Four Tips for Managing Your Time While Working From Home

Aug 23, 2019

This time of year, it can be hard to stay focused on what you need to accomplish, especially if you work from home. From owning your own business and working from home, working part-time at home while you raise your babies or to building your empire at night while still working a full-time day job, managing your available work time can get a little bit tricky if you don’t have the right tools for success.

Ready to get into the swing of productivity? Grab your favorite cup of coffee and get to work with these four tips for managing your time while working from home. Use this worksheet as you go!

1. Set Specific Work Hours

When you work from home, you need to find a happy medium of downtime and work time – one of the best things about working for yourself is the freedom you have to come and go as you please, but you need to have the self-control to get your work done during the day.

That’s why setting work hours is a good practice. Track everything you do during a day for a week or two and look for the times you were most productive in your work. Then, schedule your days based on what you track.

If you’re motivated every morning to get work done, block off that time as your work hours. If your kids sleep in the afternoon, use that time to knock out some tasks. Or if you’re a night owl and love catching up after dinner, use the 7:00 – 10:00pm hours to work on your business. Make sure to check in on your productivity after a week or two and how you feel – then keep adjusting until your hours feel right and stick to those.

2. Design an Inspiring Workspace

Have a creative space set aside for you to work is another important aspect of working from home. Being able to go to your ‘office’ each morning and being inspired by your surroundings will help keep you focused on your work and away from distractions. Having your own workspace also helps keep your work organized, and it will make it easier for you to distinguish work life from home life.

Whether it’s the corner of your living room or a spare room with a desk and a window, set up the space so that it engages all of your senses while working. Add in your favorite candle, a moodboard of the project you’re working on, play your favorite playlist – you will enjoy your work so much more when you incorporate some of your favorite things.

3. Focus on Five Things

Making a list of everything you need to accomplish can get pretty overwhelming. Instead of focusing on the entire list, pick just 3 to 5 tasks that you must accomplish today. Then focus on completing just those things. If you have time or are feeling ambitious to get more done, then work on more tasks but make sure you have your ‘must accomplish’ things done first.

Have a big project that you keep avoiding? Break it down into smaller, more doable pieces. Once you have it broken down, schedule the smaller pieces on your calendar and your big project will seem much more manageable.

At the end of each day, make a list of the things you accomplished and start on a to do list for tomorrow. You’ll start the day with a focus on what is important and end the day with your accomplishments.

4. Declutter Your Mind

Do you ever stay up at night thinking about all of the things you need to accomplish in life? It happens to the best of us.

One way to de-clutter your mind is to make a list of everything you need to do – from picking up groceries to writing that book you’ve been dreaming about.

Take some time to clear out everything you’ve been thinking you need to do then categorize it into 5 different sections – 1) to get done this week, 2) to get done this month, 3) to get done in the next 6 months, 4) to get done in the next year and 5) to get done in the next 5 years.

When you know what’s priority, you’ll get a better idea of what you need to get accomplished right away and what you have some time to work on.

Ready to get some of your precious time back? Click here to download the worksheet to help you get on track.

What are your favorite ways to be productive while working from home? Share them in the comments!

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