Although it sounds ridiculous, one of the hardest things about working from home is getting your work done. And I know – working from home sounds so ideal.

How could you not be productive when you make your own schedule and work in the comfort of your pajamas?

Unfortunately, it’s slightly more difficult to focus when your personal life and household chores are looming over you while you’re trying to work. The leaning tower of laundry seems more daunting than ever, your grocery list is screaming at you every time you enter the kitchen, and dinner isn’t going to cook itself. Let’s not even get started on those of us that have little ones running circles around you like wild hyenas.

By the end of the day, you’re exhausted and haven’t accomplished much. This vicious cycle can lead to many unfortunate things including depression, so let’s take some precautions before we pull our hair out, shall we? Believe it or not, there’s some simple hacks that can help you maximize your productivity, so you can check things off your to-do list and still have time for everything else.

Make a List

The first and easiest thing you can do to be more productive is make a to-do list every day. I know we all think we can remember everything; therefore, we don’t bother with the hassle of writing it down and keeping up with it, but you’d be surprised how much just the act of putting pen to paper and documenting your tasks helps your mind visualize your goals. Just take ten minutes to jot everything down before you begin your day. Try to focus on one or two big projects at a time and be sure to list all the little things in between.

Most importantly, don’t set unrealistic goals. It’s good to be ambitious, but don’t try to tackle too much in one day.

Be sure to include everything. Even the little details.

For example, organizing the files on your flash drive may seem minuscule in comparison to the three logos you have scheduled to design for a high-paying client, but it still takes time. It may help to add an estimation of the time each task requires and be sure to allow for time gaps in between for unexpected interruptions or any breaks you may take.

Place the list in your work area or keep it in your planner so that it’s within reach all day. By marking off each task as you complete it, you’ll gain the motivation you need to get shit done.

Look at you now – kicking ass and taking names!

You deserve a reward. How about a FREE downloadable daily planner that you can use every single day?

Enjoy!

Don’t Plan to Work a Solid Eight Hours

You may have intentions of disciplining yourself to work a full eight-hour shift just as if you were going to a regular nine-to-five job. But believe me, disciplined or not, that shit’s never going to happen. For starters, whether you have kids or not, no one needs to sit at a computer for a solid eight hours or longer. Instead, designate smaller chunks of time to work throughout the day.

When do you feel most productive? Are you an early bird or a night owl? If you have kids, you may generate the most productivity during nap times. Designate the tasks that require more attention to these time slots.

The biggest perk of running your own show is being able to work around your own internal clock. It does require self-discipline in time management. However, if you make sure to schedule your biggest projects during the times you know you’re most productive, then you can knock out the rest of the day much easier.

Try planning to work in 20-minute intervals by using a variation of the Pomodoro technique. Select a task you know you can sit down and churn out in 20 minutes, then step away and take a break. There’s a few clever ways to accomplish this with kids as well. Designate a snack time, create busy bags, or you can opt for the (forbidden) TV. Find a method that works for you and take advantage of it.

Looking for a great app to use on your phone to keep you focused? Check out Tide.

Is there a task that you can tackle with just your phone? Then get even more time away from the computer and take the kids outside! They can run wild in the backyard while you soak up some vitamin D and check your emails.

Break your days down into these manageable time chunks to get the most done while still being present and active in your daily life.

Batching is Your BFF

Batching is my favorite method to getting the most done at once. I can take a whole day out of my week and focus on one area that requires a bulk of content. This could be anything from writing blog posts to creating graphics for social media. I can spend a whole day dedicated to stacking up completed material until I have enough for a week or month. Anything you can create batches of work for is a lifesaver. It will save you time and stress during a hectic work week knowing you can just grab your blog post or social media graphic, plug it in, and publish it.

Stay Away from Social Media

This one can be the hardest. It’s just too easy to hop onto Facebook or Pinterest and get lost for hours. It’s especially tempting when you’ve hit a bump in the road, and you know you’ve been struggling with it long enough that you need to take your mind off it briefly and come back with a clear head. You don’t want to get up and leave your computer in fear that you’ll get too distracted and put it off, so you lean to Facebook for what you think will be a few funny memes, a nice recipe idea for dinner, and in a few moments, you get back to your work and breeze right through it.

Hahaha! It’s okay. We all tell ourselves this until we glance at the clock and we have lost two hours.

If you find yourself easily distracted by social media sites, try installing a page blocker on your browser such as Stay Focused. If you take advantage of batching, then your social media content should be written and scheduled ahead of time leaving you with no valid excuse to open Facebook. We all know that minutes turn into hours.

Schedule Email Time and Close It Down

Another time waster for entrepreneurs is email.

Your email client is open and you receive a notification. You click on it to respond thinking it’ll only take a minute and realize you have 100 other emails that require your attention. You will quickly realize you’ve wasted some valuable time sorting through your inbox when you should be working on bigger projects.

You can avoid this by setting aside a specific time to take care of your emails. When you’re done, close your email client so you don’t have distracting notifications popping up throughout the day. They only cause you to lose focus. The time it takes to get your bearings back to what you were doing could be a matter of seconds, but they add up by the end of the week.

Work from a Designated Space

It can be all too easy to go get comfy on the couch to work until you get the bright idea to turn on the TV for some background noise. I mean, you can multitask, right? (Multitasking… oh, how I hate the word.) Wrong. Set yourself up a designated space – a home office, if you will – to work from. This will make it easier for you to eliminate outside distractions and get the most work done. It also helps you set boundaries at home. Your family will be more aware of when you’re working, and they’ll be less likely to interrupt you about trivial things like which color gummy bears are the best. (But it’s the clear ones, ya know, just so we’re… clear.)

Creating your own home office to work from will also give you a place to store everything you need for work, so all your tools will be at your fingertips as you need them. Now you won’t waste so much time hunting down that one thing you need to finish a project. This will come in handy during tax season as well and save you a ton of stress assuming you keep your space strictly business-oriented and well organized.

Turn Your Phone Off

Do you always have your phone right at your side when you are working? Do you pick it up to see if you have a notification? I bet you do. If you are sitting down to focus on work and keep picking up your phone to check it, you’re consistently wasting time and losing focus. I know something might happen and you might miss it, but it’s doubtful. The chances of it being an emergency is even more doubtful. You can check your phone when you take a break. Therefore, turn it off or silence the ringer and set it far enough away that you need to get up to reach it. This will eliminate the temptation to reach for it every five minutes.

If you can’t turn your phone off, use an app like Tide to keep you focused for short sprints of time. If you leave it to check something else on your phone, it forces you to start over.

Don’t Overextend Yourself

This is one I know all too well. I always have a million ideas I want to start on, but there will never be enough time to successfully do them all simultaneously. It’s important to limit what you’re doing and set your goals realistically.

Remember this: FOCUS – Follow One Course Until Success

If you’re afraid of forgetting one of your brilliant ideas, open a new board on Trello and store them all there. This will help you stay organized with your works in progress while also acting as a reminder of all your future ideas. You can quickly jot down new ones if they enter your mind while you’re working, or maybe find a way to incorporate one of them into your current work. Eventually, they will all find their way into your path to success.

Don’t Overcomplicate Daily Tasks

Lots of us like to let things pile up just to spend hours trying to sort out a mess. This can be anything from laundry to grocery shopping.

Just stop overcomplicating things.

If you know your family likes to wear clean clothes, chances are you can toss in a load of laundry and have it dry before everyone is done with their breakfast and morning showers. Don’t stress about the sorting and putting away until you get there. Overcomplicating creates more stress and allows you to let even the small things pile up which makes them seem like bigger ordeals than they are.

So, even if your tasks seem complicated, keep them simple in your mind.

 

There’s also many ways to squeeze in working on your business with your little ones under your feet, but it may require being extremely flexible and a little crafty with your time.

Remember that these tips are not meant to be a one-size-fits-all approach, and it may take some time to figure out which methods make the best work cocktail for you.