8 Ways To Stay Productive Working From Home
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It's been nearly two years that I quit my job and since I have been traveling for a year and working for a year from home. Traveling was definitely the fun part, working from home was and still is a learning process.
You see, having a job provides you with structure. You know that you are going to work, you have your desk, you have your work colleagues, you have your work breaks etc...
Working for yourself means that you get more freedom to do what you want, but it can easily lead to procrastination if you are not being careful. So here are couple things that I personally do since I quit my job to remain productive on daily basis.
1. Find your work-style
What I mean by that is that being your own boss means that you can do whatever you want and work however you want.
Find the work-style that will best contribute to your productivity.
If you are not a morning person, leave the morning to other activities and work the rest of the day.
Do you like to stay home or would you rather go to cafes, libraries or co-working spaces?
Find your most productive hours and stick to it.
2. Dress to impress
Even if you are working from home, it is not a reason to dress down and stay in your pyjama all day.
Treat working from home as if you would be going to a workplace everyday.
Dress up, keep a good hygiene, keep a neat appearance.
This will help you psychologically.
I know even some people that’d walk out of their homes to go the nearest cafe to grab a cup and come back home to start their work day to pretend they commute and set their minds on work as soon as they come back to their desks.
3. Have a Schedule
The first thing you get excited about once you get your freedom is :" Yes, I will finally be able to do what I want".
But what is it exactly that you want?
Break it down in blocks of working hours. I personally like the trend of working 2 full hours and have a break.
On busy days I’d be working on 5 different topics, hence 10 hours of work, and on quiet one on 2-3 topics per day, hence 4-6 hours.
But, allocating time to work on a specific topic will help you be more productive and also help you work on other projects you are running.
The most important is to progress on your project(s) every day.
It is very easy to focus your time on one thing only and then realise at the end of the day you did not have time to work on other projects.
Pro tip: Schedule your work week or even month ahead using a calendar on your phone with reminders. And if you live with other people, share your calendar with them so that they know not to disturb you when you are busy. I personally use Google Calendar.
4. Remove Distractions
Nowadays, it is very easy to be distracted, especially with social media. What I personally do is the following:
Check my emails twice a day. Once in the morning when I sit at my desk before starting working and once in the early evening.
Check my Facebook and Instagram feed three times a day. Once in the morning, once at lunch and once in the evening. I am not counting planning my Instagram feed and communicating on Messenger to reply to clients. This way I have a purpose to check my social media accounts rather than looking at it out of boredom to fill the time.
Put my phone on silent during the 2h allocated time I work on a project. If the call is important, people will call me twice and with the new feature since iOS 11 for iPhone owners, the phone will actually ring.
Pro tip: You can use the Pomodoro method which is a time management technique that break your work into intervals. i.e. work 30 minutes, take a 5 minutes break.
You can also limit the amount of time you use certain applications in the settings of your phone. This way, when the time is up, you cannot access it no more until the next day.
5. Make Daily, Weekly, Monthly, Quarterly and Yearly goals
Yep, I am that serious! This is a habit I kept from working a corporate job. I would set up 3 to 5 goals per quarter, meaning 12 to 20 goals per year and reverse engineer by breaking down the goals with different steps I need to complete.
For instance, if I want to lose X amount of weight by the end of the year. I need to go to gym at least 3 times per week, do a cardio session at least twice a week and eat healthy every day. I would create a spreadsheet on excel or just use a simple notepad app to monitor my daily activities, weekly and monthly progress.
The most important is to remain consistent.
6. Get outside at least once per day and socialise
Working from home is great, but do it every day and you will go crazy. Even me, as an introvert, need to get outside and be around people. Psychologically it helps to be surrounded by people and not feel “lonely”.
I personally kept contact with my ex-colleagues and still meet them for lunch from time to time, or I would go work in a coffee shop for couple hours or I would go meet with couple friends to go play basket ball.
It is great to work but do not forget to take some time off.
7. Take a step back
Something that is not easy but that I am just starting to apply more and more is to switch off once I am off my PC. I did it when I was working a corporate job so why couldn't I once I work for myself, even though I am passionate about what I do.
This is important for your work-life balance and also keep a great relationship with your friends and family
8. Schedule your day the day before
Your schedule can fluctuate as you are the one in charge. However, having a schedule planned ahead will help you remain productive.
List down all the tasks you need to complete for the next day and try to tackle as much as you can every day.
Furthermore, prepare yourself and your office space.
You might set out your clothes or prepare your lunch. You might also clean up your office and pull out any resources you might need for the next day’s tasks.
A cleaner, more prepared office makes it easy to go straight to work without worrying about a mess.
There you have it, all the productivity hacks I use to make the most out of my days working from home. I won't lie to you, it requires discipline, and you need to find the right rhythm that will match with your lifestyle.
But once you do, you will realise how beneficial it is for you and keeping a work-life balanced.
What about you? Do you have any productivity hacks to add to this list? Let me know in the comment section below.
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