Tips for working from home

Being my own boss & being able to work from home has been such a blessing & I absolutely love it! I’ve always wanted to have a job that gave me flexibility because that’s just works best for me.

While I love it, it has taken some time to figure out how to organize my schedule & develop a system that works well for me. A system that allows me to be productive while not getting burnt out. Trust me when I say it’s taken a lot of trial & error to figure out a system that works for me and in doing this for about 2 years now, I have been able to figure out some tips that have been really helpful for me!

If you are here, it’s my assumption that you are now working from home & looking for some tips to get into a good routine. Lucky for you, I am laying out my best tips for organizing your workday so you can best maximize your time!

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Get prepared the night before

When you are working from home, it’s hard not to get into the mindset that you don’t need to prep as much as you would normally. However, I have found that preparing & prepping the night before is just as helpful to keep me on track all day & also helps with the flow of the day. Getting prepared, planned & organized will be key in making sure that you are getting everything done!
Related: My night routine for a more productive morning, Preparing for the best week ever

Things to prep & prepare:

• Meetings. It’s important to pull out your planner & write in when you have any meetings that you have to be present for.

• Family/kids obligations. Write down in your planner any obligations that your kids have related to school, nap times, etc. It makes it easier plan your day when you are able to see the times throughout the day that you are busy & need to work around.

• Meals. Make sure that you have all of your meals planned out for the next day so you aren’t scrambling to figure out what you are eating. This can even go as far as planning out breakfast, lunch, snacks in addition to dinner and prepping them to save you time during the day. 

Stick to a schedule/routine

Writing down everything that you have to do, especially those that have to be done at a certain time is important for making sure that your day runs smoothly. 

It’s important to pencil in those times in your schedule so you can see when you can tackle your work and how long you have at each time. Depending on what your household is like, this will obviously look different for each individual. If you are like me and don’t have any kids & not many meetings to work around, then your schedule will obviously have much more flexibility! I use my day designer planner to keep me nice and organized 🙂

Even if you are like me & don’t have any kids, it’s still very important to get yourself into a good routine to make sure that you stay on task and remain productive. Having any structure always helps with productivity!

Get ready for the day 

I believe this varies from person to person. I know there are several people who are more productive if they get dressed and ready for the day. Personally, I prefer to work in my comfy clothes.

You know yourself best & maybe you need to test out what works best for you. But, I would definitely continue with your usual morning routine if possible. 

My morning routine has shifted since my boyfriend is working from home with me, but I have generated a new morning routine that contains my non negotiable self care items and gives me the time I need to myself.  
Related: My Morning Routine As A Young Entrepreneur Working From Home, Developing a self care routine that works for you

Give yourself breaks throughout the day

One of the first things that I noticed when I started working from home is that I thought I had to be working all the time, constantly throughout the day. It can be hard to manage your time when outside of your usual office environment. However, that is the best way to work yourself straight to burnout and frustration. 

Listen to your mind & body and give yourself the necessary breaks throughout the day! These can be shorter 10-15 minute breaks or longer, 1-2 hour breaks throughout the day. Definitely listen to your mind & your body & listen to what you need.
Related: A step-by-step guide to getting your motivation back, Getting Over Extreme Burnout, How slowing down & taking time off can change everything / Signs you need to take a break

For me, I like to give myself multiple 10-15 minute breaks between work items and then I will take a longer 2 hour break from about 11am-1pm. I started doing this because I noticed that I work best early in the morning, then get a second wave later in the afternoon. Which is why it’s incredibly important to listen to yourself & base your schedule around what works best for YOU!

Ideas for what to do when taking longer breaks:

• Get outside! Especially right now when we are all stuck at home all day, it can be very easy to get cabin fever. Even if it’s just sitting on my patio for a little bit to breath in some fresh air. It’s important that you are getting out of the inside of your home, giving yourself a break from everything & just get refreshed. Especially now that spring is here and the weather is getting nicer! We all need to get outside & enjoy the fresh air.

• Exercise. For me, I personally prefer to get my workout in first thing in the morning because the whole process of working out can take a couple hours. However, getting in a workout can be a really great way to take a break from your work & release some stress.

• Go on a walk. I’ve been trying to make it a habit to go on a 20-30 minute walk at lunchtime to get out of my apartment, get some fresh air & even get in some light cardio. Especially if it’s a nice day, try to get out of the house and walk around!

• Chores around the house. I will sometimes schedule in times throughout the day to tackle some of those chores around the house to give me a break & also continue staying productive. I will use this time to do laundry, run the dishwasher, put dishes away, clean my cat’s litterbox, etc.

As you can see, most of my ideas have to do with getting out and moving your body, which I think is incredibly important, especially right now. I think that getting outside and walking around is great practice, even if you work at an office usually and you have the opportunity. It’s just a really good habit to start getting into!

Batch your time throughout the day

What does that even mean? It means dedicate chunks of time to work throughout the day, rather than trying to get everything done at once. 

This is where penciling in meetings & other other obligations into your schedule is helpful so you can see what time frames you have to work with.

I like to chunk 1 hour at a time and give myself at least a 10 minute break before moving into my next task to complete. It is sometimes longer & shorter, depending on if I get into flow when working. 
Related: Time Management While Working From Home

Using a time timer has also been such a huge game changer for me! It helps me avoid burnout as it prompt me to take breaks so I don’t get hyper fixated on a task, which helps make sure that I don’t burnout. Also, if I’m not “feeling” like doing something, I tell myself to give it 25 minutes and see what happens. I used to use the timer in my phone, but having this on my desk is so much better! I got mine on amazon and highly recommend giving it a try!! Click here to try it out!

What works best for you?

I do believe that this is different for everybody, which is why it’s important to be able to figure out what works best for you specifically.

For me, I notice that I am much more productive earlier in the morning, so I try to get to my desk as early as possible to make sure that I am able to tap into the max productivity. I realized that if I wait until later in the morning/day to try to start getting to work, I will get distracted and have a hard time focusing. But, like I’ve mentioned, that doesn’t work for everybody.

WHAT I DON’T RECOMMEND

What I absolutely do not recommend is trying to work from bed. I know how tempting it is to wake up and just grab your laptop and try working from bed, but I do not think that is the best way to approach working from home. However, I have done this before when I don’t feel good, but it’s not something that I do all the time.

There are just so many factors that go into being productive working from home and I do truly believe that you should treat it like you would if you were going into the office. Try to keep your routine as “normal” as possible. What might seem like a good, tempting idea, might not be the best, healthiest and most productive decision.

Now, it’s time to start planning out your at-home workday! What does this look like for you?!

I do offer 1:1 Mindset & Confidence Coaching and invite you to check out my opportunities if that is something that you would be interested in. Click here for more information on my 1:1 coaching opportunities! <3

>> click here to download my 5 tips for crushing your goals
>> click here to download my self care planning worksheet
>> click here to download my 50 journal prompts for self reflection & self discovery

Xx,
Coach Jessie Shibko