Some years ago, I found myself working without the structure of an institutional environment. As a work-from-home salesperson, I had almost autonomous control over my schedule. As long as I made my required meetings and hit my assigned production levels, I was “pretty much” my own boss.
Recently, much of America has come to experience this reality for themselves. Many find themselves struggling with pretty common issues that this newfound autonomy brings. There are, though, a few tips…what I would call habits that I found to be helpful. The list is certainly not comprehensive and may not work for everyone; however, some form of these disciplines is essential to flourish in this season.
Habits:
Become your own boss. Most of us do not function well without accountability. We need some structure in our lives to function well. In essence, you have to put yourself in your boss’ (teacher/professor/employer’s) position and set out some measurables (boundaries) if you are to thrive. Examples include: What time do you begin each day? How long will you work? What must you accomplish that day?
Set your Alarm. Just because you don’t have to drive to the office is no reason to slumber on. Get up. Make the most of the time no longer spent commuting. Invest it in something meaningful.
Make your bed. Admiral McRaven gives a phenomenal talk on this subject. I’ve heard the talk many times and read the book by the same title. Listen/watch HERE.
Get dressed. Yep, it is novel to work in your PJs for a week or so but psychologically, something changes when we put on work clothes. Maybe not a coat and tie, but put the PJs away. Shave. Brush your teeth. Fix your hair.
Work a schedule. Some employers monitor this with software. They look to see if you’re logged in and if you are active at your remote workstation. Don’t wait on an employer or teacher to check. Implement your own schedule. Start at 8. Work 2 hours. Grab coffee. Work til lunch. Take a real lunch break. Work til afternoon break. Drink more coffee. Work til 5. Rinse and repeat. Your schedule may vary a little but use a calendar as a tool and schedule the time as if your employer were watching over your shoulder.
Stop working. This boundary is essential. If you answer mail and requests all through the night, you will feel as if you never stop working…even if you are only marginally effective during these times. Set a boundary on your clock.
Turn off the Alerts. Speaking of boundaries, give your full attention to the task ahead of you. That may mean closing your email app, shutting down notifications on social media or even putting your device on silent or night-mode. Every interruption reduces productivity.
If you’re distracted, take a break. Sometimes it doesn’t work. You’re as invested as you can be but your mind is wandering. Stop. Go for a 30-minute walk. Then go back to work.
Exercise. In a work from home environment, it is tempting to never leave home. To never leave your desk. Don’t fall for that trick. Schedule exercise every day. Walk. Ride a bike. Pick up heavy stuff. Do something that gets your heart rate up. Believe it or not, this will sharpen your focus at the office (even if that is in the corner of the dining room table).
Eat away from your desk. Sure, you could catch up on the news, multitask your email or catch up on Facebook while eating. When you do, you will cheat your mind out of needed rest. Honestly, you are not improving productivity; You are hurting it. Let your desk be the place where you work and the dining table be the place of food, fellowship, and relaxation.
Adopt efficient tools. I know many people hate lists and calendars. Use them anyway. These tools help you see what you have accomplished during the day. They keep you on task. Here’s a hack that will help you. Put your daily schedule on your calendar as appointments. When an interruption occurs, you can tell the person who texted you that you were in an appointment. Just because you can do it at your desk via Zoom, or it is an appointment for reading or praying doesn’t make it less of an appointment. By the way…it is your tool. If something you deem as priority arises, simply change your calendar. You own it.
Use the last 15 minutes (or 30 minutes if you need it) of your day to plan the next day. A mentor once taught me this in respect to writing. He said to always end a day’s writing by beginning the next paragraph, section, or chapter. It is far easier to regain momentum the next morning if you have a starting point. He called this starting on a downhill slope. Everyone who ever rode a bicycle can relate to this.
Major on effectiveness, not efficiency. It may be inefficient to interrupt your day to go for a lunchtime run, but if it makes you more effective then I might argue that the effectiveness actually makes you more efficient. Two observations on this: I study better in the mornings. As a pastor, I find that my mind is sharper in the morning so when I am preparing for sermons, I like to do so before lunch. I try to schedule accordingly. Second, I find that a 20-minute nap (or resting my brain) in the afternoon improves my productivity. Don’t steal time from your employer or your teacher for this. Invest the last 15-20 minutes of your lunch break for it.
Build next week’s calendar on Friday. Take the needed time on Friday before you quit work to put the major milestones on the next week’s schedule. Put in the appointments for exercise, reading/studying/praying/meditating. Mark off time for correspondence (written and phone) and any teleconference meetings. Treat these like hard appointments so when new requests come in on Monday, you have already plugged in the big milestones as priorities.
These habits will need to be personalized a bit for you, of course. That’s ok. All of them have been inspired by others in my life through the years. What I have learned though, is that when I honor these habits, I am actually more effective and more efficient. I find that my anxiousness is reduced, and I am not crunched as badly on deadlines. Plus…I feel like I get to “shut it off” without guilt when I want to close the laptop and put my phone on silent.
If you have some favorites…pass them along in the comments below. I love learning what works for others.
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