How to Stay Productive When Working From Home

Many of you know that I recently got a new job (yay!) and with this new job, comes the ability to occasionally work from home (even more yay!) While I love to collaborate IRL with my team, I also love the opportunity to work from the calm and quiet of my own space, not to mention the time saved on commuting. Working from home can be hugely productive for some people, but for others, it can be easy to get distracted and lose focus.

Speaking of focus, (how’s that for a smooth transition?), I’d love to introduce you to Aveo. Aveo is a new contact lens subscription company, founded right here in San Francisco (Bay Area, represent!), whose mission is to provide high quality contacts, at an affordable price point, on your schedule. They also make Aveo Joy which are contacts for Astigmatism, this is awesome for folks like my husband who have a really tough time finding contacts that are comfortable. Aveo highly prioritizes hydration (their contacts are 58% water) and comfort, annnnnd sustainability: they manufacturer their lenses in a way that takes less energy and water to produce. Head over to this link to try them out for 30 days freeeee, and use code ABBY40 for 40% off your second month. Thank you Aveo Vision for sponsoring this blog post!

Now, on to my tips for staying productive while working from home:

1. Wake up at the same time you normally do. If you’re not a morning person, like me, if can be tempting to hit snooze over and over until  it’s 9am before you know it, and you’ve completely screwed up your sleep schedule. Adhering to the same wake up time everyday is much better for your body’s natural sleep rhythm. So while I tend to have slower mornings on WFH days, I always try to wake up at the same time, or similar time, as normal days.

I have found that giving myself time to have a “morning” before I jump into work does wonders for my productivity. This means, instead of snoozing my alarm until the last possible second before my morning meetings, I give my body and brain the time and energy they need to wake up and prepare for the day.

2. Do your same (or similar) morning routine. Adding to the above point, keeping the rest of my morning routine consistent gets me in the mental headspace for work. I don’t wear makeup on WFH days, but I still wash my face, do my skincare routine, and at least run a brush through my hair. I pop in my Aveo contacts and call it a day.

3. Get dressed. I’m sure you’re starting to sense a theme here… Instead of lazying around in my comfies all day, I make a tiny effort to put together an outfit. This can be as simple as jeans and a tee, or even some kind of athleisure ‘fit. The key is to kick yourself into work mode and get your brain out of home mode.

4. Do not work from bed!  Make sure to carve out a physical space for work that is separate from your bed/relaxing space. It can be super tempting to curl up in the covers and tap away on your laptop, but I promise you’ll be twice as productive if you sit properly at a chair in a room with some natural light.

5. Be available to your team. Working with a remote team is only successful if everyone sticks to a communication plan. Answer pings and emails promptly (when necessary), schedule video calls and remote meetings when needed. You can communicate asynchronously, which is often important if you need uninterrupted focus time, as long as no one’s work relies on someone else’s immediate response.

6. Take breaks, but don’t turn on the TV. I need periodic breaks to stay productive, but I never take those breaks in front of the tele (for me, YouTube doesn’t count, I’ll totally take breaks by watching a YT video). Again, this is more about keeping your brain in work mode—and posting up on the couch in front of the TV, even if just for a short break, isn’t the best way for me to stay productive all day.

7. Don’t forget to eat lunch. When you’re at the office there are all sorts of cues to take a proper lunch break. But at home, it can be easy to blow through lunchtime without realizing it, and suddenly it’s 2pm and you’re drained and ravenous. I try to make sure I have healthy snacks and meal-making supplies so that I stay energized all day.

Thanks for reading y’all! How do you stay productive when you need to focus at home? Please share any tips in the comments below.

Remember to head over to the Aveo website here to sign up for your 30 day free trial. And don’t forget to use code “ABBY40” for 40% off your second month.

This post was generously sponsored by Aveo. All opinions are my own.