5 Tips To Stay Productive Working From Home
Let’s be honest here. I have always been more of a free-spirit and spontaneous person. Doing things in the moment was more my speed. Planning and thinking things out seemed stressful and super boring. Feeling confined or caged into some sort of situation or schedule was never very appealing to me. But when I become a mom all that changed. Being spontaneous was still part of my DNA but I quickly learned that it did not help my home life and I really needed to create some sort of (dreaded) schedule. I had to re-adjust my life in a way that made things flow better. It wasn’t just about me anymore. So, I implemented a small schedule that was about the kids, home, and husband(note there was nothing in that schedule for me. At the time, I carried major mom guilt for taking time out for myself. So I didn’t include myself in that schedule)
Fast forward several years. Here I am, working from home, in the digital content space. A space that has many moving parts that can come at you at different times. Truth be told, this industry can be super overwhelming. It’s one of those things that you can’t understand unless you are in it. Most people I have spoken to, in the digital content space, have troubles shutting down their “work” thoughts. Someone in this space could literally work 24/7 without blinking an eye. I guess that’s why I developed a newfound respect for those that have had professional success but have also created a good balance between home, life, work, and rest.
When I started to work in this industry, I had no idea what I was doing and didn’t know what was up or down. I literally was working all hours of the day trying to figure out how everything worked. There was a major learning curve for me but I was determined to learn and learn fast. During that time I had no schedules in place. I was always so drained and exhausted. Looking back, I’m not even sure how productive I truly was during that time. I was working A LOT. With NO structure. No balance.
Last fall when I got the news that I had a health condition, it literally took my breath away. It also made me realize that I had been WAY too consumed with work. It forced me to stop in my tracks and re-evaluate things. There was nothing healthy I was doing except for the VERY occasional run or gym visit. I wasn’t developing healthy habits and it was starting to take a toll on my body. Even though no one wants to get bad health news, it was what I needed to help me re-prioritize my life. I had to sit down, yet again, and create a schedule that would help bring my stress levels down and create a better balance of work, home, and life.
The first thing I did was create a list of everything that’s important to me. Family time, kids’ activities, working out, self-care time, home cleaning and organizing, work projects, work events, etc.
Once I had my list together I then started focusing on these 5 tips to help me.
5 Tips To Stay Productive Working at Home
1. SLEEP– I can’t stress this enough. Even if you can run on 4-5 hours of sleep doesn’t mean you should. You need sleep so that your body can repair itself and you won’t get sick or develop a chronic illness. GETTING YOUR ZZZZ’s is the first step in being more productive.
2. MONTHLY, WEEKLY, DAILY- What I have found that has helped me is that I break down my schedule in 3 parts; monthly, weekly, and daily. Monthly is when I map out everything for that month in terms of appointments, commitments, and activities. Anything that has a set date or time. Weekly is where I include my workouts, work goals, home chores, etc. Daily is what I create either the night before or the morning of. I know it may sound silly but writing things down definitely helps with staying productive. It’s important to have a roadmap of how you will accomplish your month, week, and day.
3. GET DRESSED– It is nice to work from home and wear whatever you want but there is something that happens when you get up and get dressed as if you are going into an actual workspace. You feel better and are far more productive. I fight this one a lot since it’s so easy to roll out of bed and start working BUT over time that does not create a healthy work habit. Get up, get showered, and get dressed!
4. WORKSPACE– This will look different for everyone depending on where you live and the space in your home. If you are able to create a specific workspace area, do it! I highly discourage you from working from your bed or sofa. Having an area that is designated as your workspace will trigger your mind that it’s “work time”. When you walk away from that space you want to be able to train your brain that work is done for the day. If you work from your bed or sofa your mind is being trained that area is “work” and you don’t want that to happen. Those areas should be areas where your mind goes to “rest” or “relax”.
5. BOUNDARIES-This one is tough but once you change your mindset you will be surprised how much better you will feel and how more productive you will be when you are working. This is also an area that will look different depending on your job. But for me, how I create healthy boundaries now with work is that I no longer say YES to everything that comes across my desk. I also check emails during my “work” hours and not all day every day. At one point, I was checking my emails at 1 am. That was so ridiculous truly. There is no reason why emails should be keeping you up at night. Get your sleep! Work can wait. I also like to take days off from social media to detox my mind and I do schedule actual vacation days.
Here are some of the products that help along with 5 Tips to stay productive working at home
Additional tips: Play music while working and if you find you are still struggling with staying productive working from home you may want to consider a co-working space. I signed up for a 3-month Hybrid membership at The Work Well. It has helped me feel productive on the weeks when I have felt unmotivated and bored working from home. Gave me a nice change of scenery. I also really like being around people and being able to network. Having a co-working space a few times a month has helped me out a lot.
Hope these 5 tips to stay productive working at home help you in some way.
Photos by: Miranda Hadamik Photography
