With the craziness of COVID-19, more and more people are finding themselves working from home. Some are working from home for the first time, and others have been working exclusively from home for years. Prior to the coronavirus outbreak, I worked from home every Friday. (P.S. — I have a full-time job in addition to travel blogging if you didn’t know!) Fridays were always a nice time for me to catch up on emails, be on phone calls, and work on tedious tasks all while doing a couple loads of laundry simultaneously. Additionally, I’ve always had “side hustles” while being a full-time student and full-time employee, so managing my time and accomplishing my goals have always been top priorities. Now — more than ever — my skills are coming in handy and I’m happy to share my favorite tips and tricks for being productive at home.

How to Be Productive While Working From Home

1. Stat your day on the right foot

Do you like enjoying a cup of coffee in bed while watching Good Morning America? Do you like getting an early morning work out in? Do it your way! Start your day in a way that makes you happy by planning in time to do what you like to do before things get crazy and before it’s time for your first meeting of the day.

2. Make a to do list

If you know you have certain things to get done within the day, make a to do list and order it by priority. Write even the little things down so that later you can check in on your progress and check off things that have been completed.

3. Structure your calendar

Use the to do list you just made to structure your calendar. Whether it be in your head or actually written out, block of time for each of the tasks. It’s harder to procrastinate if you have set aside each task for a certain time period. Be sure to include a few breaks and lunch time as well! You’ll get burned out quickly if you don’t allocate time for yourself to catch a breath and relax here and there.

4. Reward yourself with breaks

As I mentioned before, be sure to include breaks for yourself. No one expects you to be nonstop for 8 hours in the day, not even in a workplace. Similarly to planning time in the morning to do what you want to do, plan time during the day! Take 15 minute reading breaks or 20 minutes at lunch to walk your dog around the block — whatever it takes to blow off steam and come back to your work ready for the next task at hand.

5. Have a hard stop to your work day

This may vary on your industry or your job, but have a hard stop to your work day. Working around the clock is not beneficial for you or your loved ones. It’s a quick way to grow to dislike your work and dread the next work day. Set a time for your work day to end and make it happen! Hint: even if you haven’t checked off every item from your to do list it’s okay to shut off the computer for the day! 🙂

We hope these tips help you to accomplish your goals during this time at home! Whether it’s getting your day job work done, or completing blog posts, or planning your social media for the next month, go for it! Set your mind to it and make it happen. Let us know how we can help you accomplish your goals in the comments below! Stay healthy.