How to Stay Productive Working From Home

While working from home is one of the top job attractions for many millennials these days, it can also be a huge struggle. There’s so much freedom, you don’t have to even move from your bed if you don’t want to and TV can be on. All day long. Although I don’t work from home every day, I do have a few important guidelines to help get you through your work-from-home days.

Snack Smart
It is always smart to have plenty of healthy and delicious snacks on hand, otherwise, you’ll end up binging on take-out food or buying too much at Target. My favorite snack lately is SkinnyPop Popcorn. Since it’s light, I like to eat it in between breakfast and lunch or as a 3pm pick-me-up before dinner. The cheddar flavor is just savory enough to keep me satisfied without leading me to binge on something else. Plus, this popcorn is way healthier than potato chips (and tastier too).

Drink Your Own Coffee
Sure, it’s more fun to head to Starbucks every morning, but then you end up paying $5 for a latte, $4 for a pumpkin loaf and you just end up listening to other people’s conversations instead of getting work done. The pumpkin bread is good, but so is productivity. Plus you know you probably own about 15+ that will make the perfect Instagram post. I love my Keurig and wouldn’t trade it for anything but a home espresso chef and I highly suggest the Sweet Italian Creme coffee creamer.

Take Breaks
When I work from home, I love to take my full lunch break to take Chewy for a walk, do a quick workout video or even start cooking dinner. It’s also so important, no matter where you work from, to take little breaks throughout the day. Whether this is catching up on half of last night’s Modern Family or watching a YouTube video, just taking a few minutes unrelated to your job will keep you focused and your mind refreshed.

Keep a To Do List
I am a huge list maker. I have thousands of notebooks and none go unwritten in. I usually like to have 2 total lists throughout the day to keep me on top of my tasks. One is my generic to do list. This keeps track of all of the tasks I need to finish or start throughout the day. Usually, I break it down between client or project to keep it more organized. The second list I create is a schedule. I like to break down my entire 8+ hour day into time increments based on my tasks. This is the biggest proponent of productivity success I have found for my work style.

Sit at a Desk
Sure, this doesn’t always happen right away in the mornings, but I almost always end the day at my desk. For whatever reason (probably because it forces me to have my back to the TV), this helps productivity by a landslide. Spread all of your lists out and keep your snacks and drinks nearby because this is going to be one long day in the comfort of your home!

What do you do to prevent getting distracted at home? Leave your tips in the comments!

I was provided SkinnyPop Popcorn for this post, however, all opinions (as always!) are my own.