hey it's Pat here if you are looking for some work from home tip so you could stay productive and not drive yourself crazy well you're in the right place if you've recently started working from home or maybe you're a stay-at-home mom or dad and you're just trying to get some stuff done well working from home can be extremely difficult there are loads of potential distractions salsa especially if you have young kids like I do what and if you're used to staying accountable because your boss is in the same building as you well that's gone now too unless of course we're talking about the other boss can you take this out for me sure I work from home myself for over a decade since getting laid off from my architecture job in 2008 while at home I've started several businesses and I've learned a thing or two about what it takes to remain productive both on the business side of things and the family side of things too and let me just say this before we get started here if you have kids especially kids under the age of maybe three or four well then this is gonna be even more difficult for you because those kids they're like a second job except like 24/7 with no pay and they can drive you crazy but so can working from home so let's not delay any more let me help you cut the crazy by talking about the top ten tips that I have for you to stay sane while working at the house or remotely starting with tip number ten make sure you stick around till number one because that's the most important one of all number ten get into a morning routine a. s. a.
p the beauty of leaving the house and going to work every single day is that you get to leave the house and go to work every single day it's rhythmic it's automatic it's just what you do unfortunately when you start working from home that routine goes away and that's a dangerous thing because you can have slower starts and longer finishes I remember when I was laid off I tried to look for the silver lining like yay freedom I am my own boss I could do anything at any time well freedom with that routine can mean procrastination laziness and being unproductive or feeling like you're busy but being busy on the wrong things so even though you don't have to clock in each day and you get to make your own choices I would still choose to have a morning routine that'll set yourself up for a very productive day that means setting an alarm and getting up at the same time each day that means take that shower start that morning pot I'm talking about coffee do whatever you need to do to get your day started the right way oh and make sure you change into regular clothes not your pajamas or at least change out of the pajamas that you're in trust me that ritual of changing out of what you were sleeping in and putting something on I wouldn't necessarily go with a suit and tie unless you're a weirdo but mentally that transformation transforms your brain to get you ready for the day define your morning routine and you can even have a checklist that you could fill out each day and you're gonna get started on the right foot number 9 find your spot after I started working from home I remember fumbling around the apartment for like an entire week just trying to find a spot where I could get some productive work done sometimes it was the couch other times it was the dining table but it wasn't until I took over this nook in the corner of our one-bedroom apartment that things finally started to roll this was my spot and I recommend you find somewhere whether it's in your home or another location that becomes your regular spot so that when you go in you can check in and get things done and on the flip side when you get up and get out of there or you leave that space you can mentally check out too that's the beauty again of a nine-to-five job at 5:00 p. m. you're done and you can mentally check out which is really hard to do when you're at home which takes us to our next tip number 8 beware the temptation to work when you shouldn't I was six months into working from home and I want to share with you a conversation that me and April my wife had and this was just a few months after we got married and moved into our apartment together so April was talking and her mouth was moving but unfortunately I wasn't even listening to her because me as an entrepreneur working from home was so so focused on what my next was gonna be or what my next product was gonna be and one time she called me out on it she was talking and here's what she said wait wait wait hold up are you thinking about your business right now and I said no and then here's what she said she goes well okay what did I just say uh you said you're thinking about your business aren't you yeah that didn't go over so well so that's that the couch was nice that night anyway I was very very thankful she called me out on that because I was not there presently with her when we were having a conversation and we didn't have kids yet at this time but I'm so thankful she called me out because I definitely don't want to behave like that when my kids are talking to me working both physically and mentally when you shouldn't can be a disaster for relationships that you might have and also your overall energy levels to some of the tips that are coming later are gonna help you set those boundaries so keep watching of course just as important as being aware of when you're not supposed to be working you need to know what you should be working on when you are working number seven know what you're supposed to be doing time is precious so let's not waste it when you are set to work let's make sure we're working on the things that actually matter so think about it if you are working remotely for example and your work does not require you to sort of check in and check out and keep track of those hours they just want to make sure you get your stuff done imagine you take an eight-hour day normally and you shrink it down to six but you get the same things done you're more efficient you get things done and now you've bought yourself some time - that's incredible if you're your own boss though this is where it gets a little tricky because typically if you're your own boss and I know this from experience there's a seemingly infinite amount of things that you could potentially do so there's really no like okay well I'll end early you just end up doing more things sooner especially if you're just starting out or bootstrapping I mean you're wearing all the hats you're doing emails and vision planning finances to you know interactions in the community there's just so much to do so the trick is understanding well what of those things is going to help you the most here's the problem though usually after we take care of the two urgent things we then end up doing what is the easiest or the most comfortable but those aren't the things that are gonna actually move the needle for us they move us forward maybe incrementally but they definitely make us feel busy but honestly you know this the things that move you more are the things that are a little bit more uncomfortable there's a things that you probably don't know how to do exactly so what I would do is have a running list of all the things that you need to do if you don't have that already well then how do you know what to do and then go down that line one by one to see which ones are the most important in terms of moving you forward in your business not just keeping you busy then when you do have that time well make sure you're working on the ones that are moving the needle first number six choose to eat well now that you're not in the office anymore I'm sorry to tell you there's not going to be any more morning donuts or meeting doughnuts or cake for Karen who's having a birthday party no more vending machines or junk food or sodas that you could just grab it was easy to choose the unhealthy foods because that's all that kind of was there and you'd even go out to lunch with your co-workers and you'd say that excuse that you said yourself all the time well I'm here so I might as well grab the triple decker burger or I'm here so I might as well grab the pizza with the extra toppings that's how it was like every day when I worked a nine-to-five job and I remember it was just so easy because it was there but now you are at home or working remotely and you get to choose you have the freedom and the option to choose healthier this time your body and your mind will appreciate it your work will show it so make those wide choices oh and drink lots of water too number five take breaks this is pretty obvious to you but even though it's obvious trust me I know that you're going to not do this sometimes or at all when you should breaks you need breaks mental breaks physical breaks get outside remove yourself from the work environment and then come back even stronger even though you may be cranking on a deadline I know it's hard to just walk away from that but like cramming for a test you're going to be much better off by taking a little bit of a break re energizing and I promise you you'll come back even stronger maybe it's just a 10 to 15 minute walk or a water break with a little bit of social media time maybe in the mid day maybe it's even a nap and no just walking outside to take a conference call doesn't count that helps I wouldn't take a conference call at the same spot I love to walk around when I'm taking a call so I can get outside and whatever but you need a break like a mental break from the work that you're doing every once in a while for me I often take a video game break like literally play maybe a couple sessions of rocket League or maybe even a couple super smash brothers helps me escape work helps me escape the crazy and allows me to just enjoy myself a little bit and even use that as a reward sometimes too so yeah take that break Kit Kat style hashtag not sponsored number four schedule all parts of your day but remain flexible your calendar is sort of your best friend in this situation when you're working from home or working remotely as my good friend Chris Ducker says if it doesn't get scheduled it doesn't get done you probably have your meetings in your calendar already but there's some other important things that you should be placing in there too like your morning routine like we talked about earlier and no you don't have to schedule when you're gonna pour coffee or when you're gonna wipe your armpits so up like you don't need to get to that detail but put in a block of time of when your morning routine starts so that mentally you see it on the calendar it's like okay I'm in my morning routine now next you want to schedule your work hours and I'm recording it because if you have kids I mean or even if you don't you want to remain flexible but it's sort of like a guideline these are my hours to try and focus on work get things done remember those big-ticket items but remaining flexible is really the key there and mentally that's gonna be quite tough especially if you're used to remaining within those hours and only doing those things while at work now we're in a different environment you have the kids you have other distractions you have your spouse or partner at home we'll talk more about that later but understanding that yes you will be interrupted every once in a while and yes you do have the freedom to be flexible what's gonna allow for a lot more productivity work when you are in the flow but also not Dee railing you when you get out of it next schedule your breaks yes your breaks again if you don't put them in there they're not gonna happen next you want to schedule when your checkout time is like you're 5 p.
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