Tips for being Productive at Home
How are you doing right now? Haven’t changed out of sweats since Monday?
You are probably finding yourself at home right now because of COVID-19, and if you’ve never worked from home before, it can be a hard transition. Especially going from a buzzing office with coworkers galore, to your own couch and no dress code. Here are a few things you can do to make your work-from-home life more productive:
Get dressed like you’re going to the office. Yep, put on some jeans and sit at a desk or your kitchen table to do your work. Being dressed like you’re ready to work will pump up your motivation. If you lounge around in sweats all day, you’ll be tempted to be lazy, turn on Netflix, and zone out. Get up, do your makeup, and get dressed!
Don’t work from bed. Your bed should be reserved for two things! And they both start with an “S”! But really, working from your comfy cozy sleepy place will NOT make you want to be productive. Again, you’ll be tempted to slack and let your work fall to the wayside.
Set work hours. To be the most productive, set actual hours you need to be working. Give yourself an hour for lunch and then get back to work. If you choose to work an hour here and then an hour there, you’ll end up being less productive overall. And along with that, turn work OFF at a certain time. Are you usually done at 5:00 PM? Then power down your computer then. It’s easy to keep working since you have it right on your lap and you can’t just leave it at the office. That way you can focus on family time and be present when you’re done working.
Batch work. This is SUCH a hot tip for photographers. If you batch work bog posts, Instagram posts, and back end work, you’ll have a TON of work done for weeks to come. Take one day to work JUST on blog posts/Instagram/etc. If you spend a block of time JUST focusing on that task, you’ll have an abundance of work done and you’ll have gotten more done in a short amount of time.
Give yourself breaks to stand/walk/get fresh air. It’s soooo easy to sit down all day and not move except for bathroom breaks and lunch, but be sure to take some time to take your eyes off the screen, get up, stretch your back and legs, and try to get outside to walk around the block. You might not be accustomed to working from home, so make sure you do this a few times throughout the day to keep your sanity. ;)
Prioritize urgent items. Sometimes working from home can seem daunting because it’s JUST you. Especially for photographers right now. There are a LOT of tasks on your plate, but if you take the time to pick out the items that are urgent FIRST, and focus on the items that aren’t as important, you’ll feel much more accomplished. I would suggest making a list and working down from the top!
EAT HEALTHY. I’m not sure why I struggled with this in my early days working from home, maybe it was just the comfort of being on the couch all day and having snacks available 24/7, but something that helped me overall was eating healthy while working from home. I didn’t get as sleepy or hit that wall at 3:00 PM if I was eating a lot of veggies, salads, fruit, and smoothies. You’ll feel better at the end of the day, especially if you were sitting all day. You can also meal prep (chicken, veggies, rice, etc) for lunches throughout the week.
Give yourself grace. Seriously. This is a big transition. If you feel irritable, cooped up, or a little sad, that’s okay. Step out into some sunshine if you can and get some fresh air if you’re feeling that way. Just remember this isn’t forever, and you’ll be back playing ping pong sipping iced coffee from across the street of your office SOON.
Were these tips helpful? Let me know in the comments below!