With Christmas around the corner, most employees will be looking forward to a break from the office. While some will be busy wrapping presents (and fretting over cooking the turkey perfectly!) new research shows that 70 per cent of people will be using this time at home to catch up and get ahead for the next year. To help make the most of working from home this Christmas season, communication app and online collaboration platform, Flock, has curated six ways to stay productive from the comfort of your home.

1. Know your team

You may be working with a skeleton team over Christmas. So, if you’re working from home, ensure you know who’s working and when. Make sure you have their contact details and working dates, and if possible, add them on your work’s instant messaging app for quick and easy communication.

2. Plan your time

For many of us, working from home seems like the perfect opportunity to get our heads down and tick items off our to-do lists. But in reality, the lack of a structured work day and other distractions (read excitable children, day-time TV, and pile of laundry) may make this less feasible. To stay on track, plan your time, or even set appointments in your online calendar to make it easier to stay on track.

3. Follow the five-minute rule

This tip is super simple. If you have a task that you know will take less than five minutes, make the most of being away from immediate distractions that are in abundance at the office (e.g., your colleagues or the biscuit tin) and get it done now!

4. Take a break

From time to time, all of us are tempted to work through our lunch breaks. But studies show that letting work eat into your lunch time is counter-productive, and that scheduling a break will instead improve your work quality and ability to concentrate!

5. Schedule meetings

Coordinating and setting up a meeting can be tough, and this becomes so much more difficult if you’re not working from the office! But with most modern work messenger apps such as Flock, scheduling meetings even when working remotely has been made far easier. You can easily schedule an efficient video or voice call, ultimately cutting the time wasted on all the back and forth that can occur via email. Scheduling meetings also adds an element of structure to your day. So, if your skeleton team is spread across geographical locations, you can schedule a quick daily stand up via a video call.

6. Ensure you have the right tools

Do you get anxious about transparency, access to work documents, and being a part of work-related discussions? Don’t worry, the fear of missing out is real! Research shows that nearly half of us  find it hard to relax when we don’t have access to work emails. That’s why it’s important to choose tech tools that help you stay connected even on the go. If you’re keen to stay online, make sure you download your messaging app to your phone so that you can monitor activity and have files at your fingertips while you’re out and about during your Christmas break.