In a recent study done by UC Irvine, researches showed that it takes up to 23 minutes to recover from a distraction at work. And if you happen to work from home or even run a home-based business, that number can seem much higher. Laundry to be done, the dog needs to be taken our or you just feel like catching up on some recent TV shows that you perhaps missed. After all, there is no-one else at home and who is to say, you cannot take your work down to the TV room and multi-task, right?
When we asked the question around productivity and motivation especially for those of us who work from home as either solo-preneurs or work-from-home/remote employees, the community just poured in and offered really incredible productivity hacks and tips.
Here are some productivity tips from the community
Kimberly Aisthorpe Make a list, time block, take small breaks between tasks to move/stretch, keep coffee going, drink lots of water, turn on classical music.
Sami Alperstein I set up an appt with myself each day at 1pm. It’s my hour to eat lunch, watch a show, and cruise social media not business related.
Megan Seeley I have two screen so I can watch my fav shows and work at the same time ?
Katherine Baessler I treat it as if I was in an office. I work 8-4. I want to be sure I get my 8 hours in for my job cause we use toggl to time track lol ??♀️
Cate Rosales I have a daily checklist, I take a 5-10 minute break every hour to stretch and get a snack or whatever, but other than that I don’t stop until my important tasks are done.
Sadie Pearl Prestridge I always start my day with smores tea and chocolate match which helps a ton! I then eat a super filling breakfast go for a 30 minute walk then I use Trello,Asana and my google calendar to get my tasks for the day done. I usually tackle my week on a Sunday or a Monday..but caffeine doesn’t hurt.
Sunit Suchdev Time blocking! Everything goes on the calendar! I used to fear that all I’d want to do is watch daytime tv but once I started blocking time off and made some big goals with smaller goals attached… I don’t even think of watching tv. It’s been almost 3 years and I am in massive action every single day and very protective of that time now. Once you start to see the fruits of your labour you’ll forget you even own a tv ?
Maggie McLane Steele I get ready before I take my kids to school so I’m home and ready to start at 8 am. I check email and organize myself until 8:30 and then work 8:30-11 or 11:30 for a specific client, then lunch and then other client work until it’s time to get kids again. Time block, create a routine, and work away from a tv.
Megan Marais Practice! Being disciplined takes failing at discipline enough times that you personally CHOOSE to be disciplined! I learned it the hard way while homeschooling as a child: I didn’t finish my exams before vacation, so my parents took my siblings away on vacation without me and left me with a babysitter to finish the exams ? Enough “stuff just got real” moments like that, and now as a work-from-home adult I am exceptionally disciplined! I have this crazy internal clock inside me that tells me to WORK during work time!
Ellie Ellias Lots of good tips here… lists and time blocking help me stay on track too. Something else I try to do is to have a little pleasurable thing that I associate with different kinds of work. I’ll light a nice scented candle while doing writing work. I like to drink a cup of peppermint tea while I’m making phone calls. If I’m doing a relatively mindless task, I put on a favourite podcast. Music is important for me all day. I find that looking forward to those little things helps to keep me in the working mindset.
Rachel Layman The key for me is a separate work area. I have an office upstairs away from the distractions. Putting my phone on silent also helps.
Stephanie Mullen I had to find a routine. I don’t have kiddos at home. They are grown. I work mostly in the morning with coffee, workout, do household chores, errands and then back to working on business. Easy to get sidetracked, but a routine helps a lot. I save my TV time for evenings with my husband. We are early to bed and early to rise people. He is up at 4:30 to get ready for work, so I do the same. Then we are in bed by 9ish.
Alexandra Edwards Definitely having a workspace that’s clear of distraction. No tv until work is put away is a big one for me! But I think the biggest motivator is actually just getting the work done, delivering for clients and showing up to my audiences! Project management in Asana + a prioritized todo list is also a winner ??
Devan Lewis Hold yourself hostage and then reward yourself… with lots of treats ?
Erica Wilks 12-2pm is nap time for the kids/ fold the laundry/ watch all the shows haha. I’m more productive when I know I’ve got some ‘me time’ to look forward to.
Pamela Hsieh Great question . My most authentic answer would be, that I have coaches to keep me accountable, but that being said, some days are best used for rest and play. As long as I am conscious of it — its all good. And that being said, what always works for me is community, too, like meeting up to co-work or having accountability buddies or whatever. Outside structure forces me to snap out of the daily hypnosis of the home, even if it’s going out to do different aspects of my work and changing locations every couple hours .
Cherin Rykaczewski Writing down every minute of your day the night before works incredibly well. I still haven’t built up the habit to do it everyday, but when I do, it is very powerful.
Deborah Dawn Griggs Accountability is worth more than gold! I personally struggle very much with consistency in my schedule, but am trying to use that more to my advantage than as a tool for beating myself up. I went through a process to create a powerful intention for myself and my business that I use as a funnel for my decisions (i.e. asking myself “is what I’m devoting my time to right now feeding and in line with my intention and purpose?”). Relaxation can certainly be in line with fulfilling your purpose – but even certain ways we choose to relax can have more of a numbing-out effect than a filling-up effect. Just get curious after your “why?” s and keep your actions in line with your values and intent. You’ll find a lot of juicy stuff in there! ?
Lisa MacDonald Plan my schedule the night before in my day planner, estimating chunks of time I will spend on each task, use a timer when I’m working and don’t stop what I’m doing until the timer goes off, and avoid turning the TV on until I’ve reached specific goals. When I stray from this, I am definitely not as productive.
GraceAnn Simoni Keep the house as quiet as possible. If needed I shut myself and the dogs in my office. They snooze, I work. I spend quality time at my desk because I dont want to get up and risk waking my content companions
Joanne Patience Treat working home as going into the office. Have a dedicated space for a home office, start and end time ( 9 am to 5 pm). Plan and schedule your activities in calendar. If you have school age children, you may have to adjust to their school schedule and/or hire a mom’s helper (teenager) for the extra hours you need for when they are out of school. This is very important, get up, shower and dress for work.
Natalie Navarro My office does not have a TV and I play music to keep me in focus. I also have a microwave and fridge so that I don’t go wandering too far in the house and get distracted ?
Danya Shakfeh When I am working, I put focus-oriented tasks in 30-45 min blocks, no more, and I use a timer. I put my phone and computer in DND mode to minimize technological distractions!
Theresa Sperling I only turn on the tv during my lunch break for news between 12 and 1 pm. Otherwise, no tv during the day. I also use a timer to work on tasks. I’m still a work in progress on avoiding other distractions especially FB. I have a limit set on my phone (meh sometimes it works). But those two techniques have worked for me.
Lynn Stacy-Smith My distraction is more stuff around the house that needs to be done, like vacuuming the dog hair tumbleweeds or cleaning the bathroom. I was doing a good job of going out to the library or Starbucks but then we had the deep freeze, so now that it’s warmed up, I guess it’s time to get back out of the house to free places that will let a solopreneur squat.
Amanda Wittenborn I have big goals that excite me to work towards each day. I am a natural do-er and I like to get to work and do things. That being said, it’s not always every day. Some days I want to just watch re-runs, or lay around, and on those days I do that. I am not all about hustling 24/7 that’s no fun, there are ebbs and flows so if you are feeling unmotivated maybe think about why and take a day off to have some fun, rest and relax, and maybe you will find it easier t get back to work after giving yourself a break. I build in rest time every single day, I’m cranky without it, and yet I get cranky if I don’t get to work as well…I try to “balance” by going with how I am feeling. And I just don’t sweat it or feel bad about it. Some days are made for netflix!
Patricia Cimino Sometimes when we feel we lack motivation or are slacking, there are bigger questions on hand. Why are we feeling unmotivated? As humans we are driven by our feelings. Become more intentional vs live in reactionary mode. Bottom line: you can set all the strategies and actions steps in the world – if your mindset is not on board in a positive, empowering way – nothing will change.
Marie Herman I have a specific vision I am working towards to double my income and cut my hours in half. So I don’t care if I am slacking at times – it’s part of my long term vision! 🙂 Honestly, though, I first would make sure I had a good list written out of what my tasks were that I wanted to do. Not knowing where to start leads to analysis paralysis and status quo because it feels overwhelming. Then I would choose my key tasks each morning that I want to accomplish THAT day. Write them down somewhere visible – in my case on my dry erase board in my home office. I too use pomodoro principles and I partner up with people to help keep me focused. Finally, consider your energy hours. In my case, I work best very early in the morning (like 4-8 am) and late afternoon (say 3-5) and late night (8-11). So it’s not uncommon that I’m working the same volume hours but divvying them up differently to match my best energy slots for being productive.
Evie Burke When I find myself watching a bunch of YouTube, playing games on my phone, or anything else like that I know I need to take a look at something. Sometimes it’s that I need a break, some quality time with myself. Sometimes I’m avoiding something or something feels difficult or I don’t have enough information about something. Sometimes I just need a nap 🙂 It’s information. It’s telling you something isn’t working. Beyond that it’s making sure I know WHY my goals and intentions are important to me (why do I want to make $x – what do I plan to do with it). And having a clear plan for the month/week/day that’s doable (I try to be very realistic about what I’ll actually be able to complete in a given day or week). Ohh, and front-loading my decisions 🙂 Decisions take a lot of energy! So if I can layout my plan for the day and already have made the decisions about what needs to be done the night before or first thing in the morning (based on my plans for the week), then I don’t have to make more decisions about it later.
In summary – the biggest tips seem to be around
- making a list of everything that needs to be done along with time limits
- eliminating social media distractions
- reward system for getting tasks done
- reassess goals and figure out your ‘why’
- get an accountability partner to keep you on track
- listen to signs from your mind and body
Remember, not every day will be perfectly productive, don’t beat yourself up over it. Instead, refocus your energy and implement these tips. Once you find the sweet spot that works for you, you’ll be amazed at how much more you can get done both in and out of that home office or even office cubicle.
0 Comments