5 tips to be productive when you work from home.
So you’ve handed in your resignation and are working from home. Dreams do come true! You’re your own boss and you’re setting up your own hours! Or maybe you’ve proven your worth at your current place and you can work remotely! Hello, grocery shopping on Tuesday when the store is empty, yes to sweatpants and couch offices! It’s all a dream for the first week, but then you start to notice your to-do list is growing at an alarming rate and your productivity has dropped at an even scarier pace.
Working from home sounds amazing but it is a lot harder than people think! The pull to the couch and Netflix is strong, the need to load the dishwasher or to do laundry while you’re cranking out work is so tempting. Do not give in. There are studies that show that multi-tasking is actually horrible for your productivity, despite what everyone else says!
Learning to focus your time and energy to the task at hand is a lot harder when you could be doing chores and running errands on this gorgeous morning. So let me give you some tips from when we started this business in our spare bedroom.
1— SET UP HOURS.
These are *WORKING* hours, where you should be working, only! Not working and doing laundry, not working and catching up on the last episode of Nailed It. Treat yourself like a business, because you are a business!
2— CREATE YOUR WFH SPACE.
I know your bed is warm and comfy, so is mine. I know the couch is great and the TV is just “background noise” but you will be so much more productive when you have place you can shut the door (ideally) and work at a desk with everything you need to get your job done!
3— MAKE IT YOURS.
Make this office space somewhere you want to be. Some people like to work in dark places, I am a window person myself. So my first desk was in-front of the window looking out to the street, I had inspiration all over to make me want to go into that room and work. Look at some desk inspiration and make the space yours. You will be spending a lot of time in this space so make it a breeding ground for success!
4— WAKE UP AND GET READY!
I know pajamas are comfy and no one is looking at you for the most part. But there is something that happens when you give yourself that process of waking up, eating breakfast and getting ready for the day, just like when you had a 9-5. This gives you a transition period from sleepy to work time.
5— DESIGNATE BREAKS.
Maybe you’re like me and those dishes in the sink are driving you nuts. If you’re like me and a bit OCD this is a great time to tackle those things nagging the back of your brain. Just like when you worked you would get 15 min breaks. Give yourself some time between the day. My Apple Watch has been great in reminding me to stand up. This is when I stand go get some water, or wine (depending on the day and time, hey.. I’m my own boss!) unload the dishwasher or throw in that load of laundry and go back into my office. Or sometimes my breaks are to just scroll on my phone for 15 min and not be answering emails or designing or taking phone calls.
You need to be strict on yourself at first, I know it’s so hard. But once you get in the habit you will start to find when you’re most creative or most productive and can tweak your routine around that. Working for yourself is not an easy task and there are plenty of things on that to-do list. If you want to learn more about the productivity flow here at Nuevo Studio, check out our 11 tips to increase your productivity and workflow!
DO YOU HAVE ANY OTHER TIPS TO ADD TO THIS? LEAVE THEM IN OUR COMMENTS!
