Take it from someone who has worked from home with their own business. Its not as easy as you think.

The great thing is, we’re still 100% operational, and not missing a beat. On that note, it is also really easy to let the day slip away.

Have you found yourself working remotely for the first time?

Here are our top tips for making the most of it:

1. Get up and get ready every morning.

I found that one of the hardest things to do every morning, was get up and get ready. Sure I got out of bed, the shower and getting dressed didnt come for awhile. On those days, little to nothing got done.

Every morning, at the same time you are used to getting up, do so. Get up, and follow your normal routine. Shower, shave (if you need to), brush your teeth, do your hair and get dressed in the clothes you would normally wear.  This does a couple of things for you.

  • Your mental state will be one of getting things done
  • Your mental health will actually be far better and help you avoid things like being lazy, annxiety, depression and more.
  • Honestly, you just feel better

2. Make A Space For Work

Makign a work space is vital. this allows you to have a place to focus on your work and be productive. Here is a list of do’s and don’ts:

Do’s:

  • Make an actual work space with a table/desk and chair
  • makes sure it is comfortable
  • have good lighting and a window (this is obviously subjective)
  • A room or place that is good for takign calls. It doesnt have a lot of ecos and you can easily hear the other person

Don’ts:

  • You need a place free of distraction, so no TV’s or video games
  • You need to be comfortable but not too comfortable, so no beds or couches
  • Dont be unfortable either. No stools or high top tables

This may all seem like a lot, especially right now. However, with in a week or so your brain will be used to the new work environment and routine and it will get easier to settle in to your new routine.

3. Set Your Boundries

Be firm with your roommate/significant other/overly friendly pet and children that you are working and you aren’t just at home to hang out. This is probably one of the most important parts of working from home.

They are probably going to want to talk and show you every little funny thing they see online, ask you to play video games, watch movies and just hang out, but you’ve got to remind them that you have work to do and it’s important to save the social interaction for the times when you aren’t in your work zone.

They may be confused at first (especially if your significant other is a friendly pet) but trust me, you’ll be way more productive once you establish a boundary that you just need to stay in work mode while you’re working and shouldn’t be distracted.

4. Eliminate Distractions

If you wouldn’t watch Netflix in the background at work, don’t do it at home – every little distraction adds up to wear on your focus and your productivity, so keep them to a minimum.

Plus, remember to preserve your internet bandwidth for your work tasks – don’t waste it by having streaming video going that you aren’t watching, which just slows down your ability to communicate with coworkers and clients.

5. Take Breaks

Take breaks periodically, but don’t just get up and wander the house to get snacks and screw around.

Instead, set a timer and try to force yourself to stay at the computer for 55 minutes per hour.

Take it from me, taking a whats-in-the-fridge snack break every eleventeen minutes is not ideal for your spring break bod. Resist the temptation to keep getting up from the computer. I litterally gained 25lbs. in one month working from home before I learned my lesson.

Conclusion

You can do this, you just need to change your home based habits. Once you do that, you will be successful and your mental health will benefit as well.