Dave Crenshaw (author of The Myth of Multitasking) has a course for you to learn how to stay focus while managing a work-life balance.
Since the start of the pandemic, many workplaces have shifted to a virtual model.
As someone who permanently works from home, it can be a tricky balancing act to stay productive with so many demands on your time and attention. As much as I love the flexibility of saving time and money on a commute, I also live with my family — which means I often feel distracted and struggle to switch back to work when I get interrupted. And, with the line between my personal and professional life increasingly blurred, I find myself working longer hours than ever.
When I heard about Time Management: Working from Home, an online course offered through LinkedIn Learning, I knew I had to take it. With almost 1 million enrollments so far, this course teaches you how to build a productive environment while working from home, including managing interruptions at home and crafting an effective schedule.
Taught by Dave Crenshaw, a career trainer and author of “The Myth of Multitasking“, this course became one of the top five most popular courses on LinkedIn Learning in 2020.
To access this course, you need a Linkedin Learning subscription (which you can test out with a free 30-day trial). After that, it’ll cost $29.99 per month (monthly) or $19.99 per month (annually).
You can take the course here, or read a review of the course below.
What taking this LinkedIn Learning course was like
Each section includes video lectures and a short chapter quiz to test your understanding of the content. At the end of the course, you take a short, multiple-choice exam that includes content from each section. The course is completely self-paced, which means you can complete it in a month, week, or even a few sittings. Once completed, you’ll get a Linkedin Learning certificate that you can display on your LinkedIn profile.
3 things I loved about Time Management: Working From Home
- You learn how to keep your work hours from bleeding into the rest of your life.
Crenshaw says that the number one challenge that those who work from home experience is an inability to disconnect themselves mentally and emotionally from work. He recommends a “transition time” after your work to help you decompress and stop thinking about work to make the mental transition to family life.
I found it really helpful to meditate during my transition time, which helps me destress from work and calm my mind as I make the transition to spending time with my loved ones for the rest of the day.
- You can better maximize your productivity in virtual meetings.
Sometimes, I get fatigued and easily distracted when it comes to the last few Zoom meetings at the end of the day. Crenshaw recommends giving your full attention to your coworkers on the video meeting, which can be accomplished with little things like turning off your email notifications during the meeting or making eye contact with people directly to focus.
One strategy that helped me minimize distractions during meetings is keeping my phone away and volunteering to send recap emails during the meeting, forcing me to stay focused.
- You understand how to create crucial boundaries with loved ones.
Navigating working from home can be a challenge when you live with others. It’s important to make time in your schedule for loved ones and let them know what your work schedule is like, according to Crenshaw.
As a freelancer with a flexible schedule, I now work with my family members at the beginning of each week to create a designated calendar that works for me while also honoring their needs. This way, they make a commitment to not interrupt me unless it’s an emergency, and I make a commitment to spend quality time together.
The bottom line
I was surprised at how much I learned over the few weeks about how I can change my habits to stay more productive and concentrated during work.
By the end of the course, you’ll be able to navigate working from home by managing your time wisely, from creating boundaries with your coworkers and loved ones to developing a set schedule to optimize productivity.
Personally, it’s helped me build stronger boundaries with my loved ones and create a true line between my personal and professional life.
The Myth of Multitasking
How “Doing It All” Gets Nothing Done
Productivity and effective time management end with multitasking. The false idea that multitasking is productive has become even more prevalent and damaging to our productivity and well-being since the first edition of The Myth of Multitasking was published in 2008. In this revised and updated second edition, author and productivity expert Dave Crenshaw provides a solution for the chaos of distraction that multitasking creates―and a way to combat the temptation to constantly switch between tasks.
Learn how to actually get things done. Dave Crenshaw takes the idea of multitasking as a productivity tool and smashes it to smithereens. But rather than leaving you with the burden of wading through the wreckage all by yourself, he shows you how to focus, move forward, and free up more time for what you value the most.