7 Ways to Be Productive at Home While Quarantined
Treat your home as an office and set expectations for your family.
“All great achievements are the result of sustained focus over time — all of them.” — Gary Keller
So many of us are entrepreneurs. We already work from home, we set our own schedules. We know how to deal with uncertainty. When things change that are out of our control, we know how to change with the unexpected.
While the world goes dark more things are out of our control than usual.
Your entire routine has changed. During this time, you have to rethink how you do things.
I know I have.
My partner and child are home all the time now.
I don’t write well with others meandering around the house making noise, asking for my attention. I feel like the new role in my family primarily consists of walking around the house, shouting, “Only ONE paper towel!” anytime anyone approaches the roll.
Along with routine changes, there is more uncertainty, whether that is in the form of income changes or potential health problems or both.
We are also required to stay inside for most of the day.
Before shelter in place, I lived a busy life, I went out three to five times a day. While I have more time to write, I also have other people demanding my attention and energy.
Here are some work from home ideas to implement with your family so you can still get your job done
1. Find a space that’s all you own
If you don’t have an office in your home, make one. Dedicate a space.
Your kitchen table will work (although not ideal because the family spends so much time in and out of the kitchen), a corner in your bedroom will suffice or clear out the garage, set up a table, and make it your office.
This is your space to work.
When you walk into this designated space, that means it is off-limits to your family. While you’re working, they need to respect that it’s your time. Put up a “do not disturb” sign on the door. They cannot disturb you unless there is an emergency. An emergency requires blood spilled or a bone broken.
2. Set up dedicated work hours
Sit down with your family for a family meeting. Now is the time before weeks drag on and days get chaotic.
Say something clear and concise, “Hello husband and kids, I will be working from 7 to 11:00 am. I do not want to be disturbed during this time.”
I realize this does not work with kids under the age of five-years-old. Children under a certain age, need more attention and guarding for their safety. If you do not have someone to watch them, you will have to juggle both. Tag team with your partner. For instance, your partner works a block of hours while you occupy the kids and then switch. You both get time to work, and no one resents the other.
For older children and spouse, be clear, you need to write and work on your business.
Make clear that if they need a lunch, they need to make it. If they use a dish, they need to wash it. If they drop something on the floor, they need to pick it up. If they dirty it, they need to clean it.
3. Work during your power hours
Time block your power hours. Your power hours are when you get the most done.
Focused chunks of time create success — time blocking.
It is impossible to have a perfect day every day. You don’t have a steady stream of will power; no one does.
When you wake each morning, whether you wake at 6:00 am, or 10:00 am, these are your power hours.
Working for three straight hours with concentrated focus is more productive than going in and out of your office all day, where the family will interrupt your time.
If you focus for three straight hours and get your ‘one thing’ done in those power hours, it drives the rest of your day and your week.
You will have more free time for the family if you focus on your main thing for those three hours. It is really remarkable how much work you can get accomplished sitting in the chair, uninterrupted during your power hours.
After those three hours, spend time with your family, you will feel more present during the time you do have with them because you got your thing accomplished for the day, at the beginning of the day, during those power hours.
4. Bring things
When you go into your workspace during your designated work hours, you’ve previously discussed with your family, bring what you need; water, espresso, a snack, and go to the bathroom before you start working.
Prepare for working as you do going into a movie theater to see a film.
Imagine how you prepare for enjoying the movie. You turn off your cell phone. In case you get hungry, you get snacks before the movie starts. You go to the bathroom, so you don’t have to get up during the film. You do everything you need to do, so those two to three hours are not interrupted by anything. Going to a movie is an example of focused time blocking.
You want to avoid coming back into the central hub of your home — the kitchen — where everyone seems to gather, and where someone will inevitably ask you for something, “Will you make me a turkey sandwich with everything on it?” and “Can you make me an iced blended mache latte?” and now, “Where did you hide all the toilet paper?”
These are some of the questions I get.
Avoid going into a room where your family will try to cross your boundaries and make bids for communication until your power hours are complete.
5. Set expectations
My partner excels at this. It helps that he knows me. He knows how impatient I am in the morning to get going.
When we hike in the mornings, I’m get ready to go quickly. I want to get my exercise in and get on with the day. Because he knows this about me, he sets expectations.
When we have plans to get to or he senses I’m craving his attention, he will say to me, “I just need 20 more minutes to respond to these emails, and then I’m all yours.” He is setting expectations. I feel respected when he does this.
I know what to expect. He keeps his word and is finished in 20 minutes, and then he shifts his attention and focus.
6. Set boundaries with family
Miscommunication happens when we aren’t clear and decisive with our limits.
We assume our ideas about how the day should go are the same as our partner’s ideas or how our child thinks the day will unfold.
Don’t assume.
Assuming is the quickest way to miscommunicate — a missed opportunity for understanding.
Be clear about your wants and needs. And, don’t assume your family’s wants and needs are the same as yours — they aren’t.
7. Lead by example
Be the leader for your family when it comes to clear communication, so they know what it looks like.
By setting boundaries in clear and concise terms, meaning, saying them calmly — out loud — to your loved ones, wires won’t get crossed.
There will be a lot less uncertainly when you’re transparent with the tasks that are important to you and what you need to accomplish for your peace of mind.
When your family understands this, they will feel more inclined to respect your boundaries.
When we communicate beforehand, in a way that is respectful and not reactionary, those we love will be much more receptive.
Many of us are feeling unsettled right now. People use to forging their own path in the world rely on their strength and steadfastness to do so.
You have those qualities.
Finding strength, workaround ideas, and new solutions to problems is not a new concept to many of us who are making our own unique path in the world, and living life on our terms — starting a business, freelance writing, making a difference online.
People who do these kinds of things are usually familiar with stretching for self-improvement and reaching unattainable objectives.
Anyone who has spent their lives on self-improvement, setting impossible goals and fighting to accomplish them has the grit and creativity to get through challenging times and lead their family along the way.
Jessica is a writer, an online entrepreneur, and a recovering Type A personality. She lives in Los Angeles with her extrovert daughter, two dogs, and two cats.
