Practical Tips For Working From Home
Today I'm sharing some tips for working from home which helped me through the last handful of years. Working from home can be a great thing (especially for petswho now get to see you all day long), but it's a constant struggle to get work done while also giving yourself permission to not work yourself too hard.
I want to be really up front when I say I'm not practicing all of these tips as diligently as I would like. At best I've had chunks of time when I stuck to these guidelines, and felt like I cracked the code for working from home, but then had my routine disrupted by something like: a new game coming out, a friend visiting from out of town, preparation for my long distance move, setting up my new apartment, or endlessly scrolling through news feeds about a major ongoing news event like the global pandemic.
Obviously those last few are extenuating circumstances, but it doesn't take much for me to fall into a "But part of the benefit of working from home is the flexibility, so I should enjoy it!" mindset which might give me too much permission to take a longer "break." I frequently then swing in the opposite direction by working too much to compensate for how much free time I've indulged in. Similar to the saying "a broken clock is right twice a day" I feel like the pendulum of productivity swings to the right spot every now and then :P
Work in chunks of time and rest
There are SO many productivity tips for managing time, but there are two which worked best for me. The first is the Pomodoro Method which is:
Work for 25 min
Take a 5 min break
Repeat four times
Take a 30 min break
After the 30 min break you then start working again in 25 min chunks and repeat. I used an iOS app called Focus Keeper to time these intervals (there are many other Pomodoro timer apps out there)
The other method I used was alternating between 90 min chunks, and 30 min breaks. I first learned this one from Matthew Encina from The Futur. Supposedly this is to tap into some sort of natural rhythms our brains have, but I haven't looked deeply into whether or not this is a real thing, and frankly I don't really care as long as it works.
The benefit of this method is to compartmentalize the little distractions from work (aka checking email, checking social media, and watching videos on YouTube etc.) The first time I started using the Pomodoro Method and checked Twitter only during the 5 min breaks I thought to myself: "Huh, nothing really changed in my feed during that time." Afterwards I felt SO ridiculous looking back at myself constantly checking Twitter. Yes, I had/have a serious problem -_-
When the Pomodoro Method worked really well for me, I'd find after 25 min of unbroken productivity I frequently didn't even want to take the 5 min break! This is what eventually drew me to the 90 min chunks.
I think the most important part of this rhythm of work and rest is that it makes me plan out my breaks. This helps me fight the part of my brain which says: "You're working from home which means you're gonna be more distracted, which means you can't take breaks!!!" (this part of my brain is wrong). Planning out breaks means I know I'll receive a small reward for a chunk of productivity, and surprisingly it works.
Break Projects Into Chunks
Break up your one big project into chunks which can be finished in less than a day. It's paralyzing to look at a big project.
For example:
Make a YouTube video
vs.
Write YouTube video script
Record voiceover
Select B-roll shots
Edit B-roll over voiceover
Search for music
Edit music to video
Adjust sound mix
Create thumbnail
Create title, tags and description
Upload and promote
(This example is partially here to motivate me to make some more YouTube videos :P)
With any project, working on it at all will get it closer to being done. It's easy to fall into a trap of thinking it's not worth doing a thing if you don't do a lot of it at once. Trust me, it's worth doing a little bit of something if the alternative is thinking of someday doing a lot of it at once.
Set 1 or 2 tasks for each day
This doesn't sound like much, but there were times this really helped me get a lot done (especially when juggling multiple projects). The goal of this tip is to combat the times I felt paralyzed by the dozens of tasks I could be doing in a given day (Note: this is every day).
I've spent way too many hours thinking to myself: "What should I work on today?" Or I might think: "Is it even worth working on this project unless I can dedicate X hours to it?" (the answer is yes) Then by the time I decided to start a task it might be lunch time, and then I find myself saying "Welp, it's lunch time and of course I gotta eat to be productive!" (repeat)
Setting only a couple major tasks goes hand in hand with breaking your projects into chunks you know you can finish in less than a day; these two tips are basically one big tip. It's great if you end up having time to do some more tasks, but you can then consider those bonus productivity points. Otherwise, finish those primary tasks and STOP.
Nap
I consider napping something of a superpower. Not everyone can take a nap and feel energized afterwards, but I'm amongst the lucky few. I wasn't always a napper, but especially after I started exercising regularly I got better at napping. At best I nap for 20-30 min (usually after lunch), and feel much more awake for the rest of the day. At worst, I keep hitting snooze and lose an hour or more before resuming work. The worst/best is when my cat Uni is sleeping on top of me under the covers (which means OF COURSE I can't stop until he leaves!)
At every single full time job I ever had, I'd always be fighting to stay awake especially around 2:00-3:00pm or later. I think a 30 min nap and 60-90 min of good work is better than 2 hours of sleepy, groggy and unfocused work.
STOP
Work when you're working, and STOP when you're not working. One of the hardest parts of working from home is knowing when to stop. Well, there's no way to know when to stop unless you say when to stop. When you're working a full time job, the business hours presumably tell you when to stop. When you're working from home, you have to decide when to stop and stick to it!
For a long time it was really hard for me to get myself to do this. Partially it was because I wasn't charging enough money to even have a good work/life balance, but a lot of it was never setting work/life boundaries!
Final Thoughts
Working from home is super tough, but very rewarding when you find the right balance. Setting boundaries is of utmost importance, and giving yourself permission to not work is one of the most important things you can do. Quality of the work hours is much more important than the quantity.
Also, setting deadlines is super important because tasks fill the time they're given. If you have to finish something in two hours you'll get it done in two hours. If you're given two days, you'll still get it done, but it's very likely you'll find a way to fill that time rather than finishing early.
Working from home is an ongoing process. You will have days which are more productive than others, and that's totally natural; our energy levels vary wildly and life is super unpredictable. Don't beat yourself up for a slow day.
Oh, and don't forget to find social interaction if/when you need it. If I'm at home alone, I have my private group chats with friends, and also I particularly enjoy Twitch streams. My go-to place is Nick Breckon's streams on the Idle Thumbs Twitch channel; everyone there is super nice and awesome. Since moving to the East coast I haven't been there as often, but if Twitch is your thing, I highly recommend hanging out there ^_^
Good luck, wash your hands, and stay safe!
