Tips on Staying Productive When Working From Home
Running a business while working from home definitely has its perks. There’s no rushing to get out of the house in the morning, you can work from the comfort of your bed or couch if you want to, and you have the freedom to set your own schedule. What’s not to love?
The downside of working from home is that it can sometimes be distracting and difficult to focus. If you’re anything like me, you’ve gotten a million things running through your mental to-do list at any given moment. I can be in the zone working on a project, and suddenly remember that dentist appointment I forgot to schedule, so I’ll pull out my phone to call and make an appointment, then get distracted by an Instagram notification….and down the rabbit hole I go.
I know I’m not the only one who struggles with this, so I want to share some of the habits that have helped me stay productive when working from home.
1. Batch your chores.
If you know you’re never going to be able to focus on work while that basket of laundry is sitting in the corner, then pick one day or even just a couple of hours to knock out all of your household chores that are distracting you. If you have a lot of calls you need to make, or errands you need to run pick a day out of the week and do it all then. Going back and forth between work and doing a chore here in there makes it so hard to stay focused on any one task! So take the time to get done what you need to, then devote the rest of the day or week to focusing on work.
2. Keep your office space tidy.
Maybe you have a tight deadline and don’t have time to address your messy house. I’ve been there! I try to at least keep my office tidy, that way if I need to, I can just close the door and focus. Out of sight, out of mind – right? Let’s be honest though…by the end of the week my office is usually more cluttered, so I use the weekend to tidy it up so that I can head into the next week with a fresh start!
3. Organize your to-dos.
Take some time on Sunday to get organized so you’re ready to tackle the work week. I do this by writing down everything in my mental to-do list. I’ve found it so helpful to just write everything down, even if it’s something I know I won’t get to this week or even this month. It helps declutter my brain and prioritize my to-dos. Next, take a look and your list and try to batch them into topics/categories so that you can divvy up your workflow and tackle your tasks in batches. If you haven’t listened to Jenna Kutcher’s podcast episode on batch working, she does a really great job of explaining how to do this!
4. Make yourself a focus playlist.
We all have those songs that help us tune out the world and get in the zone. Whenever I feel like I can’t focus, I throw in some headphones and put this playlist on.
Hopefully you found some of these tips helpful. At the end of the day, we all have our own ways of staying focused. If you have any habits that you’ve found have helped you, I’d love to hear them!
