8 Work From Home Tips for Beginners

Mar 18

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Working from home is a luxury so many of us strive to achieve. Whether it’s working a regular 9-5 job from the comfort of your home office. Or being your own boss and working from your couch in pajamas.

But to paraphrase Uncle Ben, (where my Spider-Man fans at?) “With great luxury comes great responsibility.”

Okay, maybe that’s not exactly what he said. But, working from home does provide it’s own set of challenges that the traditional office space does not!

And in light of this new season, I thought it was time I shared my best tips for woking from home.

My work from home life started, my gosh, almost 8 years ago when I landed a dream job with a major tech company. It was a typical customer service job. They sent me a computer and everything I needed to work right from home. After 12 years in retail, it. was. a. DREAM.

But I quickly learned, it was also a hazard! 😂I mean, the fridge is RIGHT THERE. ALL. THE. TIME.

While I loved working from home (my dog became my favorite co-worker), that job had a LOT of structure. And I soon started craving more freedom than just being able to have my favorite cartoons on while I worked.

So I branched out on my own. And THAT requires even more discipline. Which I still struggle with. 🤷🏻‍♀️But I digress.

Over the last 8 years of both working for a company and working for myself, I’ve compiled a list of the things that keep me going. Because otherwise, it’s total chaos and that doesn’t do anyone any good!

So let’s go!

Designate a time

It’s easy to fall into the idea of having all day to do something. And sometimes that’s okay. But I’ve found generally if that’s how I go about the day, next thing I know it’s 9pm and I’ve gotten very little, if anything done at all.

So just like if you’re in the office, designate a work time. It can be any time you want. If you’re a night owl, sleep late and work in the evening.

If you’re a morning person, wake up early and get to it.

(This is provided your job doesn’t still designate your hours, of course.)

Set a time and while it may be flexible, stick to it. Otherwise you’ll find yourself “working” 24/7 without much to show for it.

🙋🏻‍♀️Been there!

Block schedule your work

Let me tell you, bouncing from project to project, checking Facebook or IG for 5 minutes, then back to the project, then snack time, then time for a walk…

…is the FASTEST way to kill productivity.

Block out your schedule for work. It can be flexible (again, if your employer allows it), but you need to have a plan.

Schedule a block of time, maybe 1-2 hours, for answering emails. Then schedule another block for meeting with clients. And another block for planning and writing social media posts.

You get the idea.

If you work on this for 5 minutes then do that for 10 minutes and on and on, you won’t be able to stay focused on anything.

So try to organize your day in a way that lets you put your fresh focus (when you’re fresh faced and ready to take on anything) towards the thing you want to do the least.

For example, while I don’t hate writing, it’s not my favorite thing to do. So if I make it the last thing on my list, it’ll never get done. So I try to block out a time to write blog posts in the morning when I’m the freshest, before I dive into client work, etc.

Get that out of the way and the rest of the day is downhill!

Designate a location

I mean you’re in your house, you can work from ANYWHERE, right?!

100% yes. But… if you have a designated space you can use for only work, do it. This will give your mind the “I’m at work/I’m not at work” visual and physical cues you would normally get working in an office.

I know this may not be easy depending on your space. You may be working from the dining room table or the corner of your room (ahem, like me). But the idea is not to work from where you spend your downtime. Like the sofa or your bed.

Take breaks

If you take away one thing from this post, let it be this: TAKE A DAMN BREAK.

I love using the Pomodoro technique for taking breaks. You can even download the Toggl app to your Chrome browser to track this!

It works like this:

Work for 25 minutes without stopping.

Take a 5 minute break.

That’s it! After your break, set the timer for another 25 minutes and get back to it. No stopping, no distractions during the 25 minutes.

It SEEMS like the stopping and starting would be distracting. But I found that paired with blocking my work, it makes me much more productive because it forces me to take a break. Otherwise I would work straight through and end up over tired and worn out or bored with the project. The breaks give you just enough time to step away and maybe even come up with a better solution than what you were working on!

Change up the scenery on occasion

This might sound contradictory to designate a location but hear me out.

Every so often, maybe once a week or so, when we’re not in isolation of course, I like to go somewhere else to work. Maybe Panera or Starbucks. Disney Springs when I’m back in Florida.

The change of scenery sparks my creativity when it comes to projects I’m working on. And I feel way more focused.

I find I can knock out projects I’ve been procrastinating in almost no time when I’m outside of my typical element and in a new location.

So, when it’s safe to head out again, if you work from home full time or if your job lets you keep working from home, go check out a local coffee shop and see how the change of scenery feels to you!

Tell others in your household what you’re doing to minimize distractions

This is a tough one. Especially if you've got kids at home. It’s easy for anyone else who’s home to think maybe you’re just scrolling Facebook all day when you’re supposed to be “working” so they come interrupt you every 5 minutes.

Tell them what you’re doing. This is also why it’s important to designate a time. Let them know that from 8am-5pm you’re at work in your office. You’ll be out for breaks but in between you need to work.

Obviously everyone’s home situation is different and if you have small kids at home, you can’t leave them unattended. But, the idea here is to set up a boundary so that you can get done what you need to do.

Workout

This is one I admittedly still struggle with. But it just might be the most important one. I’m not talking about spending an hour at the gym every day. You definitely won’t catch me doing that.

But get up and move. Just 30 minutes a day.

Dance.
Go for a walk.
Walk the dog.
Run.
Follow an 80’s workout video.

…you get the idea.

The point is, MOVE!

You will feel better on the days you move. And you’ll notice a difference on the days you don’t. Get your blood pumping and who knows what kind of brilliant ideas you’ll come up with!

Drink water

Drink all the water. I still struggle with this one too. But we all know the benefits of drinking water. Staying hydrated, flushing out all the bad things, curbing hunger cravings… the list goes on.

I’ve always got my Star Wars Rival Run bottle next to me and aim for 6 refills a day. Sometimes it’s just one. Sometimes I hit all six.

The idea is to knock out the afternoon slump and keeping your energy up by cutting the sugary drinks. Plus water does wonders for your skin too!

So drink it!