Hello All,

I hope everyone is doing well especially considering what’s happening in the world right now. Given that many more people are going to be working from home for the foreseeable future, I thought I’d share some tips on how I’ve successfully worked from home for the past almost three years. These are just guidelines/tips that work for me. Feel free to take or leave what you like. I hope this helps some of you who are forced to find a new normal in this current climate. Here goes …

Tip #1:

ROUTINES, ROUTINES, ROUTINES!

I cannot stress the importance of finding and developing a daily routine that works for you. For some, working from home can seem like a vacation or a “day off.” It’s not. Work still needs to get done. My routine consists of me getting up at the same time every day (Monday through Friday), eating breakfast at the same time every day, starting work at the same time, Lunch, etc. Just as you would if you were going to an office each day, you show up to your home office (I’ll get to that next) at the same time each day, begin working at the same time, and end at the same time. Do not try to sneak in an extra hour or two of sleep and just say you’ll push work back another hour at the end of the day. When I’ve done that, I’ve found myself less motivated to get that additional hour in at the end of the day. Routines are important to helping me strategize the time I have to work with on any given day.

Tip #2:

WORKSPACE

Have a dedicated work space that is used only for work purposes. Obviously, if you’re new to working from home, you may not have an office or the room to set up an entire office to work. However, can you clear off space of your dining room table to set up your laptop to complete work? Can you transform your bedroom vanity area into a work space? I have a work desk where my laptop sits that also holds things like my planner, thesaurus, dictionary, and other items I frequently reach for while writing. Now, I won’t lie, there are days when I’m not feeling well, that I’ll grab my laptop and write while in bed. Those days, however, are far and few in between, because I am just less productive when writing from bed. I’d rather be lounging or sleeping if I’m in bed, so I keep it to a minimum. Make sure, you find a comfortable yet appropriate work space that will allow you to be productive during the time you’ve designated to get work done.

Tip #3:

CREATE A TO DO LIST/HAVE A GOAL FOR EACH DAY

As an author, most days my goal is simple: to hit my word count for that day. On certain days of the week, I have different word count goals than on other days. But each morning one of the first things I do when I sit down at my desk is to take out my planner, look at my current work in progress (WIP), and write how many words should be in my WIP by the time I’m finished for that day. For me, having a tangible thing like a word count to hit by the end of the day allows me to see the actual progress I’ve made. Also, at the end of each working day, I’ll write down in my planner what I want to achieve for the next day. So, if I want to write 7,000 words I’ll write that down. Send emails to a few people? I’ll write that on the list of to-dos for the following day. Need to do some research for an upcoming project or find images for a book cover? All of that will be written in my planner, so that when I look at it the next morning, I know what I need to do that day.

Tip #4

TAKE BREAKS!

This one is important– just as important as the three I mentioned above. We are not machines. We are people with real brains and bodies that actually benefit when we get up from the desk and stretch out our muscles, move around a bit, drink some water, etc. There have been many time when I’ve come to a place in my WIP where I don’t know what to write next. Often, when that happens, I’ll get up from my desk, walk around my living room a bit, stretch, maybe even do a few dishes that are in the sink, and once I come back to my laptop, I’ve got an idea on where to go next with the story. Don’t get lost in thinking you absolutely have to fill each minute of the day with being productive. If you need to, go outside for a 15 minute walk, pause to play with your kids (if they’re home from school), do a short yoga video, just something to get your body moving and your mind off of work for at least a few minutes.

Tip #5

EAT!

This kind of goes along with the notion of taking breaks. Feeding yourself is important. I will often realize that one of the reasons I’m having trouble concentrating on the scene I’m trying to write or the emails I need to send, or whatever, is because I’m hungry. My body needs sustenance. It’s not a mistake that once I’ve eaten, my focus increases ten fold. With that being said, I start my day with a breakfast and halfway during the work day, I pause work to eat lunch. Also, I don’t write while eating. My lunches are typically no longer than 20 to 30 minutes, but during that time I not only fill up on nutrition, my mind has had a chance to relax and concentrate on something else, which makes it better able to focus once I get back to writing.

Tip #6

LEAVE WORK AT WORK.

Remember that designated working space that you’ve set up? Leave ALL your work right there. I promise you it will be there the next day when you get back to your desk/office/dining room table, etc. This is why having a dedicated work space is so important, once you move from that area, it allows you to mentally remind yourself that, you’re “leaving work” for the day. As an author who LOVES her career, I sometimes found it hard to separate working from just being at home. However, once I learned to set goals for the day and then be able to walk away once I hit those objectives, I found I was much more relaxed and ready to go the next day when it was time to start working again. Also, I rarely write/work on weekends. That is my time to spend with friends, family, get outdoors or just watch mindless TV. Whatever I enjoy. With that, I find myself excited on Sunday afternoons and evenings to be able to wake up the following day (Monday) and dive back into my writing. Even when you love and are passionate about your career, it’s important to find work-life balance.

Okay, those are my six tips on how to productively and successfully work from home. I hope you find them helpful, and again, I wish you all peace of mind, health, and well-being during this time.