Whether you’re working from home or trying to run the house hold and keep up with the chores and errands the trap of procrastination and also the feeling overwhelm can take over and before you know it the day is gone and your to-do’s are still “to-do”. I am so guilty of procrastination and also feeling like there’s too much to do so I do nothing at all so I’ve implemented some things over the last few years since running my business and also having David at home working which have helped us to get our work done each day so I thought they would be worth sharing.

1. TO DO LISTS AND PRIORITIES

   Of course the best way to seep track of your “to-do’s” is by keep a list but what I find the most important thing to do is to prioritise that list and do the tough or most vital jobs first. By doing this you make sure that if you get to the end of the day and only managed a few of these that the most important things are already done. If you don’t prioritise it’s so easy to fall in the trap of doing the easy things first like replying to emails that don’t really matter or wiping down surfaces instead of tackling that washing you really need for the next day. I actually find this tip to be the most important when working from home with a baby or young kids as it’s so unpredictable how much work time you will get.

   Another thing I find really helpful is to categorise your tasks into different areas of life – like work, kids, errands, things to delegate to someone else or things to schedule for another time.

HOW TO IMPLEMENT: On your to do list write 2-3 MOST IMPORTANT items each day and do them first before moving on to the next. Use my “mum brain” to do list template find it HERE.

or

HOW I DO IT: Ive been using the MIGOALS focus pad for a couple of years now and it really helps to prioritise and delegate for my work life. FIND IT HERE

2. VISUAL BOARDS/PLANNERS

I am such a visual person and need constant visual reminders of what tasks I need to do or what I have coming up.

I have two systems in my office which work for me to keep track of what’s coming up daily, weekly, monthly.

I have a white board on the wall with all work, ideas, blogs to write, personal tasks etc that I think of. This gives me a place to quickly jot things down and see how much is coming up.

On my desk I have a monthly desk planner that I write what events, work or must dos each day on – these are things that were on the white board first moved into weeks/months as they come up.

I use a basic office works desk planner but i’m sure there’s more beautiful ones out there.

3.MORNING ROUTINE – DO SOMETHING FOR YOU IN THE MORNING

The best way I work or get things done around the house is when I am in a good or happy mood and I feel clear headed. By getting up and getting my meditation , workout, journalling and even just getting dressed in the morning before I start work or household chores I am always more productive during the day.

Having a good morning routine helps set up the day in a positive way. The morning routine doesn’t always go to plan but on the days it does I have such a better day.

4. REWARD YOURSELF

Set yourself little goals through out the day and when you achieve those reward yourself with a little break in sunshine, a coffee or 5 minutes of yoga. Breaking up the day with little things for yourself has actually also been proven to help with productivity as those brain breaks allow for clearer focus.

5. PUT DOWN THE PHONE

Instagram is my biggest place of procrastination and i’m sure it is for many of you reading this – hey you probably found this blog while procrastinating on instagram. When you have your most important task to complete put your phone down in another room or if you can’t be with out it as you need it for calls turn off all social media notifications or better yet delete your social apps altogether for that time.

6. STOP MULTI-TASKING & COMPLETE THE TASK BEFORE MOVING ON

I noticed a habit recently where I would start something and not finish it because I got distracted or bored and then I would go on to something else instead of just finishing the task at hand. I have now made a rule that I can’t go on to the next task with out finishing the first one (if physically possible). Some ways to stop yourself getting distracted is to close down all the other tabs on your computer including your emails which are such a huge distraction and fully focus on the task at hand.

7. SET TIME FOR EMAILS

Emails are such a never ending time waster and something that never seems to be finished so to keep myself from spending all day replying to emails I have a set time limit of an hour in the morning to get my important emails responded to and then the only other time I will look is when I am feeding or sometimes which I know is bad in bed at night for a short period of time to check if there’s anything urgent to get done before the next morning. I could honestly spend my whole day on there so I try my best to limit it so I can get other tasks completed.

Another great tip for email productivity is too respond with as little questions as possible to help stop the back and forth. I always try to predict what the next email in the chain could be and respond before they even ask.

8. ORGANISED WORK SPACE

Having an organised and systemised workspace that works for you can help with your productivity. Try to keep your office as clutter free to keep your mind clutter free also.

9. OUTSOURCE

Theres things in life, work, business and even our home lives that we just are not good at or that we don’t enjoy so they often get put off. These are often important tasks but we just never make the time for it OR we just don’t do them efficiently. For example I really don’t like cleaning and my husband is so busy working that we prioritise other things like work and our kids so we have decided to outsource our cleaning and pay someone to come and do it for us. Of course we still have cleaning and tidying to do daily but the big deep cleans are done by our cleaner and we can spend those hours being productive working or caring for the kids.

10. SET GOALS

As someone who works from home and for myself and so does my husband it is important for us to set goals for our businesses to ensure that we don’t lose focus on what we are working for or lose the drive to achieve these things. For the past 4 years we have been working towards an over arching goal together and every time we are tired, overwhelmed and feel defeated we always remind ourselves and each other of our end goals and why we do what we do. Its also important to set small goals as business owners to ensure the growth and evolution of your brand and business. From a home life perspective I still believe setting goals is so important to help keep you motivated to achieve things for the home and family. It could be small or large renovation projects, being able to find a schedule that suits your life so you can spend more quality time with the kids etc.