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 work 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
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.
It’s always fun to have a behind-the-scenes look at how other entrepreneurs work. So today, I’m going to walk you through my work from home routine and how I get everything done for my two businesses (and a few random side projects :)).
Work from Home Routine: How I Organize My Day
I usually wake up around 9 or 10 naturally, depending on when I went to bed the night before. Sometimes I wake up a lot earlier and just decide to stay up and do some inspired work! I’m not a big fan of alarm clocks so if I don’t need to wake up at a certain time, then I just wake up whenever I want. 🙂
The first thing I do is make a cup of coffee. I totally remember my life before I started drinking coffee and my life after, and whether or not coffee is actually healthy, having some small routine in the morning definitely keeps me on track and gets me ready to start my day.
I’ve read a little about morning routines and what other entrepreneurs do. So far I’m happy with what I do now and have recently made a few adjustments to make my day more inspired and productive.
After I make a cup of coffee (doctored up with a lot of coffee creamer), I usually snuggle into some comfortable chair or sit on my bed with my iPad and coffee in hand. I usually start this process around 10am.
I used to always start my day by reading emails, but I kept hearing that this stresses you out and makes you worried and reactive for the rest of the day (instead of proactive about doing the things you want to do), so now I start by reading something inspiring like a business or motivational book or scrolling through inspirational pictures or articles on Pinterest. This one change has made a big difference in how I approach the day. Now I start off feeling inspired and wanting to dive into my work instead of stressed out super early in the morning. Try it!
After I drink my coffee and fill my brain with inspiration, I usually start working on something or read some emails. I have deliberately culled my incoming mail so most of my emails are actually just inspiring or educational newsletters from business coaches or other entrepreneurs. I’m not really in a business where I have to put out fires or deal with emergencies, so email is not a stressful thing for me. And I like it that way.
Next I’ll usually write something like a blog post or work on something business-y like a sales page. Sometimes I plan out new ideas for my businesses, design graphics for something, work on income projections, or think about the future of my businesses. Probably my favorite thing to do ever is planning the future of my businesses. I just love dreaming up possibilities and thinking about where I want to take things.
I also make sure to spend time learning every day about business. I’m usually reading about 20 books at a time on my iPad (I have a problem) and redoing a few online courses about marketing or something similar. Last year I bought about a bajillion online courses and I did go through all of them during that time, but this year I’ve only enrolled in one or two new ones and instead am going back through the old material from last year to learn new things and implement more. My goal is to take as much action as possible based on what I learn. I don’t want to just get fired up and then forget about it; I want to actually do something with all the books and courses I go through.
Some days I have a deadline for something like designing quotes or sending a newsletter with a new blog post for Katie Harp Creative. I also try to post a couple times a day on Instagram, which has to be done from your phone (all my other social media is automatically posted with Post Planner for Facebook and Twitter and Tailwind for Pinterest).
I try to stop working around 6 or 7pm just so I don’t end up working forever (because sometimes I really love what I’m doing and get totally carried away in it) or get burned out. At that point I’ll relax and maybe watch Netflix. There’s also time for meals and nomming throughout the day and dinner after I’m done working.
If I’m feeling particularly motivated I might go back to work after dinner or spend my evening reading a marketing book. Lately I’ve been reading a lot of ebooks about blogging and implementing as much as I can, and I’ve been getting noticeable results already. It’s pretty cool how you can see results when you take action straight away!
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.
