6 Tips to Increase Productivity While Working From Home

Originally Written on February 28, 2019 // Updated April 2020

I am fully on my own now having cut the cord of my last employer. I’m more excited than I am worried about my future as a small business owner. Some great things are that I no longer have a set work schedule, a long commute nor someone to report to; however, I also no longer have a place to receive feedback on my work progress, nor a steady paycheck direct deposited in my bank account every two weeks. I am learning to adapt to these changes.

They say working for yourself in your own home is hard and I’m finding that to be very true!

It’s hard to put on real clothes everyday. It’s hard to stay focused when I have two cats crawling all over me. It’s hard to keep deadlines when I’m the one who made them in the first place. At times, I have the attention span of a fly and move from one half-finished task to the next until I have a dozen things I’m in the middle of.

It’s hard to make big decisions like which new vehicle to buy for the business, how to build a walk-in cooler to store my fresh cut product, and the whole becoming a real business and paying taxes thing (Update: All of these tasks have been accomplished!)

I’m not complaining. I’m happy where I am and proud that I got myself here, despite all the challenges!

6 Tips for Working From Home that Will Keep You Productive and Help You From Going Insane

1) Never Hit the Snooze

Historically, I am the ultimate snoozer. Getting out of bed is one of the hardest things I will do all day. My husband, Jesse, who is always watching some brain-science-space videos on the Internet, recently made me watch a Youtube Video that explains how hitting the snooze button is possibly the worst thing you can do to start your day. There is magnificent science behind our sleep cycles and they are not to be disturbed! When you wake up, get up and never feel groggy again. It actually works – watch the video!

2) “Commute” to Work

In the 15 years since my first job I’ve had a myriad of commuting experiences. I had one job where I drove over an hour in traffic to get to. I had another where I took the train through Downtown Chicago and walked 2 miles getting to and from house-train-workplace. I’ve driven through suburbs to get to work. I’ve ridden my bike. I’ve done half driving, half walking.

Through all my commuting experiences, there was time between leaving the house and getting to work where I could sort my thoughts, listen to music or podcasts, observe the outdoors, and have human interaction.

Enter now: I get out of bed, come downstairs to brush my teeth, make coffee and all of a sudden I’m at work. And it’s truly the worst way to start work. There is no buffering in between, no prepping my mind for what’s to come, no interacting with people or traffic, nothing. So today (and this is partly what prompted this blog post), Jesse suggested why don’t I take my coffee and sit on the couch and take a breather before I just jump into my laptop. I said, really? Best idea ever babe.

So now, everyday going forward, I say goodbye to Jesse as he heads off to work, take my coffee to the couch in the living room and have quiet time looking out the window and pet the cats for 20-30 minutes until I’m mentally ready to start working. This is my new “commute.”

3) Seize Creative Moments

Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear by Elizabeth Gilbert is one book I frequently refer back to for life advice and inspiration. It had a profound impact on my outlook on productivity, inevitable lack of productivity, and self motivation.

In it, Liz anthropomorphizes creativity and turns it into a tangible thing. Creative Ideas fly through the air from person to person and are only available when they’re within your own reach. The book makes it okay to not feel creative or motivated 24/7 but inspires you to act on a creative idea when it comes. So I do. I keep a list of creative ideas that I have for my business on their own spreadsheet and I refer back to this list when I feel ready to implement something new.

4) Recognize Burnout & Take an Intentional Break

There comes a time in the day when your energy dips, maybe you become apathetic about your work, you want to be done, maybe you need a nap. This time occurs between 1:30-3:00 p.m. almost everyday for me. When it happens, I recognize it’s time to take a break.

I used to take a break at my desk job by walking 30 feet to the kitchen and making myself a second cup of Keurig coffee. I’d walk over to the wall of oversized windows and stare down at Michigan Avenue’s Magnificent Mile and all the tourists taking selfies on the bridge over the Chicago River.

Now I walk 4 feet to my kitchen, make myself a cup of black tea, and stare out the window of my oversized front door at the neighbor’s houses. If it was spring or summer, I’d lay down on the grass in my backyard and watch the birds eat. I intentionally mellow my mind and reshift my brain to think of simpler “in the moment” things. It brings me back to earth that what I do for work is the teensy tiniest fraction of what happens in my little corner of the universe and it gives me perspective on the “important” things in life, like chilling out in the moment.

5) End your workDay with a List

I always end my work day so I have enough time to cook dinner. Before I end my workday, I write a list of things I plan to accomplish the following day so I don’t waste time trying to figure that out in the morning. I’ve done this at every job I’ve ever had, and it’s become a useful habit.

6) When the Workday is Over, the Workday is Over. Period.

“When you own your own business you don’t get to clock out,” is what literally everyone says. I fully disagree with this statement. I choose how my workday goes, and that includes when I clock out even if I don’t have a punch card. I believe people who say this are the same people that are still checking their emails on their phone hours after they’ve “clocked out” of their jobs.

When the workday is over, I don’t check anymore emails. I don’t make anymore lists. I don’t do any heavy research. I don’t create spreadsheets nor budgets nor do I start seeds. Maybe I post a pretty flower photo on Instagram, or I water the seedlings if they look parched, but work does not extend beyond that. The only exception I make is meeting my clients in the evening because they work during the day, but I don’t conduct meetings during weekends. All of this I have learned from floral business master, Jessica Zimmerman.

Work-life balance is something I will never stop striving for, even as a business owner. We are entitled to balance, but we have to create it for ourselves or work will indeed take over!

HERE ARE SOME BUSINESS, LEADERSHIP, FARMING & FLORAL RESOURCES I’VE FOUND HELPFUL: