How to Work from Home and be Extremely Productive

March 12th, 2020

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how to effectively work from home and get loads done

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Waking up every day and making money overnight. That’s the dream isn’t it..

If you’ve always dreamed of working from home and making money while you sleep, then I have some good news for you.

Working from home is totally a possibility, as long as you have the right tools, preparation and mindset, as well as the dedication & commitment to make it a success.

If you’d like to work from home and start making money online, here are some essential steps to take to hit the ground running!

Why work from home?

Working from home has so many benefits but it’s essential you make sure it’s for you.

If you’re an introvert, working from home will allow you to make money online without stepping outside of the home.

Not only do you get to work in the same place you sleep and make your own schedule, but you can also save a lot of money on a lengthy commute into an office with people you (let’s face it) wouldn’t normally be around on a daily basis.

Plus with the current global pandemic, having a work from home job and making money online is probably a very smart move.

Of-course working from home come’s with some downsides such as NO interaction with other people and guaranteed salary, so you must ultimately decide if the pros outweigh the cons.

Pros

Ability to work anywhere you’d like (beach, coffee shop, you name it!)
Set your own flexible working schedule
Save money on commute and transport
Ability to do something you really love and are passionate about
Financially independent
Spend more time with you family
Avoid politics within the office
Make money while you sleep with passive income opportunities
How much money you make depends on the amount of work you put in
No Boss to answer to (except yourself!)

Cons

If you’re someone who thrives on constant interaction, you could struggle working from home
Can be lonely working by yourself
Having to explain to people what you do is exhausting
If you’re working from home, you could get distracted and fall off track
Your income isn’t guaranteed

Here’s how to start working from home..

If you’ve decide you want to make money whilst working from home, great!

Just know that the possibilities are endless! I’ve even got a dedicated post about The Best Ways to Make Money Online in 2020. Check it out right after this article..

Many people try out several work from home side hustles but sadly fail after a few attempts to make money online.

The below tips will give you the necessary steps to make working from home a success for you.

These proactive tips will take your productivity to the next level!

1. Set up a weekly schedule/plan

When you work from home, you don’t have the luxury of someone telling you what you need to do on a daily basis.

It’ll be up to you to make a plan or schedule for all the things that need completing.

Trust me.. you’ll want to sit down and work on a schedule for the week (not just day) ahead. This means that when you wake up each morn ing, you’ll know exactly what you need to do and get straight to it.

Without a plan, you’ll procrastinate and it means ‘less’ of getting things done!

Try and wake up each day at the same time until the point it feels like you’re getting up to go into work mode.

Sit down every Sunday night and schedule every work day (down to the hour), listing out exactly what work you need to do.

At the end of each week, you’ll be able to analyze what you achieved and the things you need to work on the next week.

Of course, any schedule should have some sort of flexibility, but with this outlined plan you’ll be able to reach your goals a lot quicker and not be lost each morning not knowing what to do.

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2. Get up and brush your teeth

Yes, you can totally stay in bed on your laptop all day, in your pyjamas not even getting up to brush your teeth..

…but that’s probably not going to give you the motivation to get any work done.

When you wake up on a work day or any day, you should always act as if you’re physically going to work.

I’m not saying get dressed up and put on a full face of makeup, but you should at least brush your teeth, have a shower, get dressed out of your PJ’s and sit at your desk (or on your couch) like you mean business.

Trust me this does wonders for self motivation.

3. Get the right gear from the start

To start working from home effectively, you need to make sure you have the capabilities to do so.

For one, you absolutely need to make sure you have a great WIFI connection in your home or wherever you plan to work.

Working from home is almost entirely dependant on being connected to the world wide web, and a fantastic connection is essential to your success.

On top of this, you’ll want to make sure you have access to a computer, headphones with a mic (depending on your job) and make sure you protect yourself from hackers using a secure VPN.

4. Stay focused on the end goal

Each time you fail to complete your daily or weekly tasks, it’s important that you not fall off track but that you refocus and take the steps necessary to reach your end goal.

Even if it means you won’t complete your task in time.

For me in the beginning it was hard to juggle my partner and small child, whilst successfully writing 3-4 blog posts a week.

The end goal was to write 12-15 posts every month, so for the days/weeks I fell behind, I scheduled extra time to be able to make up for it.

5. Don’t work from your bed

If you’re laying in bed all day, chances are you’re not going to get much done.

You might have a nap for an hour or two and then indulge in Netflix for another few hours. In my experience if you want to start working from home effectively, being in bed can set you back a lot.

Your ‘work from home space’ should be somewhere you’ll be able to stay focused but that also encourages productivity.

My bed doesn’t do that for me, does it for you?

6. Take regular breaks as normal

Avoid the classic burn out situation by taking several breaks and allowing your mind to recharge.

It’s just as important to do this while you at work, so why wouldn’t you do whilst working from home?

Get up go for a walk, stretch, meditate… whatever you feel comfortable doing to give you breathing space.

Overworking will not result in more money and getting more done, often it can have the opposite effect when you brain shuts down. This will mean resting for even longer and taking more time to get back into the work flow.

Schedule a morning, lunch and afternoon break, whilst working from home to increase your productivity.

7. Cut out the distractions

Just because you’re working from home, it doesn’t mean you should be watching the kids, looking after your pets’ needy demands or stuck on social media all day!

Make sure you keep it professional! At all times!

When you are scheduled to work, that is exactly what you do.

If watching the kids and pets are things you need to do, schedule them around your work hours.

If you’re a sucker for spending hours scrolling on social media, don’t completely go cold turkey!

Schedule in 20 minutes or so for this activity only and then turn off all distracting apps and notifications on your phone whilst working.

Freedom is an app that allows you block out all of your distracting apps and as a result stay focused.

Download it and give it a go..

8. Start Meal prepping

Nothing is more time consuming at home than shopping for groceries and cooking.

Make things easier on yourself by preparing your meals ahead of time on the days you aren’t scheduled to work.

I shop all of my groceries on a Sunday and then make a point of cooking (or at least prepping) my whole families meals for the week.

This saves so much time!

And it also means you aren;’t scrambling for things to eat or procrastinating on what should cook during the week.

9. Give yourself much needed pep talks

A key to staying productive whilst working from home is to give yourself regular pep talks and have meetings at the end of every week (with yourself).

‘Checking in’ at the end of every week, will make sure you are clear on what got done and what didn’t.

Be honest with yourself.

This will propel you into creating a schedule for the next week, one that allows you to work on your mistakes.