Working from home is a dream come true, right? You can work from everywhere in the world, and all you really have to do is stay organized and productive… Ugh, yeah, that’s where things start falling off the trail. How to be productive when working from home and having no one watching over your shoulder to see if you are doing what you are supposed to do?
Back in school and even in college, we had those teachers and professors who were always one step ahead of us. They could look at us and just know that we aren’t doing our best. But those years are long gone, and your boss isn’t really interested in making you do your best (well, some of them). He wants the job done, and that’s it.
What if it’s even worse? What if you work for yourself and you are your only boss, manager, and supervisor? You can’t trust yourself in those moments, can you?
No worries, working from home has been my everyday journey for the last five or so years. I’ve worked from the bed, from a home office, from a kitchen table, from the beach, from a terrace, from a coffee place, and currently, I am sitting in my yard sipping frappe and writing this post for you. You can be productive even when working from home and having no one to keep you accountable.
Here’s how to do it!
Below are my best productivity practices of the last five years and all of the tiny little dirty secret ways to get things done even when I don’t want to.
10 Ways To Be More Productive When Working From Home
1. Have Clear Goals
Being clear with your goals is a sure way of getting things done.
Break your projects down into smaller, easier to finish tasks to ensure your productivity. Even small goals are goals.
Your goals could be daily, weekly, bi-weekly, monthly, or even quarterly. It is all up to you which one of these options will keep you self-accountable.
Now, don’t imagine some huge goals. One of my daily goals could be to finish a blog post in one sitting. Some of my weekly goals are to add one affiliate link to one blog post.
Your productivity is like a muscle. You have to keep stretching and exercising to keep it strong. The smaller the goal, the easier it is to achieve it. If you achieve many small goals, you have already piled up a good chunk of success. That’s what productivity is, right?
2. Stay Inspired
Everyone needs something that inspires them. Be it a hobby, a conversation with your best friend on a topic you both love, a movie that fills your soul with hope and happiness, a sculpture you shaped with your fingers, a song your neighbors wished you never sang in the bathroom…
Staying inspired is crucial because it fuels you with a passion for sitting and doing your thing, whether working for your boss or working on your business.
Some people might find the best inspiration while they take a walk in nature. Others – while meditating. Find your own source of inspiration doing something you like. This will help you come up with better results for your work.
Don’t get stuck in the old routine. Broaden your horizons and try something new. What would it be?
3. Always be prepared
Have everything ready for your working day.
Have your coffee and breakfast, do your morning exercising and take a shower. Mentally and physically, getting ready for a workday will make you focused and bring awesome results.
Once a workday is done, another good idea will be to prepare everything for the next day – tasks, phone calls, emails, etc., so you can easily tackle them first thing in the morning. I often do my schedule for the next day when I decide I’ve finished work for the day. Everything is still fresh in my mind, and I quickly note down all of the things I couldn’t finish and all of the ideas I’d like to explore the next day.
Don’t worry if you make mistakes. In fact, be prepared that you will. Once you acknowledge your shortcomings and flaws and remember that no one is perfect, you will quickly learn to get over your mistakes and just learn the lesson from them.
4. Motivation Is a Myth! Here’s What You Need Instead!
Yes, I’ve mentioned inspiration, but that’s different. Too many people wait for motivation to strike so they get things done and move forward with their life.
Don’t be like them!
Tell me this!
Do you believe that athletes are always motivated to wake up at 3, 4, or 5 a.m. for daily training? Of course, not!
Answer this one then: Back in the days, when you were at school, and your mom would come to wake you up in the morning, was she asking you if you were motivated enough to go to school?
What made you get out of the bed (besides your mom’s “look”) was actually discipline. Life doesn’t ask you if you are motivated to go through a challenge or problem. Life throws that challenge at you, want it or not. All that’s left for you is to get on the other side in one piece.
What you need is discipline! Motivation is an amazing addition to it, but if you woke up tomorrow morning and didn’t feel it… just get up and do your thing anyway.
5. Get Obsessed With Getting Things Done
Developing a productive mindset while working from home is usually connected to the obsession with getting things done.
And it doesn’t matter if you will get things done for a huge company you work for or for your home-based business. Obsession is the one thing you need to hold onto to make it happen truly.
Let me tell you a short story.
Once upon a time, a young boy wanted to succeed in what he was doing. He went to the wisest man in the village and asked him, “What is the secret to success?”
The wise man told the boy to follow him and walked towards the river outside the village. Once they got there, the wise man went into the water and asked the boy to follow him. They got into the deep, and then the wise man grabbed the boy and pushed him under the water.
No matter how much the boy was trying to escape, the man was holding him underneath. In a minute or so, the man released the boy and let him go out of the water. The boy was gasping for air and looking at the wise man with fear and shock on his face.
The wise man asked him: “What were you thinking about while you were under the water?” “All I wanted was air!”, the boy answered.
“The secret for success is that you have to fight and crave for it as much as you just fought and craved for air.”
Be obsessed with what you do. That’s when success opens the door and moves into your life.
6. Test All Of The Time Management Tips You’ve Ever Heard
Eisenhower Matrix, Pomodoro technique, Block scheduling, Getting Things Done, Bullet journaling, Batch working… I’ve tested them all, and I still play with them all.
Try every single time management technique you’ve heard of… and if none of them work, just keep digging until you find new techniques to try.
Some people might tell you that you just have to sit and work, but laziness, loneliness, and frustration often grab your days and keep you unproductive. I’ve found out that this usually happens when I’ve been doing the same thing over and over and over again. I get bored and need something different.
In those moments, I quickly research a new planning system or time management idea and explore how it could fit my work-life.
Do your research on those and many more ways, and don’t stop until you find your own combination of ways to be productive while working from home.
7. Have Milestones
Yes, just as with the goals above, milestones are a way to keep yourself accountable.
If you are working on a long-term project that cannot be split into small goals, milestones are a great way to measure success. The more times you tick off the success box, the more you will feel like you are getting ahead on stuff.
Here are a few unusual milestones you could have that will make you super productive:
- Working for a full hour with no interruptions;
- Going through 4 Pomodoros;
- Getting up one hour earlier for three days in a row;
- Not touching your emails for the first three hours of the work day;
8. Demand High Performance
Expect the best of yourself. Why? Because you know your capabilities, and you know when you’ve been slacking off and when you’ve done your best.
A year or more ago, I was approached by a fellow blogger who was just at the beginning of their blogging journey. He asked me which one would be best: to write fewer articles with a higher value or write faster but to compromise with the value of the content.
I said this: “If you are going to put your name under a piece of content, be sure you are proud of it – and it doesn’t matter if you will write for half an hour or it will take you a week.”
So, I say the same to you – if your name is underneath it, you better be proud of it.
9. Enhance Mindset Change
Somewhere there, between pouring another cup of coffee into your favorite mug and squeezing a zoom call (that could’ve been an email), your mindset will change.
None of the things you struggle with right now would be so challenging and confusing. Notice this change and embrace it because it would mean you are getting more and more productive. You will have more time for personal projects, afternoon naps, and a new TV show on Netflix, and you will still get everything done in time (and even earlier).
Because with the mindset change comes the behavior change, which helps your personal growth even more.
10. Get loads of sleep
Yes, I mentioned naps, and I mean it. Just yesterday, I dropped everything I was doing and took an hour-long nap because I just couldn’t think anymore.
Today, I am already on post number two, and I feel fresh and ready for another 4-5 hours of work.
Listen to your body (but don’t use that as an excuse not to do your job), give your mind some rest, re-charge, and come back to do your thing. That’s the secret to productivity while working from home.
Final Thoughts on How To Be Productive While Working From Home
You will feel ready to do a lot on some days – use that urge to get things done. Other times you might be lacking motivation – that’s the moment you have to be disciplined.
Sometimes your body will ask for a rest – give it to it. And then you will realize that your planning isn’t perfect, try all of the time management techniques I mentioned and even some more I didn’t
Adjust your approach to productivity while working from home according to the issue you face at that point. Not all of those productivity tips will work for you, but some of them might be exactly what you needed today. Explore, keep pushing yourself and grow. Get things done and be productive.
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