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Over the years, working from home has become so much more popular- and easier to do!

But, when you are used to an office setting, having a productive day working from home can be challenging.

It’s quite a big switch to get used to and a huge change in the working environment.

However, with a few tweaks to your overall routine, it’s still possible to have a productive day working from home!

Whether you’re shifting from working in the office due to the pandemic, or you’re trying to start your own business and work from home full-time, these tips will help you have a productive day working from home!

How can you start working from home?

Before we get into the tips of working from home, you may be asking yourself how is it even possible to work from the comfort of your own home?!

And I know for a lot of people, this became possible in 2020 during the pandemic when a lot of office jobs started keeping employees at home.

But, if you weren’t one of those lucky people, or if you’ve been sent back into the office, you may be wondering how it’s still possible!

I’ve been working from home since 2020 myself, thanks to the pandemic closing down my job, but I got to stay home thanks to my business.

Start content creation online

If you’re looking to get back to the comfort of working from home or wanting to try it out for the first time, one of the best ways to get started is by creating content online!

There are a ton of opportunities to start making money online, although I will warn you none of them are a get-rich-quick scheme!

Start your own blog

This is the first way I dove into the content creation world, at least in a serious enough way to turn it into a business.

A blog is a great way to share your knowledge on a topic, connect with an audience and make some money on the side as well!

But it also has the potential to turn into a full-fledge business and allow you to work from home and quit your day job!

What you need to start a blog

It takes a bit of setup to start a blog, but it’s worth it in the end!

In order to make money with your blog, you’ll want to invest a bit and make sure you’ve set it up correctly by using a self-hosted WordPress site.

Here are a few things you’ll need to get started:

• Hosting & domain: You’ll need to sign up with a hosting company to get your blog running (I recommend starting with Siteground!) And you’ll need a .com link for your site, A.K.A your domain (You can also get this with Siteground as well!)

• Getting your blog legally protected (Something I mistakenly didn’t do right away! You’ll need a Terms and Conditions, Private Policy & Disclaimer. Save yourself the hassle and get them from this legal bundle)

• A premium blog theme: I’ve found all of my themes on Creative Market. This is the best place to find stunning, reliable and affordable themes for your blog!

PRO TIP: If you struggle to install a theme yourself, or if you don’t want to mess with it at all, check out my theme installation service! It’s exactly as it sounds- I will install your theme for you, and at a potential discount!

Start a YouTube channel

Starting a YouTube channel was the best decision I made for myself because it really started my success in making money online, and thankfully has brought more success to my blog. Which is something that I struggled with for a long time.

A YouTube channel is a lot of work to start up, but it is cheaper than starting a blog because you don’t need to worry about setting up a website, buying hosting, or anything like that.

What you need to start a YouTube channel

If you’re ready to start your YouTube channel off on the right foot, these are a few things I recommend getting.

• A good camera. You can always start with just your phone, but you’ll need to upgrade at some point! I currently have the Cannon M50 camera and while it is on the expensive side, this camera can carry you your entire YouTube career! You’d never need to upgrade if you didn’t want to.

• A good microphone. This is important as well because if the video doesn’t sound good, people won’t stay very long. a good shotgun mic to use (meaning it attaches to your camera) is the one I have, a Rode Video microphone. I bought this when I bought my camera and haven’t needed to upgrade it either!

• Lighting. The other huge component of a good video. I currently use this light set right here and I love them, but you don’t need this to start out. You can just buy one of them, or you can also get this ring light here which is how I started out!

If you don’t have the funds for any of this, using just your phone and a window light works well. But you’ll definitely want to upgrade as soon as you can, so if you’re looking to start out right, that’s the best gear to get!

| VIDEO: How to Finally Start a YouTube Channel… in Under 5 Minutes!

4 Ways to Have a Super Productive Day Working from Home!

With that out of the way, let’s get to talking about how you can actually have a productive day working from home!

Over the past few years of doing this myself, I’ve picked up a lot of tips and tricks to make sure I get everything done that needs to be.

1. Have a morning routine

The start of your day is super important for setting yourself up for success the rest of the day.

And this doesn’t mean you have to wake up at 5am or 6am just to have a productive day.

Everyone’s morning routine is going to be different, and it may change depending on if you’re working full time from home or not.

I also don’t think you need to start work the moment you open your eyes either.

This is something I used to do and it lead me to burn out. I would work from the moment I woke up til I went to sleep.

I did make a decent amount of progress, but it left me with way more stress and burnout than it was worth.

So here’s a few ways to start your morning off right!

| RELATED: 6 Ways to Have a Successful Morning Routine

• Take time for yourself

Don’t be afraid to take some of the morning for yourself!

I will start out the day by taking care of my cats, making breakfast, and either journaling, reading, or watching a YouTube video. Whatever I really feel like doing.

I tend to wake up by 8 or 9am and start work after 10am. This gives me plenty of time to take care of myself and my cats in the morning before diving into work.

I also have time to hang out with my husband and pour into myself so I have the ability to give my best at my job!

• Avoid social media

Another thing to do is to avoid social media in the morning, I find if I am on my phone all morning, I will be more likely to want to be on my phone all day too.

Plus, social media brings out the most negative people and I always immediately feel awful after reading the nastiness that people put all over the internet.

• Get ready for the day

If you are working from home full-time, I also recommend getting dressed every day, even if you’re planning on hanging out on the couch all-day.

You’re likely to be way more productive if you’re not in your pajamas!

I tend to stay in comfortable clothes, since I have the luxury to do so, but not the clothes I slept in the night before!

I also try to work in my office as much as possible as well so I can be more productive.

Working on the couch is great, and way more comfortable, but there’s something about sitting at a desk in an office that make you more productive!

2. Plan out your day

You’ll also want to have a bit of a plan for your day.

You don’t want to be doing busy work the entire day, or end up working on things that won’t get you closer to your goals.

There’s a ton of different productivity techniques you can use to make sure you have a productive day working from home.

• Create a to-do list

Assuming that you have some monthly goals planned out, you can take a second to review them in order to make sure you’re on track to hit them.

And then write out a to-do list for what needs to get done in the day.

I love having a planner to figure out what content I want to post for the month, keep track of goals and anything else I need.

I also have been using Monday.com to plan out content as well and it’s been very helpful!

For goals, I’ve been using Trello.com. Both of these are free resources you can use.

There are paid upgrades, as you’d expect, but I haven’t needed them!

• Time block your day

Another technique you could use is blocking out time in your day to get all the tasks done that you need to.

Giving yourself a time limit will help you get things done faster.

Because if you allow yourself an endless amount of time to do the tasks, it will take a lot longer. Versus, if you give yourself 30 minutes to do a task, it’ll likely take you 30 minutes.

Of course, this doesn’t work every single time but the more you time yourself, the better you’ll be able to time yourself in the future.

| RELATED: The 7 Step Pomodoro Technique to Crush your To-Do List!

• Theme each day of the week

This is similar to time blocking your day, except each day can be related to a specific task.

Maybe one day you write blog posts, the next day is for social media, and another day is for YouTube videos.

Not every single day needs to have a specific task, but you can set aside days for the important ones.

Batching your work is one of the best ways to make sure a lot of work gets done in less time!

PRO TIP: One of the things I have noticed myself is not every productivity technique works for everyone! Try these out, and if they don’t work- try something else! Don’t force yourself to use something that doesn’t work for you. Over time, you’ll figure out what’s best!

3. Have a clear working schedule

Just because you’re no longer working in an office, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t have “office hours!”

You’ll want to have a structured work day whenever possible, so set times to work and set times to take a break.

Just because you are working from home and don’t need to have hours to “clock in” and “clock out” doesn’t mean you need to be working all the time!

But, it also means you need to have a lot more disciple because you’ll be the only one motivating you to do the work!

With no consequences for not working (other than your business won’t grow) it can be easy to just… not work.

On the other hand, if you love your job (which you should if it’s your business!) you may feel the need to work all the time, and the pressure to make money. Therefore, needing to work all the time.

But that can lead to burnout, which isn’t great as a creator either.

It’s all about having a balance.

Hustle culture made us think we always need a side hustle and need to to be working all the time, which is definitely not the case!

Or, because you’re working from home, you may be more easily distracted by chores, family, pets or Netflix instead of spending time working.

That’s where a working schedule can help! As long as you can discipline yourself enough to stick to them.

| RELATED: How to Have a Productive Office Space!

4. Keep distractions to a minimum

When you’re trying to have a productive day working from home, you may find yourself distracted by all the things that are needed to keep a home running.

Cleaning, taking care of pets, cooking meals… All the tasks that you’d normally save for the weekend or after you cam home from the office are now right in front of your face all day.

And may make for a great distraction when you don’t feel like getting your actual work done!

Here’s a few things you can do to manage your time better.

Set boundaries with your family

If your family happens to be at home when you’re working, you may need to set boundaries with them.

Get your husband to take care of the kids while you work, or ask them to be quiet or leave you alone during a certain time of day.

I know for me, my cats are a big distaction.

Once we wake up in the morning, it’s playtime! Since they were bored all night waiting for me to wake up.

So if I don’t play with them in the morning and give them the attention they want, they’ll meow, act up and fight until I do.

Which doesn’t make for a very productive morning! So, I change my schedule to accommodate their needs.

(Extremely “mandatory” photo of my cats! Because you can’t mention animals without showing them off! This is Rosie and Millie!)

Create a productive work from home space

If you’re lucky enough to have a spare room to claim as your office, make sure to do that!

This will allow you to have a quiet space away from the rest of the house. But not only that, you can design the space to be productive and functional.

I like to have my vision board in my office so I’ll see it as I’m working in there. I also keep my camera and recording equipment in there, since that’s where all my videos are filmed.

Having a fun and inspiring place to work will make working more enjoyable!

You also won’t have any distractions like household chores that may need to be done.

Make time for household chores

Another way to keep up on the house is to specifically block time to do the chores that need to be done.

You can save time by meal planning and prepping, or using a service like Hello Fresh to have ready-for-you meals delivered to your door.

Set aside time to do the laundry, wash dishes or anything else that you need to do.

This will make sure your house stays clean and you’re not just using chores as a way to get out of work you don’t want to do!

There are a lot of ways you can make sure you have a productive day working from home and if you enjoyed this post, you may enjoy checking these out as well!

• 8 Morning Habits of Productive Women
• 64 Ways to Create Your Perfect Morning Routine
• When to Know You’re Overworked in the Blogging Industry!