). Comfort equals productivity, right? Well, that’s not always the case. Here are a few reasons why your productivity can actually be limited when you’re working from home:

• Distractions: Maybe you live in a noisy neighborhood. Or there’s construction going on next door. Either way, noisy distractions can make it difficult to focus. 
• Interruptions: Do you have kids? Pets? Questioning spouses? Other living beings in the home can interrupt your flow. They say it can take more than 20 minutes to re-focus on tasks after an interruption, so this is a big deal. 
• No schedule: Do you block out your day for getting things done? Or do you prefer a more random day? The latter can make it more difficult to get things done if you don’t have a set timetable.
• Lack of proper materials: In medical coding, not tabbing your books, having flashcards close by or the proper coding manuals can make every task more time-consuming.

These are just a few things that limit productivity. Now how do you increase it?

How to Increase Productivity

Want to be your most productive self at home? Here are some tips to help you increase productivity while you’re working from home—whether you’re in medical coding or not.

• Eliminate distractions by working in a closed bedroom or office for the most time-intensive or focus-intensive tasks.
• Reduce interruptions by setting aside family time or asking friends and family member to not call or text during business hours.
• Focus on certain tasks during your most productive parts of the day (e.g. morning) by scheduling them out ahead of time.
• Invest in medical coding products (or products for your industry) that help you do your job better and faster.
• Listen to music that is familiar (and preferably instrumental) instead of music you don’t know. Also, put your phone in another room for a period of time.

That’s it! If you’re interested in products that can help increase your productivity, be sure to head over to the store section on our website.

Editor’s note: This post was originally published in May 2020. It has been updated for clarity, accuracy and new information.