Working From Home | 5 Ways To Be More Productive
Ahhh working from home. The “dream” so many seem to have but the reality is… it’s hard. Really hard.
(after quarantine you probably believe that now, huh?)
The truth is, while some days I have semi-normal work hours... other days I'm editing like a mad woman into the wee hours of the morning. There are distractions (lots of them). There is chaos (hello babies!). There are times I want to pull my hair out.
So what makes the biggest difference?
a schedule.
It's true what they say. And I'll be the first to tell you that I am not (naturally) a very scheduled person. Routines were never my "thing". I could have a completely different "routine" everyday and it wouldn't bother me one bit. I’ve even gone weeks without coffee or tea simply because I forgot. Yikes. I know.
Here are a few things that I (a naturally very unscheduled person) do to keep myself more organized, more productive, and less stressed:
1) Get up early.
I know that part of the "lure" to working from home is that you don't have to wake up to an alarm. And trust me, I was more then happy to kiss mine goodbye for several years. But it's back, and I'm actually HAPPY about it.
My main goal with this was to have time before my daughter wakes up to devote to meditation, exercise, reading, etc.
Now, this little girl is an early riser, generally awake and ready to play and eat breakfast before 6:00am. And this used to be my "alarm clock". But I realized I needed headspace, so I started getting up at 5am. everyday. After I had my son last year however that has changed since we’re still not getting a lot of sleep around here, but we’re still in a morning schedule that works for us right now and I’ll go back to waking at 5 soon.
2) Write out the goals for the day
Writing out my top 3 big picture (business) goals helps give me more focus. (sometimes I’ll even write these out the night before) Keeping my most important one on the top, and having it be the first thing I tackle in my work day.
I also make a master to-do list of ALL the things I need to get done (whether they have a timeline yet or not). I generally do this at the beginning of the week and add to it (and hopefully cross off) as needed.
I personally have one list for business tasks and one list for home life/everything else. It's important to remember that this "master to-do list" is not meant to get all done the week (or even month) I make it, but is more of a release to get the task onto paper so it's not clogging my thoughts and so I can schedule it out when the time comes (without forgetting what it was).
3) Schedule out time. (time block)
Writing down what I'd like to accomplish for the day is step one. The second (and most important) is to plan when I'll be doing what. Like, say checking my email or editing a job, etc. What time will I start and then stop those tasks?
This will vary based on when you're most productive, what your childs schedule is (if you have one), and what errands you may have for the day. **side note: having a planner with an hour by hour schedule is a huge help for me!**
Eventually, you learn what's consistent in your schedule and can plan the time blocks in advance. - *it should also be noted that I do have days that are geared more towards work, and days that are geared more towards home life.*
4) Have a dedicated workspace.
Although not a make or break but I find this to be very helpful. Unfortunately, since moving into our little house we don’t have a desk let alone a home office, but we’re working on creating a tiny space behind the couch for a desk because sitting in a dedicated work space truly is so much more productive then sitting on our couch or bed. Don’t get me wrong, I still totally do it (only when the kids are sleeping because I can’t get too much done with them climbing on me;) but it’s more distracting for sure.
5) Set a timer.
Part of having time blocks is sticking to them. I set a timer both to get business work done or to get housework done. I've got to say this probably makes the biggest difference for me when it comes to getting. it. done. Especially in a short amount of time.
This works great for the things I don’t love doing like, admin stuff, etc.
When I was a kid my mom would set a timer and say "lets clean as much as we can in 10 minutes"... I hated it. But now? I love it. You'd be amazed at how much you can get done in 10 (or 15 or 30) minutes. *thanks, mom!*