Staying productive while working from home, even when you’ve never considered yourself capable of doing so, is, in fact, quite possible. For anyone.

Before mommyhood, friends and others knew where my main drawback hid. I was not capable of getting anywhere on time. No matter how hard I was on myself, how much I hated for not respecting other people’s precious time, I couldn’t help it.

I was not like that on purpose and tbh it kept dragging my energy even when my son was a baby. There are always projects and work and I’m also a phlegmatic character. However, I wanted to change. Here’s what to have in mind if you want to stay productive and on track with your time.

The vibe killer.

Some days, after I drop my son off at kindergarten, I’d rather just sit down and do nothing. Whilst I like enjoying my free time once in a while, there’s this big vibe killer that we all let out sometimes and I want to point it out.

We sit down, catch up on Instagram for 20 minutes or so and then the productivity is gone. Instead of just crushing onto your couch or lying in bed liking posts right after you wake up, think bigger. Get up, wash your face, eat something healthy, clean after yourself and focus on to-dos.

You’ll find it a lot easier to actually finish tasks if you do it before letting your brain get lazy. Cross of one thing, or just look at the list, put clothes on, drink your morning coffee, get ready. And then, if that’ll be your relax time, simply relax.

Create a working from home schedule.

Unless your boss requires you at specific hours, then choose your productivity time. People mostly struggle working from home because they do it when they should be sleeping, relaxing or enjoying their hobby.

For me, the working hours have to be mornings, right after I drop my son at kindergarten and walk the dog. I’ll even wake up earlier if there’s some extra work for the day so I can catch up on everything.

In that case, I’ll probably have an hour before the kid wakes up so I’ll use it to let the puppy out. I’ll make myself some lemon green tea and finish as much smaller tasks as I can. Since it’s summer, I’ll probably be spending my first working from home hour outside. It’s a beautiful breeze.

Prioritise plays the biggest role.

Important tasks first. Well, as I said, I won’t be finishing the super hard tasks if I’m up at 5 AM and have one to two hours of work while I’m still waking my soul up.

But once the work hours start, I’ll focus on the top three from the list. Finishing hard tasks first is easier because you’re still fresh and highly productive. It also boosts your self-esteem and you’re likely to continue working with less pressure and more positivity.

Productive working from home needs organisation.

Meaning organising everything, from your daily schedules divided into hours to meal/clothes planning. This is how I do it.

Between 6 and 7 AM -wake up, let the puppy out, cuddle and feed her while training her at the same time (if I’m up at 5 AM then I’ll either work until 7 AM or I’ll only catch up until 6 AM and switch to daily exercising so I’ll have some free time later)

7.15 AM – make our morning green tea and orange juice for the little one, get myself ready for the day

7.30 AM – family breakfast time and then our son’s morning routine; toilet usage, brush his teeth, wash his face, put clothes on

8 AM – dad goes off to work; on days when we’ve been super early, we’ll walk with him otherwise we do the learning activity of the day and then the independent play for about 15-30 minutes

Between 9 and 10 AM – I ride him to kindergarten or we walk there with the puppy

10 AM – I’ll walk the dog if there’s a necessity (if she didn’t come with us that morning), if not, I’ll spend 15-30 minutes training her (owning a Jack Russell terrier requires a lot of effort to make life with them easy and happy)

Around 11 AM – catch a breath or two, hydrate, make coffee and start my working from home hours

It starts the night before.

Yes, this means that I organise my day the night before. I make sure our clothes are ready, the house is tidy and the meals are waiting. I also usually go through my monthly planner to see if there’s something which will require a different routine tomorrow.

Stay emotional with your musts.

Meaning: you have to do it even if you don’t feel like working. When you spend too much time relaxing or choose Netflix over what’s waiting for you, you eventually end up with productivity loss.

So bite the nerve of laziness away and spoil your productivity hours with the best energy! Aaaand… Don’t forget to pin me and inspire others! 🙂