If you work from home, you're undeniably familiar with the "what is my life" feeling. Everyone you know has a "real job" - in an office, a restaurant, a school, a company or a hospital - and you make your living from your couch. "What is my life" happens when you're eating junk food in the middle of the day, browsing the Internet and only half-working, as HelloGiggles explains. It happens when you realize you haven't spoken to a real person in hours or days.
Working from home absolutely has its benefits, and can be even more fulfilling than office work, but here are a few tips to help with productivity and keeping sane.
1. Consistency.
Wake up around the same time every day. Pretend you're going into an office.
2. Get Dressed.
Get out of your pajamas and into some day clothes before you get working. It can be sweatpants and a baggy sweater, but don't spend the whole day in the PJs you slept in.
3. Lighting.
Find the best-lit room in your house, and work there.
4. Get Out Of Bed.
Working from bed can be wonderful on a particularly lazy day, but try to avoid it becoming a habit. Accidental naps are a real occupational hazard of working from home.
5. Switch Things Up.
Though going to cafes every day is hardly an economical idea, if you're having a writer's block day (or graphic designer's block, or whatever other type of block you experience in your field) switch it up occasionally and treat yourself to a coffee and a cookie. The walk outside will clear your head and the fresh working environment can help you get on track.
6. Make Plans.
Make a date with a friend or plan to run an errand or exercise at the end of every day. Having a daily deadline for when you should be finished with your work is infinitely helpful and pushes your productivity all day. Plus, it's important to go outside and not turn into a hermit. Deadlines are your friend, says HelloGiggles.
7. Network.
Even though you work from home, chances are there are other people on email chains, LinkedIn, or in Facebook groups that have your same job. Chat, commiserate, and swap ideas. It'll fill the coworkers void, says Forbes.
It takes time to find the rhythm and work-from-home style that works for you, but once you find it, stick to it. You won't miss drinking terrible office coffee for a minute.
