How I Stay Productive Working from Home

Working from home (or “WFH”) may seem like the dream. In many ways, it is. You can wear whatever you’d like, take breaks whenever, set up your workspace exactly as you like it, and most importantly, skip that dreaded commute.

Working from home also has its downsides. Surrounding you, basically staring at you: A comfy couch, unlimited access to Netflix, and a cupboard full of your favorite snacks – waiting for you to pounce. These can lead to a severe drop in productivity if not armed with ways to combat them.

After 11 years in the corporate world, followed by a few months of unproductive WFH time, here are four ways that make my WFH time even MORE productive than office time. 

1. Pomodoros

I operate in scheduled blocks, setting up non-negotiable work periods, followed by planned, purposeful breaks. I found this method, called the Pomodoro Technique, in Creating Calling, a book written by Chase Jarvis.

Here’s how it works:

I work for 25 minutes, then take a five minute break. That’s one Pomodoro. Every four Pomodoros, I take a 15 minute break, and repeat two to three more times. The work period is uninterrupted, focused effort. For the breaks, I can do whatever I want – grab a snack, check social media, respond to emails. I’ve even banged out 50 pushups. When the timer goes off, it’s break over and back to my tasks.

One other tip here: use a timer other than your phone. Oven timer, a watch, whatever. If your phone is close, the desire to check it is often too great.

2. Music

I put my headphones in, pump up the volume to a reasonable level, and get to work. But not just any music. Instrumental music with NO lyrics. I find that if I put my favorite playlist on, I’ll air drum (I used to play drums) on my table instead of typing on my keyboard. There are tons of instrumental lists on Spotify. Classical music is also great. Playlists with “study” in the title tend to be super helpful too. 

My favorite though: Nature Sounds. I have a track called “Relax Beach Sleep” that I put on repeat (on right now as I write this!). I love the ocean. And it’s so “white-noise-like” that it blocks out all ambient sound. Win-win.

3. Food

Not going to lie. This one is the toughest (I didn’t want to put it first and scare you off… figured we’d ease in ha!), but has made the biggest impact for me. By far. Ready? Throw out all of your junk food.

Extreme, I know, but hear me out.

When I first started working from home, I’d eat frequently, mainly out of boredom. I’d snack on wasteful, processed snacks (salt & pepper potato chips) that were, at best, not that good for me, and at worst, murdering my productivity.

Bad food is bad for my brain. It slows down my thinking, crushes my motivation, makes me tired, and then perpetuates THIS awful cycle: hunger -> eat shitty snack -> get tired/stop working -> nap -> day over.

But, if I reached for healthy snacks – fruits, veggies & hummus, cheese, hard-boiled eggs, nuts, rice cakes with peanut butter, I found myself satiated, energized, and able to keep working. I did something good for my body AND my workday. Another win-win. Find your favorite healthy snack and stock up. 

4. Recharge

No matter what I did, on some days, I just got tired. At first, I took naps. Why not? I’m home, my couch (or bed!) is right there, I can wake up, and come right back to work. Just 20-30 minutes of sleep. Wrong. If this works for you, teach me. I’m super jealous.

20-30 minutes was never enough. If I woke up tired, or didn’t sleep at all, I’d just snooze another 30 minutes. Sometimes another 60. And I always felt the same when I woke up: tired.

Here’s what worked better for me: a quick burst of high-intensity exercise. Anywhere from 5-15 minutes was super effective in pushing me through that 3pm yawnfest, all the way to 6pm.

Now this took WAY more of a mental effort than rolling onto my couch and dozing off, but the effort was well worth the outcome: Mental clarity, laser focus, and a recharge that prepared me to finish my day strong.

Not sure what kind of workout you can do in your apartment? I compiled a book of 50 workouts you can do at home, with no equipment, and even no clothes, if you prefer. Why not take FULL advantage of working from home, amiright? And saving on laundry.

Yet another win-win.