Woman working on laptop

10 Work-From-Home Tips

Working from home can seem like the best thing ever, especially to someone who is used to working in an office - you can have the TV on, wear your pyjamas, run your errands in between calls, etc. How awesome!! However, coming from someone who works from home 75% of the time, the novelty wears off, trust me. I've been without an office for over 6 years now, so don't get me wrong, you've probably seen me at the nail salon at 2 pm on a Tuesday, but I've had to learn ways to ensure I'm not spending my days in bed watching Netflix. 

These are the tips that I try to incorporate into my work-from-home days so that I'm productive and get done what I need to.

1) No sleeping in - if I'm not doing a 7 am workout class, I try to make sure I'm up no later than 7 am. It's easy to feel like you can sleep in, but I think it's important to start your day early enough as though you're going into an office

2) Change out of your pyjamas - as soon as I wake up, I get out of my pyjamas and put on workout clothes (not sweatpants), or jeans. This gets me into the mindset that I cannot just go back to sleep.

3) Create my to-do list for the day - I try to do this before I open my laptop. I start by listing out the tasks I want to accomplish and then adding timeframes to everything ex. 9-9:30 am "create to-do list", 9:30 - 10:30 am "respond to emails", etc.

4) Keep my phone on "do-not-disturb" mode - this likely will annoy some people when they can't reach me but I turn off all notifications for text messages, emails, calls, Instagram so that I can stay focused on my tasks at hand.

5) Time batch - when I'm trying to get my to-do list done, I will put on a timer for 25-50 minutes at a time. During this time I can only work on the one thing I have planned out. Once the timer goes off, then I can take a 5-10 minute break to check my phone or get a snack or coffee.

6) Go for a walk/stretch - it's easy to not leave the house when you're working from home. I try to go for a walk either before my day starts, during lunch, or after I'm done for the day. If I can't get for a walk then I will take some time to stretch with my foam roller and yoga mat. 

7) Try to keep a consistent schedule daily - I do try to keep my daily schedule similar each day to create a routine for myself and keep myself accountable ex. start my day by 9 am, spend x hours on certain tasks daily, etc. 

8) Keep junk food out of the house - random one, but since you're at home you have access to everything in your house. I try to keep healthy snacks available for when I need some energy.

9) Limit email checking - it's easy to just sit there and reply to emails all day. I try to only answer emails 2-4 times a day so that I can get my actual work done.

10) Set a start time and an end time - similar to keeping a consistent schedule, I try to create a start time and an end time. Because there is no commute to my kitchen table, sometimes I will wake up and immediately start working at 7 am, but I've tried to create more clear times as to when it's time to start and finish work.

I hope you find these helpful! I would love to hear any tips that you have for when you're working from home! 

Carling xx

Back to blog

Leave a comment

Please note, comments need to be approved before they are published.