Have a Daily Schedule when Working from Home
Working remotely is fantastic; you have a lot of freedom to work anywhere you want, create your own daily schedule and overall have a better work-life balance. However, it can also have its drawbacks. It means that you are probably working from home most of the time, and that can blur the line between when you work and when you don’t. It can be easy to get sucked in and ‘just do this real quick’, especially if you like the work you’re doing. That’s why it’s important to have a daily schedule when working from home.
This will help you create the boundaries needed to prevent constantly working.
My Work Schedule
Mine varies a bit depending on my wife’s work schedule and daughter (soon to be kids!), but in general here’s what it looks like:
- 6:00am: Wake Up
- 6:30 – 7:30am: Morning time (read or prep for day, gym if wife isn’t working)
- 7:30 – 8:30am: Kiddo time (take her to school on days my wife works).
- 9:00 – 12:00pm: Work
- 12:00 – 1:00pm: Lunch
- 1:00 – 5:30pm: Work (Pick up daughter from school on days wife works)
- 5:30 – 8:00pm: Dinner & Family time
- 8:30 – 10:00pm: TV / Unwind before bed
Again, this can move around a bit depending on what I have to do, but I try to stick to this to make sure I don’t work too long, burnout, or lose time with my family.
Wiggle Room
Now of-course, there is some wiggle room here. My wife is a nurse who works three 12-hour shifts per week. But the point is I try to stick to a schedule/routine every day to keep me focused and get into a good work mindset. Being at home can easily lead to distractions – especially with your TV right upstairs!
A Little Pre-Planning
The last thing I do before I leave my office most days is plan the next day. I review what I got done and what I need to do, review my schedule, and determine the 3 (at most) tasks I plan to accomplish. This allows me to hit the ground running when I get into the office. It also lets me prioritize, in-case my day doesn’t go as planned above (like if my daughter is home sick from school).
Do you work from home? What’s your day-to-day look like?
Joe, I wrote such a long reply to your blog, that I had to turn it into its own blog post.
And here it is:
[…]
As a closing remark, I think that as long as you LOVE WHAT YOU DO, it really doesn’t matter where you work from. But as the gas prices keep going up (yes, there was a 30¢/gallon price dip recently, and don’t you think that it will stay like this), with traffic getting more chaotic, and with more people with stress disorders caused by traffic alone, not to mention globalization, I think it might be a good idea to start thinking about working from home, and migrating the work force to their homes. This will accomplish a few of Environmental Protection Agency’s objectives too, and it will definitely reduce pollution.[…]
For the entire article:
http://monicaantohi.com/the-pros-and-cons-of-working-from-home/