When you are home all day it is tempting to wake up late, stay in bed checking your phone, have a long breakfast and start your day at around noon or even later. Then, your whole schedule starts shifting later and later until you find yourself watching Netflix at 3 am with the feeling that you accomplished nothing that day. So how can you be productive when you work or study from home?
When you are working or studying from home you are responsible and accountable for the things you do (or not) with your time. No one is going to tell you what to do and when to do them, after all you are home and no one is checking up on you… It’s up to you whether you make the deadlines and reach your goals.
After years of being students and “independent adults” we came up with these things that made our days way more productive and our lives easier. Hope this guide on how to be more productive when you work or study from home helps you too!
Pin it to your lifestyle board so you can have it for later
Realizing that “You will never always be motivated, so you must learn to be disciplined” is what will help you get started.
Once you get into it, you will have more free time, less stress and even time to add more things to your lists!
Have a morning routine
The biggest game changer of all time! Come up with a routine that makes you feel good and motivates you to start the day. Step one is to set an alarm every day at the same time and actually wake up with it. What you do after that is up to you.
If you want to read more about morning routines make sure to check out our epic morning routine guide!
Get ready
Even if you are staying at home it helps to get ready. Take a shower, put on makeup or do your hair and put on day-time clothes. If you wear your pajamas all day it will be harder to differentiate between “work day” and “lazy day”. This doesn’t mean you can’t wear leggings, sweatpants or shorts. It’s just a matter of getting ready.
Also…psychologically your mind will be more willing to work and be productive if you have “uncomfortable” clothes, PLUS in case you need to run out or go out for something you will be ready. (Just don’t go out if you are quarantined…)
Have a separate work area
If possible, have your work area only be your work area. Have a desk with everything you need for work so your brain knows you have entered a workspace.
If it’s not possible because your place is small and you work on your dining table or on your bed, try to always set it up in a way you know it’s for working purposes. For example sit horizontally on your bed instead of the way you would lay for sleeping or clear your table of any food items and put all your work items.
Then, make a list of the things you want to do during the day, it doesn’t need to be long. Try to keep it realistic so you feel like you are crossing things off. It can even be 2 or 3 things if they are big tasks.
A great way of doing this is by breaking big tasks into smaller ones. For example:
- Write a blog post (big task)
- (smaller tasks): Do some research
- Create a draft
- Take photos
- Edit photos
- Create Images/printables
- Revise post
- Upload post
This way you will cross off more things and feel less overwhelmed, thus more productive when you work or study from home.
This also includes good working practices
A huge part of being productive when you work or study from home is avoiding distractions. Put your phone away if you don’t need it for your job, play background music that helps you concentrate or you can even turn off the wifi if it’s not necessary for the work you are doing.
Some of playlist for you:
Take breaks
When you are working from home it is easy to get lost into the workflow and even over work. It is important to take a break and let your mind rest for a little bit.
NOW… try not to get too distracted and wader off. The 40 min work – 15 min break rule seems to work pretty well.
Another way to do this and still be productive is by taking active pauses. During your break you can fold the clothes, wash the dishes, water the plants or any activity that needs to be done. This way you stop thinking about work but are still doing something. That way when you go back to your work or study area your mind will be fresh and ready to go.
Don’t forget your meals
Eating is really important and when you are at home all the time it’s easy to either have 9 meals a day or none. Obviously both are bad for you, so just keep track of the time and “schedule” your meals into your work day. Cooking can be another active pause and then while you eat you can watch a video, T.V or listen to a podcast.
Check out our recipes for some ideas and easy meals.
Make time for important things
Plan your week or month ahead and schedule important things that need to be done, like going to the bank, buying groceries, going to the post office, you name it. These are things that also need to be done and that can take up time valuable time if you don’t take them into account. It might sound excessive to schedule everything, but when you have “so much time” it’s easy to get lost and forget certain things.
Important things also include quality time with friends and family! Set aside time to see them, call them or spend time with them. One of the best parts about working from home is that you can organize your time at your leisure.
Other important things might include concerts, art shows, picnics, going to the gym etc. It’s all up to you!
Free template for your schedule and to-do list so you are on top of your day!
Last but not least…
Make time for yourself:
This might seem obvious but it is important to take care of your body and mind. You can’t be productive when you work or study from home if you are not feeling a 100%
Include in your schedule spa time, a bath, a massage, play video game or even watching your favorite Netflix show. Do something that makes you feel good and lifts you up.
By doing all these things you will feel more productive and organized. It will also help you have a normal schedule and avoid working all night and sleeping all day (unless that is what you want and that is completely fine). Your days won’t merge into one huge blob where you don’t even know what day of the week it is.
Working at home is great and you can organize your time as you want. For us it’s great because that means we can travel and explore more. It’s just a matter of being productive when you work at home so you can make the deadlines and reach your goals.
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