.As more people are staying at home it has become harder to be productive at home. These are uncertain times over the world. More people are losing their jobs and it is hard to start something or to be productive at home.

Fear has a way of making us emotionally unprepared for the next steps we should take. The thing is even though everything is uncertain life goes on and if you have to do your job here’s how you can be productive at home. If you want to start something then you also need to learn how to be productive at home.

I have been working at home for over a year now and I have learned what helps in becoming productive. That is why I want to list all the ways you can be productive at home.

Yes, quarantine might have pushed you back, but it doesn’t have to remain like that. You can be productive at home. The excess time you have makes it easier for you to start your own business, work on your projects or even work on assignments you left hanging.

I do understand how all of this can mentally weigh you down. In the last few weeks, things have gotten so out of hand and it feels as if you have no control over what happens. Yes, you might not have any control, but you can look at this time as an opening. You can develop a new skill set, work on your dreams, become more productive or take this time to reflect.

I wrote this blog post to help you in these difficult times that we are going through. 

Your Reason

As a kid, you had a reason for everything you did and you made it known. You stole from the cookie jar because you had the munchies. You didn’t sleep in your bed because you had a nightmare. You worked hard on that speech so your parents and friends could be proud of you.

This is no different. Why do you want to be productive? I know it sounds stupid because you wouldn’t be reading this blog post if you didn’t have a reason. You want to be productive at home because it is difficult to do.

When you have so much time on your hands, you can do anything and you have all these big ideas of what you will do. At the end of the day, you then realize you did none of them. Absolutely zero. Not because you are lazy or anything like that, but because you got distracted.  

There are fewer distractions in an office setting. Another thing that could have happened is you procrastinated.

It is important to know why you are doing something because it makes all this less hard. It is easier to endure the long day and the isolation when you have a big reason why you are doing something. It could be that you want to make more money in the long run with a side-hustle or you want to develop a new skill. Whatever it is, remind yourself daily. This is a motivation booster.

Use tools to help

There are dozens of tools out there that help with productivity. Find the one that works for you and use that to help you be productive at home. These tools were created to help people manage their time better and that is the issue. Most people struggle to manage their time wisely. I was the same way when I started.

It used to take me forever to get something done. For example, writing a blog post would take me hours to do because I wasn’t doing it the right way. I didn’t plan and prepare before I wrote the blog post so my thoughts were everywhere. When I mastered that it became easier to write a blog post.

The tools you end up using depend on you. You could use slack or other time management tools to help you get the work done. What counts here is using something to help you out. Bear and Evernote will help you jot down notes that speed up the writing process. Todolist helps with writing a clear concise to-do list to get you through the day.

You don’t need to figure everything out all at once. Take your time to figure out what works best for you. What works for person A might not work for you and that’s alright. Our brains all work differently and embrace that, don’t try to do something that might not work for you. This is where research helps. Research tools and test them out to see which one suits your personality.

Write down your goals the night before

If you want to be productive at home you need to write down your goals the night before. This makes it easier to jump in and start working on your goals. Unfortunately, many of us don’t do this and the problem is that often it leads us to not doing what we planned on doing in the first place.

The day runs away from us and we forget all the things we needed to do. It is so much easier knowing what you need to do at work because you already know if you don’t do something you can lose your job. At home, we have no one telling us what we should do and that is why we are less productive at home.

There’s no urgency and it is scientific that human beings respond better to urgency. This is why when you write something down it sends signals to your brain telling you that you need to complete the tasks because they are important. When you are first doing this start with three tasks. It is important you get everything done that you list down. If you add too many things you won’t complete it in time.

You set the precedent so that is why you need build this skill up by starting small. Complete those three tasks and you will shocked by the amount of progress you make. And if you finish the tasks you can start something else or learn something.

Also Related: How To Set Goals (And Why You Should Write Them Down)

Write down your goals the night before

If you want to be productive at home you need to write down your goals the night before. This makes it easier to jump in and start working on your goals. Unfortunately, many of us don’t do this and the problem is that often it leads us to not doing what we planned on doing in the first place.

The day runs away from us and we forget all the things we needed to do. It is so much easier knowing what you need to do at work because you already know if you don’t do something you can lose your job. At home, we have no one telling us what we should do and that is why we are less productive at home.

There’s no urgency and it is scientific that human beings respond better to urgency. This is why when you write something down it sends signals to your brain telling you that you need to complete the tasks because they are important. When you are first doing this start with three tasks. You must get everything done that you list down. If you add too many things you won’t complete it in time.

You set the precedent so that is why you need to build this skill up by starting small. Complete those three tasks and you will be shocked by the amount of progress you make. And if you finish the tasks you can start something else or learn something.

Also Related: How To Set Goals (And Why You Should Write Them Down)

Strengthen your mindset

If you want to be productive at home then you need to strengthen your mindset. What I mean by this is that it will take time to get a handle on things. It will take time to change course because when you are doing something that isn’t part of your routine it is hard. For example, if you decided that you needed to eat more protein in the morning instead of cereal it doesn’t happen overnight.

It takes time to put everything into practice. This is the same thing. You need your mindset to change so that you can take on the day. What I mean by this is becoming productive at home is a way of life. Your habits need to change and that is a hard thing to do. You need to mentally prepare for everything and take charge. 

In the beginning, it won’t be easy but if you believe you can do it then you will. If you don’t believe you can change your mindset then you won’t. This is why it is important to feed your mind things that strengthen it from podcasts to reading self-help books and watching interviews about successful people.

I know it is hard to do this when fear is outside knocking our doors, but don’t allow fear to push you aside. Don’t let fear stomp on you until you surrender to it. Everything before the quarantine was uncertain and yes, this is far worse than what has happened in recent times, but you survived that you must believe you will survive this. 

I want you to believe that you were created for a reason and keep reminding yourself of that. Keep feeding your mind positive information and this will help strengthen your mindset. This is one of the best ways to be productive at home. It all starts with how your mindset views the world. If it is based on negative notions then it will be difficult moving forward. 

 Also Related: Is A Success Mindset Still Key to Success?

Set boundaries

You are doing great. I need you to know that, but so that you don’t burn out or get distracted set healthy boundaries. Tell the people at home how many hours you will be working for and at what time. You must also keep a note of the time, don’t extend yourself. Sure, you can say you will work for five hours straight, but we all human. It is okay to take breaks. 

Even successful people don’t work for five hours straight. They take breaks in between so that they don’t burn out. Don’t burn out because that won’t help anyone if you fizzle out trying to be superhuman. Be gentle on yourself. Love yourself. One way you can do that is by not pushing yourself to the point where you start seeing double. Even if doesn’t get that bad, take breaks after every two hours.

Even if they are twenty-minute breaks that can still help you relax your mind. We all need to get better at setting healthy boundaries and the reason why many of us don’t is that we believe we don’t need to. When you first started your job you had to set boundaries in the way you dealt with your co-workers and everyone else. The difference here is you are doing it at home.

If you don’t set healthy boundaries then you won’t be productive at home and this isn’t what you want. You want to be productive at home so you can achieve more in your free time and the way you do that is by knowing your limits.

What strategies do you think will help you be productive at home? Comment below

                                                                    KEEP  PUSHING

                                                                                                       VANESSA