Create a Morning Routine
The way you start the day determines how productive or unproductive you’ll be. Get up and start the day as though you’re leaving the house. Do NOT stay in your pajamas! I know the ideal situation is that you’ll be able to sit home in your PJ’s and work, but I’ve found, having worked from home for the past 8 years that I am less productive when I’m in my resting clothes. How you dress reflects your state of mind. If you’re dressed for bed, you’ll likely stay in bed. If you’re dressed for work, you’re prepared to get work done. When I get up in the morning, I start my day as though I’m going into the office, because once I log onto my computer, I am officially at work.
Avoid Turning on the Television
You may think you can work with the TV in the background, but you are far less productive if you do so. You’ll get caught up in the show you’re watching and it distracts you from completing your thoughts and finishing the work you’re doing. Turn on the radio instead or listen to music as though you’re at your desk in the office. If you think you absolutely need to have T.V. noise in the background, watch something you’ve seen already so you aren’t trying to manage to keep up with a storyline while trying to be productive at work.
Lunch-Time and Breaks
Keeping your routine when it comes to breaks and lunchtime is important for you to remain productive and stay on track with the norms of your typical work week. Studies show excessive screen time has adverse effects on health, so it is important to be intentional about your usage if your job requires you to work from a computer all day. Use your break time to step away from your computer screen and enjoy the luxury of not having to use part of your lunchtime to commute or wait on your co-worker to finish using the microwave.
Create an End-of-Day Routine
Just like when you’re in the office, you prepare yourself for the end-of-day, create a stop time when you are at home. You don’t want to find yourself blending work with the time you have normally dedicated to your family or for self-care. Your personal life still needs to remain separate from your work-life. Drawing the line between work and home helps you to keep priorities in order and not build resentment or feel the constant need to check emails or work on projects. There will always be something to do but, if you don’t set limits for stopping you’ll end up giving too much of your time to your work and not enough time to yourself and those you love.
Working While Kids are Home
Create a Reward System
If your kids are middle school and high school age, you can offer them opportunities to assist you at work. Let them earn free time for video games and YouTube watching. If working from home is new for you, invite them to help you set up your workspace and organize it with you. Share more about what you do with them, so they can understand why your work is important and why it is necessary for them to respect your work time while they are home. Reward systems are the best ways to create more structure while you’re managing kids and trying to be productive at work.
Special Projects
Projects are great ways to learn. Most of the Home-Economics classes are obsolete in the school system, but now is a great time to bring them back! Rotate responsibility when it’s time to make lunch or dinner. There is a lot of math involved in cooking, which makes meal preparation a great way to keep the kids engaged while boosting learning and critical thinking.
Set Ground Rules
It is important to let your children know not to interrupt when you are on the phone or when your camera is on doing a virtual session. But, if you want them to follow rules for specific circumstances, you’ll need to provide them with an option or activity to do during that time. Avoid telling your kids to “just leave me alone” without them having an alternative to keep them occupied until you’re ready to give them attention. A trick I use for my kids is telling them we are going to clean or read (or do anything they hate) as soon as I get off the phone. Funny how they never bother me during my phone calls anymore…
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