This article was originally published on Tuxbee Digital.
I decided to write about working from home tips since figuring out how to actually be productive was one of the big challenges that I faced after leaving the corporate world. When I was a server, there were certain guidelines we had to follow for everything we did and there was side work that had to be done before we left. There were also daily sales goals that we had. We would review the sales from the same day of the last year, and what our average add-ons were (how much I sold you over the cost of dinner- drinks, appetizers, desserts, extras).
When I worked as a vacation planner at a popular cruise line, there were guidelines for everything as well, from monthly sales goals to daily average phone time. I know that in order to sell over 100 cruises a month, I would need to average 200 outbound calls a day with an average of about 2 minutes on the phone per call.
But when I started working from home, there were no guidelines. There were no sales goals. There was no list of side work. I quickly realized that I was going to be the one that set these up for myself and my business. But how the heck do you do that? Especially when there is the added bonus of actually maintaining your house.
Here are some of the working-from-home tips and tricks that I taught myself to actually get things done
Working from home doesn’t have to be stressful or overwhelming. By implementing a few tricks like learning to work on my own schedule and gamifying boring things that have to get done I was able to actually enjoy working from home. Tips and tricks that actually work!
1. Working from Home Tips That Skyrocket Productivity: Find your own schedule
I have never been a morning person. Waking up in the morning to go somewhere I don’t want to has always been a huge challenge for me. And for a long time, I fought myself on that. I tried waking up early to work the traditional 9 to 5 schedule, but at the end of the day, I wouldn’t get things done. All in all, I was miserable, fighting myself all day, and not getting anything done.
When I took a step back and noticed this, I decided to observe my own rhythm. When was I naturally drawn to working? What outside factors did I have to consider when figuring out my work schedule?
Well, one thing that I noticed was that I didn’t want to be doing work stuff when my partner was at home. 5-10p is family time. That’s when we have time to run errands and spend some quality time together. After all, certain things do have to be done during normal working hours. Things like doctor appointments, client meetings, and grocery store runs.
But office work?
Who says I have to dedicate daylight hours to web design or copywriting?
Most of my office work, web design, and copywriting happen early in the day when my partner is at work or after midnight after she falls asleep. This means that I can stay focused, don’t have to worry about interruptions like phone calls or emails, and leaves me daylight hours to do what I need and want to do.
So are you a morning person or a night owl? Lean into that so you can take advantage of your most productive times. Maybe you can’t imagine staying up working until 4 in the morning, which I do all the time. Do you know what I can’t imagine doing? Waking up at 4a. But maybe that is your thing. Work with what you’ve got!
2. Working from home trick: make everything a game
I didn’t really realize this until after I started working with Brian King over at BrianRaymondKing.com, but one thing that I do to help me be more productive is to make things I do into a game. I am a blue personality, which is all about fun. If it’s not fun, we don’t want to do it. But that is not helpful when it’s time to do things like washing the dishes or sweeping and mopping regularly.
We know these things have to get done, but let’s face it, sometimes we just don’t want to. But if you don’t do it, it only gets worse. No one wants to wash a few dishes. But you know what’s worse? Washing a mountain of dishes cause you ran out and just want something to eat.
And the worst part about this whole thing is that these problems are forever recurring (please note that there is no “o” in this word, you’re welcome). Even if you do the best job ever washing and putting the dishes away, before you know it there are more. This happens with the hamper, too. So how the hell do you deal with all of?
Especially when you have a whole business to run!
Make it a game. For example, if I make some coffee in the afternoon, the challenge becomes getting the dishes done before the coffee is ready. This way I’m not just standing around waiting for water to boil, and when the coffee is ready I have accomplished 2 things.
Another way that I make boring things more like a game is the next tip of setting 15-minute timers.
3. Productivy: Getting things done with 15-minute timers
Some of the best working from home tips are the simple ones. All this one takes me is 15 Minutes.
I set a timer for 15 minutes, and see how much shit I can get done. It’s actually kind of impressive how much I can get done in 15 minutes.
Sometimes it’s even less than that. Like I mentioned in the last tip, In the afternoons I will make a Cuban Coffee. Once the coffee is on the stove, I have until the first drop comes out to do the dishes. Doesn’t have to be all of them, just until the coffee is ready. Guess what happens? Either I finish before the coffee is done, or I’m almost done so I go ahead and finish.
Having a neurodivergent brain means that I tend to catastrophize things. I see the dishes in the sink and my mind irrationally makes it seem like it’s going to take hours to get done. It never does.
Giving myself small chunks of space like this helps me feel like I can actually tackle the task at hand instead of sitting around overthinking it and tiring myself out anyway.
4. Working from home tips: Leave space for projects that take more time
Obviously, there are going to be projects that cannot be handled in 15 minutes. Writing these blog posts takes me longer than 15-minutes, for example. So does complete a website audit or redesign. If the thought of the whole project is really overwhelming, I might break down the steps and work on the 15-minutes at a time. Otherwise, I will give myself the space to focus on just that project.
On those days, I make sure there are no other meetings or deadlines I have to worry about. Anything with a deadline gets done first, so I don’t have that weighing on my mind. Posting and responding on social media are also important daily tasks, so I will make sure that gets done. Then its my cave time. All I focus on is that project. Step by step, making sure to finish things as I am working so I don’t have to go back to it. I’ll set a time that I will finish working, and I won’t let myself worry about anything else during that time. Once it’s done for the day, it’s done. I don’t have to think about it anymore.
This helps me be focused and productive while I am working, and be able to be focused and productive at relaxing when it’s time to do so, too.
5. Working from home tips: Leave surprises for your future self
This kinda happened by accident, but it has actually been really helpful in allowing me to get things done. If I am deciding between finishing something or leaving it for later, I remind myself to leave a surprise for my future self. She’s going to be really glad that you finished this now. And you know what? I really am.
This has helped me with saving money, cleaning my house, batching content for my business, and more! Do you know how exciting it is to go into Canva to work on some graphics and realize that you made them a week ago and had forgotten about them? It’s an awesome feeling! This is one powerful way I have been able to battle against procrastination.
When I see a dish in the sink I think, “Imagine how happy future me will be that these aren’t there later” and knock them out. Whatever the task is, remind yourself how happy your future self will be that it’s done.
6. Working from home: Create tiny habits to improve working from home productivity
Tiny habits changed my life. For a long time, I thought self-development was like a big overhaul thing. Like in a moment everything would click. There would be this huge shift and boom. Self Developed. But if you really think about this, it makes no sense. Where does that moment come from?
Tiny Habits.
Baby steps.
It’s these tiny adjustments that are made that eventually change your whole trajectory. How many books could you read if you spent 10 minutes a day reading for a whole year? At least 1 more than if you spent 0 minutes a day reading.
How much money could you save if you started with getting in the habit of saving $1? Or $5? Or $10? The idea is first to create the habit of saving. Then you can stack on top of that. That could be $1 a day, a week, or a month. Doesn’t matter. As long as it’s consistently done. Hell, start with coins. Do you know how much money you can save up in a 5-gallon water tank full of coins? I’ve heard people saving up for vacations like this.
Don’t underestimate the power of tiny baby steps taken consistently!
How much content could you create if you made one piece every week? A blog post, video, podcast, social media post. Whatever.
This will compound over time. Not only that, once you create a new habit, you can stack a new habit on top of it. Gotten in the habit of saving $10 a week? Why not make it $15?
Gotten in the habit of writing one blog post a month? Why not add a social media post while you are working on the blog post?
Gotten in the habit of working out for 10 minutes a day? Why not add a new activity?
This is going to help you in a lot of areas. To be confident, you must trust yourself. Do you trust yourself? Setting up these tiny habits helps you make trust deposits in yourself, as well as those around you. Any area where you want to make a change can be adjusted with tiny habits.
7. Daily gratitude
Before I was able to make any significant changes to my life, the first thing I had to do was work on my mindset. This was one of the easiest, yet also one of the hardest habits for me to implement. It was so simple, it seemed just too simple to actually work. However, when I finally allowed myself to sit down and really learn to be grateful for the things that I already had around me, my entire life changed. Focusing on gratitude is one of the simplest ways to reprogram your brain to see abundance instead of lack.
All it takes is creating the habit of writing down three things you are grateful for every morning. That’s it. You can get started on a notepad at home or in your phone, or you can check out my guided gratitude journals on Amazon.
8. Working from home tips: forget goals- write down daily intentions and accomplishments
I know I know. All the big coaches and gurus have told you to write down your goals. Have you ever considered that your mind has created a negative association with goals? How many new years resolutions have you followed through on? How many goals have you written down and forgotten? Forget all of that.
First, you will start writing down your accomplishments. I first had to train my brain to look for accomplishments, instead of all the ways I didn’t accomplish my goals. This might take a bit of practice. I know it did for me. But take your time and think this through. Give yourself credit for things you’ve accomplished in different areas, not just business accomplishments. No one has to see your lists. This is you training your brain to see what you do accomplish instead of what you are lacking.
Once you get into that habit, you can also add writing down your intentions, not goals. This is something else that I learned from the incredible Brian King over at BrianRaymondKing.com
9. Working from home balance: Bursts of stretching and mini workouts
Working from home can mean a lot of sitting. Writing books, blog posts, and designing websites isn’t exactly physically exhausting work. I’m sitting at the computer all day. This means I have learned to be intentional about getting my body moving. I got an inexpensive step counter to see how many steps I was taking, then found fun ways I could use to get more steps daily.
Standing up from the computer and stretching my arms or my legs. Doing squats when I go to the bathroom. Pushups on the counter when I walk in the kitchen. Taking my dog for longer daily walks, and taking him to the park more often. Remember, little things add up. Don’t make it super stressful for yourself, just get moving throughout the day!
10. Working from home efficiently- automate what you can
Are there any repetitive tasks that you are completing routinely that can be outsourced or handled by software? Take some time to look at your processes and see how you can improve them. I love using paper planners, but as my business grew and I got busier, I found myself needing reminders of appointments and access to my schedule at a glance. Even though I love paper planners, I got in the habit of using Google Calendar for a date or time-specific tasks, such as birthdays or meetings.
Instead of transcribing entire videos, which took hours, I found free software that could do the bulk of the work for me. Now I just have to do the final edits.
11. Working from home: Set up passive/residual income so you can explore your actual interests
The most important thing I did for my business and my life was to create a source of passive, residual income that pays for all the basics. This means that I was able to get out of the rat race and actually focus on things I wanted to do. This is something that can take some time, but I highly recommend you invest time now in figuring out what you would like to do, and start setting it up. This can be things like writing a book, creating a blog, promoting affiliate links, or buying investment properties, for example. Replacing the income from your job frees you from being stuck there if you don’t like what you do, and allows you to start doing things that you actually enjoy.
