Productivity: Working from Home

Hey guys! So I was originally going to make a video on this topic, and it just didn’t fit. It didn’t feel right. Do you ever get that off feeling that something just doesn’t work? Well, for me, it was a Productivity video.

Basically, it would be me, filming myself looking busy all day and sure, maybe someone would watch that video. But what would you get out of it really?

Instead, I wanted to physically write down some solid tips on getting work done from home. You will find that all of these tips are useful, or maybe you will only incorporate some of them into your routine.

Keep in mind that I have two kids. I did not write this blog from the perspective of being a full time mom. This is just a generic, general version of being productive on paper and does not take into consideration any other craziness currently going on in your life or my life.

With that being said…let’s dig in!

Tip#1: Establish a routine

Figure out what that is for you. For instance, do you like to take a few moments to sit in the morning and enjoy your coffee, do you browse social media, read the paper, or have a shower?

• It’s good to have both a morning and a night time routine. A routine is something that you get into the habit of doing everyday, at the same time. For instance, during the week, part of my a.m. routine is driving my son to school at the same time each day. At night time, part of your routine could be a social media-free evening, or a relaxing wind down. Whatever it is, it’s important to do it around the same time of day.

• It’s also important to eat something healthy so you have energy for your busy day ahead. (Unless of course you’re fasting). The earlier you get up, the longer your day will be (or feel) and you need to give your body fuel so you’re getting work done and not thinking about your empty stomach.

• Do tasks in the morning that will get you up and going. For instance, if I make my bed as soon as I get up, I’m unlikely to go back to bed. Also, a quick morning shower helps to perk me up. (Or, thinking about your first sip of coffee!)

Tip#2: Get ready for the day

• Even though you might be home all day, it’s a good idea to get dressed, put on makeup (if you wear it), and make your bed. Doing these menial tasks will actually give you more motivation to be more productive throughout your day. Why? It’s the simple idea of completion and checking a task off a list. Its a good feeling to have completed something, and internally, you want to experience that feeling again, so you are more prone to do more. Plus, if you have to slip out during the day, or the mailman comes, you’re already presentable!

Tip#3: Get up early, but not too early

• If you get up early, you have the entire day in front of you. You can get a lot done when you extend your day.

• BUT, if you go to bed late and have that super groggy feeling, you are not going to feel like doing anything! Being tired changes the way you feel about your day. Also, it’s difficult to focus on tasks, and you may forget important tasks that need to be done. Your quality of work may lessen as well, since you are not putting all of your energy into your tasks.

• On the other hand, if you sleep in, you lessen the amount of time you have in the day, and get less done.

Tip#4: Include scheduled breaks into your work day

Have you ever had strained, tired eyes from looking at your screen for too long? Take a break! But, remember:

• Make the break long enough for a rest, but not too long so you get distracted from your main tasks.

• A good tip is to time yourself using a stopwatch. A reasonable break is no longer than 15 minutes, but really, how long you take is entirely up to you.

• Use your breaks to reset your space, do a 10-min. tidy, or have a snack if you’re hungry.

Tip#5: Fit in a 10-min. tidy or area reset

• You can do this in your a.m./p.m. routine, during one of your breaks, or before your work day or directly after.

• a 10-minute tidy is exactly that. Time yourself for 10 minutes, and tidy as much as you can in that time frame. You would be surprised at how much you can get done in 10 minutes. Can you imagine if you did this every day? What would your space look like?

• a space reset is decluttering an area before or after you were in that space, tidying up any mess.

• It’s a good habit to have a place for everything. This makes it super easy to know where to put it, and does not take up much time.

• It’s a known fact that if you have a clean, uncluttered space, you are less distracted by any mess and are more likely to get more done.

Tip#6: Have a “TOP 3”

• Make a list of the 3 most important things you need to get done each day.

• If you notice that these things are normally ones you would procrastinate, do them anyway!!! This might happen because the most important tasks are hard, or really long. These are the things you should be putting on your top 3. For instance, one of my top 3 is cleaning the bathrooms. It’s one of my most hated chores.

• Once you get them done, you will feel great. Plus, any work that you get done in addition to these things are just bonus!

Tip#7: Write it down!

If you try to remember all the things, at one point something is going to slip your mind and you might forget an important task that you need to do. So get a notepad!

• Keep notes in a planner, bullet journal or notebook instead of on a sticky note or random piece of paper. That way, all your notes are in one place and won’t get lost.

• Keep a to-do list: checking off completed tasks will make you feel good and more motivated to do the next thing on your list.

• Do not over schedule yourself! If you have this seemingly never-ending to do list, you can get over-whelmed and just give up. Also, if you do not cross off everything on your list, it can feel like you failed. But if you do everything in one day, you can get burned out and not be as productive the next day.

• It’s important to take a step back and be realistic. Hourly planning is helpful with this because it shows you how many physical hours are in the day.

Tip#8: Take time the night before to write out your next day’s tasks

• The next morning, you will be prepared and know what needs to get done. You will have a better grasp of the tasks that need to get done because you gave yourself time to sit and think about it.

• You save valuable time to work instead of thinking of all the things to get done that day.

• You are less likely to procrastinate.

• If there is something that came up, you can always add to the list. Sometimes it helps to sleep on it, because our brains process information while we sleep. (So it’s important to get a good nights rest!!)

• For example, every night I sit down with my bullet journal and a cup of herbal tea and write out my next day’s tasks. In the morning, I review my list as part of my morning routine and add to it if necessary.

So that’s it! I hope this blog has given you some helpful tips and insight on healthy productivity. Send me an e-mail if you have comments or questions and we’ll see you back here next week with Which Bullet Journal is Right for You? My Top Picks!

💜SAN