Working from Home: How to Stay Productive

From the dishes, to dogs, to Netflix, it is easy to get distracted when you work from home. Often times I get up from the table to get a cup of coffee only to see the dishes and decide to do those instead of my work. My house is a bit drafty and my husband got me the most amazingly, soft robe so it's easy to not even get dressed. (Right about here I had to take Bishop on a walk cause he wouldn't stop whining...see?!)

So what are some things we can do to stay focused?

1

First things first, when you wake up take a shower. It's so easy to stay in your pajamas to start "working" only to get lost watching the Today Show and organizing your nail polish collection. Instead of immediately sitting down at the computer, get yourself in the right mindset. Wake up, put on a pot of coffee and hop in the shower. When you get out, don't put lounge clothes back on but a cute outfit! Studies show that dressing for the day makes you more productive when you take care of your outward appearance. 

2

Write a list of priorities for the day. Not everything you can think of but the top 3-5 things. That way you will have a list to hold you accountable and you'll feel great checking them off as the day goes. Sometimes the most important things are the most daunting so tackle those first so the stress of handling them doesn't carry on throughout the day.

3

Set alarms throughout the day. It's easy to get lost in a task and use up too much time. So set alarms to remind you to switch on to a different task. Maybe go take a walk. Something to break up the day! Need to get a little work out in? Maybe every thirty minutes do a set of crunches. If time management is an issue, use a platform to hold you accountable like Toggl or Harvest.  

4

Don't work in bed! I have a long harvest table in my front room that has beautiful natural lighting and feels like I'm at an office so it's perfect but too many times If I'm feeling tired I want to crawl back in bed to "work." It can be lonely working from home so a few days a week I'll go to a coffee shop to be around people. I see others focused on tasks which pushes me to work hard too. It's like being at the gym, when I see people pushing through I want to be like that also. 

Many of these seem like common sense but putting them into practice is a different story.  I hope this helps encourage you to keep at it. Do you have different methods that helps you stay on task? Share them in the comments below!

xoxo Hannah