4 Tips to Productively Work From Home
I’ve been hanging out with a lot of you in DMs on Instagram and in The Hustle Sanely Squad Facebook group and you want to know how the heck to be productive at home. Most of us are now living that work from home lifestyle since we’re quarantined due to Coronavirus. And at first, working from home is AWESOME, right? No commute, access to all the good food in your fridge for lunch, mid-day breaks to play with your pup...like yes, count us all in!
But then you realize, “Oh wait, I actually have to get work done too…”
If you’re not used to working from home, it can be a tough transition to be productive at home. When we think of where we live, most of us probably think about our homes being our havens - our cozy place to decompress and relax. And they totally should be that! But it’s also possible to be productive AF from home too.
I put together 4 realistic things that you can do to actually get work done from home:
1. Set up a work space.
This one seems logical and I feel like most people KNOW that they should have some sort of designated work space but it’s super easy to give into working from your bed or your couch. Not only is that terrible for your posture but it’s also not the best for your productivity. And I have a few reasons to back that up:
If you have a designated work space in your home, your brain knows that it’s time to work when you go there. If you’re working from the couch but you also have your Netflix binges on that same couch, you are probably going to be more likely to get distracted/tempted to do something other than work. Having a specific spot where you do your work eliminates distractions and allows you to focus more.
Not only that, but having an area that you know is your “work spot” also makes it easier to establish healthy work/life boundaries. When I set foot into my office, it’s like a trigger. I know that it’s time to get down to business. When I try to work in the living room that’s a big no because I get distracted by the TV, seeing chores that need to be done, and watching what’s going on in the neighborhood out the window.
It works the other way too - when I walk out of my office at the end of my work day, I can shut the door and leave my “work hat” hanging there to put back on the next day. When I work in our living space, it’s a lot more difficult for me to separate my work from my life and personally, that is really detrimental for my mental health.
Listen, I know not everyone has the luxury of having an entire room in the home dedicated to being an office. That’s totally fine - even if you have a space in your dining room or a corner in your bedroom designated as your work space that’ll work. Just make sure that you keep it tidy and functional so that when you sit down (or stand up if you’re a standing desk kind of gal) you can get right to work instead of being overwhelmed by an environment that doesn’t promote focused work. I’ve got a blog post that has tips for creating your dream workspace:
2. Structure your day based on your strengths.
The first step to doing this well is figuring out your energy and how you work best. I am an early riser and I’m typically more creative and able to focus better on tasks in the morning and early afternoon. Once it hits 3 PM I’m a goner when it comes to creating content and products. Knowing that about myself, I structure my days with my creative work in the mornings, a nice lunch break (more on that in the next tip), and then I save my admin stuff for the end of the day. I’m a visual person and I have to write out a daily plan with my day time blocked out. I use the Digital Daily Schedule and To-Do Notepad with Focus 3.
It has a place to write your Focus 3, daily schedule, notes, and of course, something that you’re grateful for. Seeing my top 3 tasks as well as my time blocked schedule for the day helps me not wander from task to task and actually get nothing done.
Which brings me to the second part of this tip - figure out if you’re more task-driven or time-driven. If you’re more task-driven, consider using the Focus 3 strategy. Choose 3 tasks that you are committed to accomplishing that day. If you’re more time-driven, consider putting specific time parameters on your work blocks. For example, maybe you set a timer for an hour, commit to working for that time, then you take a break, and do that with different time increments throughout your day. Or maybe you’re like me and you work best with a blend - I operate optimally when I have a Focus 3 as well as a time blocked schedule - hence why I use this notepad.
3. Use strategic transitions.
So often we rush from one thing to the next without really giving our mind the space it needs to decompress and switch gears for the next task. This causes us to take longer to “get in the zone” with the next task and creates resistance that could be avoided if you just start using strategic transitions.
Here’s my example:
During this Coronavirus quarantine, I’ve had to be really intentional about not overworking. The things I normally do to relax are outside of my home - going to brunch with friends, rollerblading with Adam, getting a pedicure, etc. Well right now I can’t do those things and I’ve found it really difficult to transition from my work day to at-home chill time. I found myself saying things like, “Oh I may as well work if we’re just going to be home,” and since I was already working all day I was having a hard time walking away from it at a decent hour.
So I created what I call a “hard transition” between my work day and my evening routine. I moved my workouts to be in between those 2 things. Now I have my work day from 9:30-6ish then I workout from 6:30-7:30 and then I head into my evening routine for the rest of the night. Having that hard transition as a signal to end my work day and head into my evening routine has been so helpful. Working out requires me to step away from my desk so it makes me less likely to go back into my office to work after working out.
Other examples of a strategic transitions are going for a walk between tasks or reading a chapter of your book in another room or stretching in your backyard or on your patio or calling a friend or family member.
When planning your strategic transitions, try to choose things that really break up the tasks - so something that gets you out of the environment and has a different type of motion (so if your work is still choose an active transition and vice versa).
4. Establish work-day guidelines.
I have ground rules for myself and for the people I live with (which for me is just my husband because my dogs are terrible at following rules) that are followed during the work day to help set me up for success and make sure that I get my work done in a timely manner.
When my office door is shut, I’m working on something that I’d prefer not to be disturbed during. Aka leave me alone when the door is shut, lol. Oh and a little pro-tip - learn from my mistake and COMMUNICATE the rule to the people in your home. I assumed my husband would know that my office door being closed meant “do not disturb” since I usually keep it open, but he didn’t know that’s what I was wanting him to take it as. You can’t just create the guidelines and expect people to read your mind. Create them and communicate them!
Some other guidelines that I have for myself are:
No TV in the work space
Keep my phone out of reach for 2 hours (I do this in 2 blocks)
Limit of 3 kitchen visits per work day, including lunch break
Get ready at least 4 days a week
The thing with these guidelines is you have to choose to be disciplined and follow them. They are pointless if you don’t put them into practice.
If you enjoyed this post, tune into episode 025 of The Hustle Sanely Podcast for more:
