How Do You Stay Disciplined When Working From Home?
By Latisha S. | latisha@pancakedigitalsolutions.com
How do you stay disciplined when working from home?
When you tell people that you are a work at home business owner or entrepreneur you probably get a few different reactions.
“Oh, that sounds fun! I’d love to be able to sleep in and watch TV all day!”
or
“Wow, I could never do that! I’d never get any work done!”
Both of these reactions, although slightly annoying, actually have some truth to them. With so many distractions at home, whether that is the TV, kids, household chores, etc, it is so easy to lose our focus and let working on our business fall to the side.
However, with these simple tips you will be able to become (and STAY!) disciplined in creating a productive day when working from home.
Get Up Early
Oh, I know this one is ROUGH! Believe me…I am a natural night owl. I do some of my best work in the evenings. But, that’s only if I get to sleep late in the morning.
Unfortunately, I have three very small children who think that 5 am mornings are the best!
Instead of finding myself more productive in the evenings, I’ve found myself tired with loads of brain fog from a day of mothering. I have had to rework my schedule and have started going to bed earlier and getting up early to work. So far it is working quite well!
Now, your early may not be 5 am (I hope not!), but getting up before other’s in your household and putting in a couple of hours of good work will help you start the day off on the right path!
Time Block Your Day
It’s important when working from home to make sure that you are time blocking your day.
For instance, my morning schedule is:
- 5:30am-7am: Work & Coffee
- 7am-9am: Breakfast, journaling, reading, etc
- 9am-10:30am: Play time with the kids
- 10:30am-11:30am: Lunch
- 11:30am-4:00pm: Play with the kids, household chores, naps, read, etc
Now, my schedule is going to be different than your schedule. But, this is what works for me and my family at the moment. In two weeks, I may have to change it again, but that is the beauty and freedom of working from home. Right?
Utilizing Tools & Resources Available to You
Having the right tools can help you set yourself up for success.
As mentioned above, I use time blocking to schedule my days. The best way to implement this is by using some sort of calendar.
Now, whether this is an online tool like Trello or a physical planner, be sure that you are writing down your time blocks on something that is easily accessible to reference for accountability.
It also comes in handy to have a desk or at least a work area (could even be your dining room table) that is designated for work purposes.
I have my small desk setup in my bedroom. This allows me to get into “work” mode when I sit down. I know that THIS is the place for work and I’m not being distracted by kids or TV.
Other tools & resources that can help you be disciplined are alarms on your phone or time tracking tools like Toggl. These aren’t necessary if you aren’t billing clients hourly, but it can help you keep accountable to yourself and know how long you are spending on one task so you can adjust your schedule accordingly.
On the Table…
While working from home can bring lots of freedom and fun, it can be easy to be distracted and let your work “slide”.
In order to stay disciplined while working from home, you need to make sure that you are setting proper boundaries with yourself by using the tools & resources available to you to create a workflow and schedule.
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