Whether you’ve always worked from home or are transitioning into a work-from-home lifestyle, one of the greatest challenges you’ll face is striking a sustainable work-life balance. But with the right strategies, you might find yourself becoming more productive working from home. Here at Revelation Creative™, our team is used to working from home due to our virtual office model. We pride ourselves on meeting our clients where they need us, and right now, the best thing for our business and clients is to conduct all business remotely. Having been successful thus far working from home, we thought we could share some tips to help you and your employees stay productive at work, connected to loved ones and focused on your personal and business growth. 

Tip 1: Create a Schedule and Stick to It

It can be tempting to let yourself slip into a procrastination mode or even a “work until the wee hours of the morning” mode when working from home. But overworking and underworking are actually symptoms that can arise from a lack of structure.

The best way to avoid them both? 

Design your day, hour by hour. Then decide to stick to that schedule. 

When you choose your working hours, time for rest and breaks, and time for family or friends, you’ll create a set of boundaries that will actually make you more productive. 

You won’t have to guess when you should be working or what you should be working on. You’ll have your schedule. You’ll follow your schedule and you’ll find yourself reaching goals on that schedule too.

Tip 2: Create a Morning Routine That Starts Your Day Off Right

While outlining your schedule will give you the opportunity to create the framework for your day, designing a morning routine will help you conquer that day with more purpose, clarity and energy.

A morning routine is everything you do each morning before you sit down and get to business. 

Perhaps you sip your coffee on the porch. Maybe you want to move, meditate or exercise. You might review the latest articles in your industry or have breakfast with your children or partner. 

Whatever you choose, having a morning routine gives you a predictable pattern to follow so that your brain and body know when it’s time to get to work.

Tip 3: Lay Some Ground Rules With Your Coworkers and Family Members

If you’ll be working from home while a partner, children or others are home with you, it can be helpful to lay some ground rules for when and how you work best.

Do you need a block of 3 hours in the morning to get a big project started? Do you prefer to work without music or the sound of a television? Would you like to take a break to walk the dog together at noon?

Having this conversation with the people you live with can help everyone feel more comfortable living and working in the same space.

Tip 4: Have Meals Planned and Scheduled

Whether you are responsible for preparing meals or someone else is doing the cooking, it’s important to plan and schedule your meal times just as you would if you were at work. 

This can help you make fewer decisions during the day and can allow for a predictable and productive workday for you and those you live with.

Tip 5: Designate a Home Office or Workspace 

When you worked in an office or other professional space you had your own work area. This was your place to get things done and you’ll want to have something similar set up at home.

While you may not be able to set up a formal office in your home, it can be helpful to designate a place in your home where you’ll go to work each day. Make sure you have paper, pens, chargers for your electronic devices, and anything else you need to be productive.

By designating a space for work in your home, your body will begin to associate that area with getting work done. So that means avoiding doing work from places associated with relaxation, like your bed or couch.

Tip 6: Minimize Distractions

One of the greatest challenges of working from home is that you, in fact, are at home. There may be a television, loved ones, pets, cleaning to do and even easier access to snacks and social media. 

Once you’ve created your schedule and designated your workspace you’ll also want to take steps to minimize distractions. Set parameters around your use of technology beyond the scope of your work and decide when you’ll take breaks, get up, or go for a walk. 

Minimizing distractions and working breaks into your day can help you to stay focused as you get things done.

Tip 7: Stay Connected With Colleagues and Friends

Working from home can feel liberating at times but it can also feel lonely. Be sure you make time to connect with your employees or employer, clients, colleagues, family and friends.

You may also want to join a digital networking group or another online community and take voice or video calls when you can. 

These steps can help you feel truly connected to others even as you work from home.

Tip 8: Look for Opportunities to Grow Personally and Professionally

Another benefit of working from home is the elimination of a commute. 

For some, this means hours are added back to their lives. If you find yourself with the time to do so, it may be good to find opportunities to continue to grow personally and professionally. 

Whether this means an online course, a mastermind, or just taking on a passion project, using your time to grow as you work from home is an amazing opportunity.

Tip 9: Continue to Delegate Even If You “Have the Time”

One of the biggest pitfalls to working from home is thinking you need to take on more work or do it all because you now “have the time.” But delegating is just as important when working from home as it is when working in a formal office setting.

Just because you have the time to do all that social media, blog writing, or other marketing work yourself doesn’t mean you have to do it or that you’re the best person in your professional circle to do it.

When you continue to delegate as you work from home, you give yourself more time for what matters most and more time to work within your own expertise to accomplish your goals.

Tip 10: Find What Works Best For You

Whether you decide to wake up early and spend an hour exercising, or sleep in a bit and have breakfast with your family before beginning work, the best way to work from home is the way that works best for you.

With so much going on in your life outside of work, it’s easy to feel unmotivated. Working intuitively is a great way to ensure that you are putting out the best work possible. Start by taking a look at the bigger picture. What are your deadlines? What milestones do you want to reach by the end of the day, week or month? Once you have all those details laid out, you can determine what kind of work schedule will benefit you.

Let’s Work Together

There are just some of the tips that have made the Revelation Creative™ team successful in all that we do. If you’d like to learn more about how we can help you and your business, reach out to us here. 

If you’ve got tips that have helped you transition to life working from home, share them with us on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn or Twitter using #FlattenTheCurveWithRC. We can’t wait to work with you!