If you’re working from home while working for your full time job or business, it’s likely that you could use a few more hours in the day to get everything done that you have to do in your busy life. Here are 5 working from home productivity tips.
Working from home can be hectic at times, but it’s really just about prioritizing what matters and giving yourself permission to stop doing the “busy work” kind of tasks in life that really don’t need to be done.
5 Working from Home Productivity Tips
If you’d like to learn more ways to improve your productivity as an entrepreneur and automate, simplify, and streamline your business, check out Entrepreneur Life Hacks.
So, here are my not kosher ideas for how to regain a solid 5-10 extra hours a week to work on your business or do whatever you want with your newfound time!
1. Stop doing chores so often (yes, you have permission)
I would estimate that I spend less than an hour a week doing chores in my apartment. Nowadays it’s mostly just cleaning dishes and vacuuming, but then every couple weeks there’s laundry too and occasionally picking things up. (I swear I still have the same 10 pack of Tide Pods that my Mom got me for college…) Your home does not need to be spotless. Don’t stress out about it – five years from now, it won’t matter how clean your room was (unless the clutter is causing you anxiety). Instead of spending time cleaning something, take that time for yourself.
2. Don’t make meals from scratch (unless you have to)
Don’t hate, but I save so much time by not cooking. And I actually only eat out a couple times a month. So what I do instead is make things like sandwiches, salads, soup, and pasta (in my pasta boat!!). I also sometimes get frozen food but I try to be reasonably healthy. It’s easy (and cheap) to buy a bag of baby carrots and a few apples and bananas and you have instant healthy snacks that require absolutely no cooking or preparation. All of the meal ideas I listed will only take a few minutes to make. Less cooking = more time to work on your business or side hustle! (Unless cooking is how you relax).
3. Replace social media with something productive
I use a Chrome extension called the Facebook Newsfeed Eradicator that lets you go on Facebook but just replaces your newsfeed with an inspirational quote. I prefer this to something like Self Control that completely blocks Facebook because I can still see if I have any messages or notifications. And honestly, any time I turn my newsfeed back on for a while, I start scrolling through and get instantly stressed out and anxious. We definitely don’t need that in our life. Seriously. Turn off your newsfeed for a week and see how much your stress levels go down.
4. Meditate or read during your breaks
No matter how busy you are or how stuffed your schedule, you’re bound to have some kind of natural breaks somewhere in there. This could be when you’re in a car or bus, an actual lunch break, or maybe while you’re in the shower or before you go to bed. There are also a lot of little pockets in the day that you might otherwise pull out your phone and scroll through Facebook. Resist the urge. Instead, use these little windows of time to meditate, people watch quietly, read for fun, or just disconnect from digital for a few moments. You need white space in your day when you just sit and do nothing.
5. Simplify your daily routines
For daily routines, I’m talking about things like getting ready for work and getting ready for bed. Take shorter showers, get ready without stopping every few minutes to check your phone, pick your outfit out ahead of time, and put everything in its place so you don’t have to go searching for any products you use daily.
Ok, with these tips you could easily save yourself an hour or two a day or maybe 5-10 hours every week. That’s actually a lot of time that you now have available to put our other self improvement and productivity tips into action, read about personal development, etc. Good luck.