As I’m now working from home a few days a week, I had to find a way to organize my work and make sure I did not spend my entire days on Youtube or watching Gilmore Girls for the hundredth time (anyone else super excited for the upcoming episodes?). Here my few tips to get productive and organized.
- Wake up happy: Make sure you get enough sleep! This is so important if you want to be productive. To make sure I get enough sleep, I try to go to bed every night at the same time to get my body into a routine. I also try to wake up at the same time every day. For this, I use my phone alarm and write down a motivational message as my alarm label. That way, it’s the first thing I see in the morning, and it stays in the back of my mind throughout my work. This week’s mantra: I take care of myself!
- Give yourself time to wake up: I know this sounds cheesy, but I like to make sure that the first hour of my day runs smoothly so that I can really wake up. For many years I’ve jumped out of bed into my boots and out the door, bringing my breakfast along with me. Even if that work, I now see the importance of giving myself time to wake-up and take care of myself. That’s why I give myself a 30 to 45 minutes yoga practice every morning when I wake up. I have a special date with Adriene every morning, and it just puts me in the best of moods.
- Use a schedule of some kind: I went through different systems over the last few weeks. My favourite two systems: lists and hourly schedule. On Monday mornings, I like to make a list of all the things I have to do during the week. Then, I write an hourly schedule for the days I stay at home to help me with time management. That way, I know what I need to be doing and when, which really helps with procrastination and time management. As I include breaks, I lose a lot less time and get a lot more work done. Of course, as the day goes by, I might adjust a few things, but as I have done this for a while, I can now estimate the time amount each task is going to take me pretty accurately.
- Take breaks: After working on my computer for a few hours, my brain becomes jello. When this is the case, I like to take a short break to do something else: walk outside, go play with my cat or look at a book. That way, I don’t get headaches from too much computer, and I when I get back, I’m refreshed and ready to get back to work.
Anyways, I hope these little tips will help you get more productive and organized. Let me know how you go through the days!
My Lighthearted Kitchen 
Perfect article for me to read right now. I have several days a week where I have no lectures but need to be productive to get through all my reading. I’ve been using lists, but I like your hourly schedule idea. Also, I’ve found that I need some form of movement or change of scene, so I schedule a workout class, go to the library for a few hours or even just plan in a trip to the store for one of my breaks. Thanks for sharing! 🙂
Productivity and motivation are such difficult things to foster and nourish, especially when working independently! I’m glad you found something useful here. Good luck with everything! 🙂
Thanks! Same to you 🙂
Tip for your eyesight: don’t forget to look away from the screen and blink your eyes on a regular basis! (trust someone who recently had to go to twelve eye therapy sessions)