The ultimate work-from-home guide (11 steps to build the perfect routine)

You’re working from home now.

This is what you’ve been waiting for. You get to do work in your pyjamas and can take as many breaks as you want!

This is great!

But somehow, and you don’t quite know how it happened, your day has turned into a blend of working, tv, snacking constantly, and now you’ve spent the whole day half-working and not getting as nearly as much done as you thought you would.

It’s an easy trap to get into (and I know because I was in it for a loooong time), but I have found some great tips to help you to work from home without distractions or

Let’s take a look at the ideal work-from-home routine!

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Step 1: Develop a daily ritual!

This is essential to keep yourself from slipping into the “work-from-home limbo”, where you don’t know what you’re doing, where you’re going, or even what day it is! Humans thrive on rituals and familiarity.

I’ve been working at home for a while and I realized that I don’t like having my day overly planned, but I do like to have a few non-negotiables throughout my day!

Step 2: More specifically, develop a morning ritual that you look forward to so that it makes waking up easier!

I find it incredibly difficult to wake up if I don’t have somewhere to be, so I use a few tricks to help me to get out of bed!

Such as

looking forward to my morning coffee
having a shower
having my smoothie bowl and toast for breakfast!

It can be INCREDIBLY hard to get out of bed if you don’t have something FORCING you to, so if you can, try to schedule something in the morning that will get you up and out of bed! Maybe like a phone call with a friend who also needs some extra motivation, or find a live, online workout class or meditation! Get creative!

Step 3: Have a dedicated workspace.

It can be oh-so tempting to work from the couch, but the posture you have on a couch signals your body to be too relaxed and definitely not in “work-mode”

This will also separate your “work-life” from your “home-life”.

If you get bored sitting in one place all day, then have your main workspace (for getting the really intense stuff done) and then have a back-up workspace, when you don’t need to concentrate as much.

Related Article: How to create a great goal setting worksheet

Step 4: Keep up with your scheduling

First of all – use google calendar!!

This is the best scheduling program! You can make multiple calendars for the different things you have going on (so you can see them either all together or separately!)

It’s so easy and you can drag and drop anything you have scheduled! Which is especially great if you have unforeseen things come up in your day – with trust me, happens a lot when you’re working at home!

Bonus: make sure you schedule in breaks!!!

Step 5: Use productivity techniques

Technique 1: The Pomodoro Technique

At home, your days are less structured without meetings, etc. So it’s important to give yourself some structure. The pomodoro technique is great for that!

You basically just yourself 30 min to 1 hr bursts of work, followed by a short break! Super simple and will keep your momentum going and force you to do some solid focused work, with a little reward after!

Productivity Technique 2: Only set 6 tasks for the day

This is a good rule of thumb for whether you work from home or at an office! This has generally been found to be the magic number so that you don’t get overwhelmed by the idea of too many tasks.

This is a common rule of people who know that simplicity is the key to productivity. Just set yourself six tasks that you know you can get done. It will work wonders!

Productivity technique 3: Schedule your days with variance, depending on the task

Some days might require long chunks of focused work, others might require short bursts of focus to get lots of little tasks done. Don’t be afraid to change up your daily schedule to match that!

Check some other scheduling tips and productivity misconceptions here!

Step 6: Eliminate distractions

When you don’t necessarily have a strict schedule and you are at home (where there are TONS of distractions).

Here are three simple ways to help with that!

Have a semi-secluded work station.
Let your family know when it’s time for you to work – and ask them politely not to interrupt you. (This might not work if you have kids). But schedule specific times for when they can come into your space or schedule some specific quality time with them throughout the day
Use the freedom app! It blocks any distracting website or app of your choosing on your computer and your phone. Honestly SO helpful! Which brings me to my next point:

Step 7: Invest in a productivity app!

I’m usually not a fan of productivity apps, because there are just too many out there and they can sort of bog down your mind.

However, freedom is an app that simply blocks all of the distracting websites and apps for you! And it works on your phone too!

When you’re working at home, it can be so easy to get distracted by websites and apps on your phone, especially when your boss isn’t there to monitor you.

This app is what has saved me while working from home!

Step 8 : Keep designated work hours (and have a cut-off time).

This one is pretty simple, but seriously, have a cut-off time! It can be tempting to try and just get a bit more done, but then you end up working all day!

The beauty of working from home, though, is that it can be whenever you want! So if you sleep in, you can still fit your work day in!

However, I would still encourage your cut-off time to be no later than 6 so that you have motivation to wake up earlier!

Otherwise, you’ll let yourself sleep in later and later, until eventually, you’re working from 12-9! (which trust me, is not great, I have fallen into that schedule…. not so great!)

Step 9: Make Time For exercise!

If your whole day revolves around being at home, it can be really hard to think about getting out and exercising.

It was a lot easier when you could just go to the gym while you were out already! But thanks to Covid right now, that’s not really an option!

So put it in your plan and get used to either just going for a nice walk or doing a fun at home workout! There are so many on instagram! Search @demibagby on instagram she has a whole bunch of fun at-home, full-body workouts that are really fun!

The BONUS of being at home, is that you can just dance with the music blasting as a warm up! You can’t do that at a gym! Well you could if you’re very confident!

Step 10: Keep up your meal prep (or start it).

Did you used to pack a lunch for work every day? Keep that up! Otherwise it’ll take too much time out of your work hours to make a lunch!

Or take one day a week to prepare your lunches! You can check out this amazing weekly meal planner that I sell on etsy! It’s so helpful and it’s the only thing that has gotten me to do my meal prepping!

Step 11: Plan something fun after work! and on your weekend!

Don’t let work spill into your weekend. Just don’t.

Even if you don’t think you do, you NEED a weekend to refresh your brain!

It can be tempting to squeeze in more work on the weekend (if you’re that type of person! haha, I am depending on what I’m doing), but if you don’t give yourself a nice, big break!

Otherwise, you’ll burn out!

You need to have fun and enjoy yourself frequently!

If you want some extra help with your productivity, time-management, and scheduling – check out my free time-management and productivity!

It’s 5 sessions to help you with goal-setting, productivity misconceptions, organization systems, habits, and mindset! It really gives you everything! You can sign up below!