This post will be sharing five productivity tips for working from home.
Quick Storytime! 7 years ago, I started my career as a blogger and freelance writer working from home.
Yes, I’ve been working from home for the past seven years up until a year ago.
During this time, I started a blog that I monetised through freelance services and eventually became a business.
All of this happened while working from home.
I never had any reason to rent an office space because I always thought it was not necessary.
Especially for a growing small business. I was right.
I wanted to save money on overhead costs and focus my energy on building a remote team.
As you see, I’m not a stranger to remote work/work from home.
But this time around, it’s been different.
At the beginning of the lockdown, I struggled a lot with routine and productivity.
It just felt convenient to sleep, eat and binge-watch Netflix.
While others were trying to create daily routines and share their productivity tips for working from home, I just existed.
I knew I was going to get over the stress and anxiety from the general situation, but I wasn’t in a hurry. Instead, I allowed myself to acknowledge and process my feelings.
I basically spent two weeks doing a pre-lockdown self-care routine.
I shared all my top self-care tips in the post.
At the end of the second week, I was back to normal and ready to get to work.
I gave myself a goal to master Pinterest and monetise my blog before the end of the lockdown.
I thought this would spur me into crazy productivity.
It turns out I was wrong because it took some time to get used to it.
Eventually, I started to have a semblance of a routine far from what I had originally envisioned.
But I was gradually getting productive, which was all that mattered.
Here are my five best productivity tips for working from home during the coronavirus pandemic.
Write a list of things all the things you need to do
So the first thing I did to spur myself into work mode was to write out a list of things that needed my attention.
Thankfully, I already have a whiteboard in my room that I primarily use for brainstorming.
From business to-do lists to blog content schedules, I manage to fit all my important commitments on my board.
Let me tell you, my whiteboard is AMAZING for clearing my head and giving me a sense of direction.
After every brainstorming session, I finish up with a sigh of relief and enough motivation to conquer my day.
Plus, it’s my room, stirring right back at me.
Doing this is a very important step in making progress.
Everything I had to do was right in front of me, and suddenly, things just got a little more serious!
Check out more Productivity Tips when running your online business,
Create a semblance of a daily routine .
As someone who understands the importance of daily routines, I struggled a lot.
This was because my body clock had been messed up.
The days had become nights for me, and I really needed to find the best time to be productive.
Typically, I’m usually productive in the mornings before 12 noon, but lately, I’ve been tilting towards evenings.
In between, I take all kinds of breaks.
But then, after a couple of days, I decided that I was just going to go with the flow.
I already had my weekly to-do list, and as long as I completed my goals, I was fine.
These days, I do my most productive work, which is writing blog posts at midnight.
I find that I can spend the day doing less brain-tasking work and still get things done.
TIP: I found that revamping my home office with new supplies from Office Monster also helped set the mood and overcome general lethargy.
Write out two or three daily accomplishments
In theory, it is nice to have a daily routine.
Wake up, do what you have to do and get to work.
But the reality is, we’re currently in unprecedented times.
Which means that most of us are mentally stressed.
This will naturally affect our quality of work and level of productivity.
Instead of putting yourself under undue pressure, write out two important goals for the day.
Spend your most productive time (which can be in the morning or at midnight) and achieve those goals.
However, the rest of the day doesn’t matter anymore as long as you have achieved your set goals for the day.
This way, you’re practising self-care by prioritising your mental health.
Check out these Wellbeing Tips When Working From Home.
Work when motivation strikes
The crazy thing about motivation is that it strikes unexpectedly.
You’re there worried about not being productive all week.
But Saturday comes, motivation hits, and you churn out the best work of the month.
Motivation is fickle like that. But then again, this is where your daily goals come in.
When you set one goal per day, you don’t have to wait until motivation strikes.
But if, for some reason, it does strike when you least expect it, take full advantage of it and do your best work. Life is hard enough.
Learn how to maintain a work/life balance as a work-at-home mum.
Be kind to yourself
At the end of it all, it is important to remember that we’re in the middle of a pandemic.
Practice self-care. Be kind to yourself.
If your body wants a day off, take it.
Sometimes, our mental health forces us to shut down physically.
If your level of productivity has dipped, don’t take it personally.
You’re lucky you still have good days to get work done.
Switch up your routine.
Do things differently.
Even though we’re indoors, try to adapt and create a lifestyle for yourself.
These are a few productivity tips for working from home that have helped me.
Above all, I just take one day at a time and hope to get through it.
I hope you do too.
How productive have you been during this lockdown?
Share your experience in the comments!
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