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This ainât another post about Pomodoro, time-blocking, finding your âoptimal work timeâ, or any other of those other common work from home productivity tips youâve heard 1000 times. Thatâs all good stuff. But if it was working, would you be reading this? No. Itâs time to think outside the box. In this post, Iâm gonna show you some new and creative WFH productivity hacks youâve probably never thought of before. â
â#1.) Wait till the very last minute Whoever claims procrastination doesnât boost productivity has obviously never finished a 20-page research paper the night before itâs due. Work expands to fit the time available to complete it. If you have an entire week to finish a project, youâll turtle-crawl through it. But if itâs due in 3 hours, your focus and productivity will instantly shoot through the roof. This isnât the most enjoyable (or healthy) approach, but you canât deny itâs effectiveness. â â
â#2.) Schedule something fun (or expensive) This technique combines the power of deadlines with the anticipation of a reward (shoutout to Sean Ogle from [Location Rebel]( for this one). Hereâs how it works: Want to finish your work by 2pm today? Simple. Just schedule a fun activity for 2:30pm. Bonus points if the activity is⦠- Expensive
- Paid in advance
- Non-refundable
- Something you do with a group of friends It sure would suck to lose money, miss out on fun, and let down your friendsâ¦TIME TO PUT THE PEDAL TO THE METAL! â â
â#3.) Add virtual social pressure â Ever noticed at the gym how you move faster, exercise harder, and rest less when other people are watching you? The same goes for working at home. If you want to max out your productivity, add in some social accountability. This could be as simple as telling people youâre going to finish something by a certain time and asking them to check in with you. To crank things up a notch, we do live coworking sessions a few times a week over in Copywriting Course. Knowing someone else could be watching your computer screen at any given moment pressures you to stay on task (and stay off Reddit). â
â#4.) Use (extreme) rewards and punishments â â
Iâm not talking about treating yourself to an ice cream cone if you finish your work (although that could work). Iâm talking about taking things to the EXTREME. Things like⦠I canât eat until I get this done.
I canât talk until I get this done.
I canât sleep until I get this done.
I canât stand up until I get this done.
I canât go to the bathroom until I get this done. When youâre hungry AF or your bladder is about to explode, youâll finish work at hyperspeed. â
â#5.) Plan a fun work night (perhaps with alcohol) â â
âSo far all our WFH productivity hacks involve some sort of pressure⦠But too much pressure can be overwhelming and actually have an ANTI-productive effect. Whenever I start dreading my work, I know itâs time to take a chill pill and have some fun. Instead of squeezing out every ounce of productivity and forcing myself to work as fast as possible, I do the OPPOSITE⦠I snuggle on the couch, turn on some country music, crack open a beer, and take my sweet time. No worries. No pressure. No rush. After I get a couple beers in me, that dreaded project suddenly seems fun! (BTW, altering your mental state is a great way to [overcome writerâs block]() too). You might not finish in record speed, but at least youâll finish. â
â#6.) Drink caffeine strategically â â
Speaking of altered mental states, coffee can be the ultimate WFH productivity tool IF you know how to use it properly. Most people drink every day, get desensitized to caffeine, and lose the energizing effect. Donât do this! Instead of drinking coffee just because âthatâs what people do in the morningâ, start thinking about it strategically. Donât waste your energy boost on mindless activities like reading email or admin tasks. Instead, save it for important tasks requiring an extra oomph of focus and creativityâlike important writing sessions, presentations, client calls, etc. Lastly, keep your weekends caffeine-free to help reset your tolerance. When you do this, youâll notice a HUGE difference in how potent the productivity buzz is. (Check out this handy [caffeine calculator]() to help plan your buzzes) â
â#7.) Kill distractions (using browser extensions) â â
âAt the office, you have bosses and colleagues around making sure you stay on task. When working at home alone, thereâs no accountability, nobody watching over your shoulder, and nothing to protect you from getting sucked into the social media vortex. I canât tell you how many times Iâve opened Youtube to watch a quick video for workâ¦.and before I know it an hour has passed and Iâm watching crocodile vs. hippo fights. Luckily, if youâre prone to falling into social media temptation, here are some handy Chrome extensions: â[Focus 45](): Chrome extension that blocks distracting sites for 45-minute intervals. â[News Feed Eradicator](: Blocks Facebook newsfeed, allowing you to check Facebook for work without getting sucked in. â[DF Tube](): Hides Youtube video recommendations in the sidebar and disables autoplay. â
â#8.) Write nightly âold schoolâ to-do lists â People make two big mistakes when using To-Do Lists: #1.) They overcomplicate things.
#2.) They donât plan ahead. Both of these can be solved with the âOld School To-Do Methodâ you can see in the video: =â
â
â Grab a pen and notebook and write out the 2-4 tasks you want to accomplish the following day. â No need to plan out the entire month.
â No need to enter it into a fancy app.
â No need to set a bazillion alarms. â
Just a pen, paper, and quick bullet list. The trick is doing this BEFORE going to bed. That way you wake up knowing exactly where to start and wonât waste half your day planning out your day. â
â#9.) Harness âAhaâ moments (you only get 1-3 per day) â â
Sometimes inspiration strikes at the weirdest times. But when it happensâwhether youâre showering, folding laundry, watching Netflix, etcâstop what youâre doing and take advantage of it! Working at home gives you flexibility. So if youâre zombie-crawling through a project at noon, take a break. Donât fight against the wind. And when an âAhaâ moment jolts you with energy at 10pm, crack open your laptop and enjoy the wind at your back. WARNING: This doesnât mean sit around and do nothing until you feel inspired. â
â#10.) Personalize your workspace â â
âYouâve probably heard that an organized workspace is a productive workspace. I call B.S. Everyone is different. Some work better at a squeaky clean desk, others thrive in clutter.
Some work better in boring empty spaces, others need a stimulating environment.
Some work better in silence, others need music. You have to figure out what works best for YOU. The only requirement is that youâre COMFORTABLE. This might mean having an adjustable desk, perfect ergonomics, and regular [stretch breaks](=). Or it could be propping yourself up in bed with a million pillows (like my wife). Thereâs no one-size-fits-all. Test out different setups, choose what works best for you, and screw what everyone else says. â
â#11.) Invest in proper lighting â â
If your work involves regular video calls, this oneâs a no-brainer. Not only does investing in lighting make you look more professional on calls, but it also saves time. With one-touch lighting, thereâs no need to adjust windows, shift desks, and â[set up the whole office](â before each call. Just flip the switch and youâre ready to roll. And the productivity benefits donât end there. Looking professional on camera boosts your confidence, which in turn sharpens performance. As the saying goes⦠Look good. Feel good. Play good. â
â#12.) Get PISSED at your work â â
Who does this task think he is, anyway?? Stressing you out. Taking your time. Draining your energy. Screw him! If you need motivation to knock out a boring project, make it the enemy. Donât stop working until you completely destroy that MFer! Sometimes your work has tasks you donât want to do. So donât pretend to love it. Curse at it, hate it, do it out of spite, and then CRUSH IT. â
â#13.) Snoop on your competition (and get jealous) â â
Work at home productivity is tightly connected with your inner levels of motivation. (And itâs hard to stay motivated when youâre three steps away from your comfy bed and the next series of Stranger Things loaded on Netflix). One way to keep your motivation tanked topped up is to spy on your competition. Look at all the work theyâre doing.
Look at all the success theyâre having.
Look at all the money theyâre making⦠\ And then get jealous. When you realize theyâre hustlinâ while youâre slackinâ, itâll jolt you back to action. â
â#14.) Stop being a little bitch about it â â
âYou. Have it. GOOD. Your life has been enriched with thousands of years of human innovation that takes the drudgery and pain away from a harsh, violence-filled, disease-ridden, backbreaking-labor, hardship-filled existence. Your ancestors would FLIP THE HELL OUT at how easy your life is compared to theirs. If you were born just 200 years ago: - If you had bad eye sight: You better start squinting. Thereâs no cheap solution for that.
- If you needed surgery: You better drink some whiskey before a guy saws your body open with a rusty blade while youâre still awake.
- If you got a weird illness: Some voodoo witch doctor would crush up some random leaves, cut you, rub them in the woundâ¦..and hope for the best.
- If you wanted to know something: You better hope one of your friends knows. Otherwise youâre out of luck.
- If you wanted to travel somewhere: You better be super-duper rich and have 6 months of transit time. Life completely sucked compared to what we have now!! If you are reading this on a computerâ¦â¦you have access to tools and information that 200 years ago people couldnât even fathom would exist. â¦â¦yet here you are complaining that âyou donât know what to write.â Understand that your work will never ever ever ever be 100% perfect. So just type something outâ¦.then go back and edit it. Itâs the best way to just start. Itâs not the end of the world if you write something crappy. Just edit or delete it later. So quit being a little bitch and finish off your work. â
â#15.) Just donât do it â â
ââJust donât do it? You mean, like, let it sit there unfinishedâ¦forever?â Yup. If a task has been on your to-do list for 2-3 days and you keep pushing it backâ¦it clearly ainât that important, is it? Turns out, only a very small percentage of tasks are TRULY essential. Sometimes WFH productivity simply means knowing what NOT to do, so you have more time for the important stuff. â
âWork From Home Productivity Cheat Sheet: #1.) Wait till the last minute
â#2.) Schedule something fun (or expensive)
â#3.) Add virtual social pressure
â#4.) Use (extreme) rewards and punishments
â#5.) Plan a fun work night
â#6.) Drink caffeine strategically
â#7.) Kill distractions
â#8.) Write an âOld School To-Do Listâ before bed
â#9.) Harness âAhaâ moments
â#10.) Personalize your workspace
â#11.) Invest in lighting
â#12.) Get pissed at your work
â#13.) Snoop on your competition
â#14.) Stop being a little bitch about it
â#15.) Just donât do it Hope this helpsâ¦now get back to work! â Hope this helps you work from home a tad bit better :-)
â
Sincerely,
â[CopywritingCourse.com](â â â â â [Unsubscribe]( | [Update your profile]( | 801 W 5th St. , Austin, TX 78703