Quarantined: Being Productive While Working From Home
I've got an idea for you. Don't waste these days in quarantine. Now I know you're not sitting around with nothing to do. More than likely you've got kids pulling at you. You've got ministry responsibilities that you're trying to keep going. You're trying to help people and you're trying to do this from your couch or your kitchen table. But here's the thing to remember. You might be busy, but that doesn't mean you're productive. Being productive while working from home is not an easy thing to do. If you've worked from home, you know that, especially if you have children at home and you've got a dog barking beside you that needs food or needs to go out and you've got these distractions. Let me give you a few tips to help you stay focused at home.
Number one, I want you to wake up every day. I want you to get out of your pajamas, take a shower, get dressed, and that will help your mindset. If you stay in your sweat pants or you stay in your pajamas all day, guys, if you go through the day and you don't shave you know, it just really affects your mindset and your ability to focus and be productive. So get up guys, shave, take a shower, get ready for the day. Number two, set some priorities for the day. Set some priorities for the day. What are some things I really want to get done today? Now, you may not be able to make a list of 22 things. Here's what you can do. You can do a three by three list. Start with three big things you'd like to do today. These are my three main priorities. If I could get these three things done, that would be great. And then I want you to come up with three more things. If I get those three things done, here are three other things I could do.
Here's your final list of three here. Who are three people that I could talk to today and encourage. There's a three by three plan. It'll help you stay focused and stay productive. What are three big priorities for the day? What are three things that I could do right now if I get those three big priorities done and who are three people that I could talk to and encourage? Number one, get out of bed, take a shower, get dressed for the day. Number two, set some priorities. Number three, identify a place where you are going to work. Maybe it's a certain part of the kitchen table or the dining room table. Maybe you have a home office. Maybe you need to set up a card table and a chair. This is my designated workspace. Now you can work from the couch and you can bounce around, but I have found you're going to be more focused if you have one place that this is where I sit and work.
A final word of encouragement to help you stay productive while you're working from home and that is work in blocks of time. Now, I can't tell you what those blocks look like because I don't know the dynamics of your home and what you have to do. Maybe it's a 15 minute block or maybe it's a one hour block or a two hour block, but I'm going to have blocks of time where I'm going to do my best to really focus and get some things done. If you don't have a plan and you're not intentional, you will find yourself being quarantined at home and being busy, but not getting anything done.