We've all been there - pushing through the painful late afternoon stretch at work. How do you stay productive as a recruiter with so many distractions at home? From life admin to snacking and napping or even the amazon delivery you placed yesterday; it's not easy to maintain constant focus at home. That's why we've come up with some pretty awesome tips to manage your well-being and productivity at home- weather your a start-up, SME's or large corporation these are tips from our champion team at Picked; a fully remote tech start-up, which has embraced working from home since their inception in 2017. It's safe to say, we're experts at surviving the afternoon slump.

Here's our top 5 pieces of advice that are helping remote teams push through:

1. Change your environment twice a day 

Changing your environment often helps you refocus. Try to have a morning workspace and an afternoon area. It still surprises us how much it can support productivity at mid-day, which is the prime time for slumpy-ness. Some of our team usually stay in an office for the morning and progressively make there way around the house scouting anywhere that’s comfortable and quiet - a great place to be productive.

2. Leave the house

Admittedly, leaving the house in the summertime is much easier than in winter but short bursts of fresh air are something we as a team advocate for. We tend to leave the house for a walk at lunch-time, which helps us get clarity and focus before we face the mid-day stretch. 

3. Choose a nutritious lunch

Although we are far from nutritional experts, logic dictates that avoiding foods that spike your energy levels too much at lunch will lead to a huge plateau and crash in the afternoon. Save your sweets and treats for after dinner!

4. Stand, sit and even walk

Our team are big fans of standing desks and that often helps with both physical posture and provides a great boost at 2pm. Short 30-minute bursts of standing make a really big difference to our days at home. It’s good for you and feels great. One of our team even uses a desk treadmill but personally I am not brave enough for that yet. 

5. Eat the frog

Our final top tip is to eat the frog (not literally a frog) by conquering your hardest tasks in the morning. If you are someone who suffers from the afternoon slump, it's far easier to focus on your hardest tasks first which can help create an easier and calmer afternoon. For recruiters, that might mean pre-screening candidates using employment assessment tests or making those dreaded phone calls or email first. Just do it! 

We hope these tips can help more people to stay productive at home!