This is a guest contribution from Larry Alton.
Working from home sounds like a pretty cushy job. You can wear whatever you like, eat as often as you want, text your friends, run errands, and be at home with your family, all while being employed. However, that list of things can often make it difficult to accomplish your work.
If you’re struggling to find a productive schedule as a freelance blogger, consider these tips.
Find Your Groove
Everyone has a groove that spurs productivity. Maybe you need to sit in your office chair with the lights off, blinds shut, and a fuzzy blanket on your lap. Or maybe you need to have a clear view of the sunshine and wear your lucky socks. Maybe your groove requires waking up and going straight to work without eating or showering. Everyone has a different groove, and if you find yours, you’ll find your most productive hours.
Dress Up
It’s pretty cool that you can go to work in your pajamas and fuzzy slippers, wrapped up in your Snuggie. However, that comfort zone may be your downfall. Wearing clothes that are too comfortable can often lead to a stronger desire to relax rather than work. Dressing up in your business professional clothing can help working at home feel more like working in an office, and you might find your productivity spike.
Manage Projects
Stay organized by managing your projects. Whether you write just one blog or you ghost write for 20, there are several tools you can use to stay organized both on the computer and off.
For example, there are software tools and apps that make invoicing, scheduling, and emailing extremely easy. Or if your projects aren’t very complex, you can use a simple white board to keep track of your daily tasks and mark them off as you go. Either way, stay organized to help you stay on track.
Remove Distractions
Email, cell phones, kids, roommates, pets, food, television—all of these are some of the most tempting distractions for freelance writers, and if you want to find productivity, you’ll get them out of the way. Go somewhere to work where you won’t be distracted by your surroundings, and set aside separate time to check your phone and email so that you’re not doing it during your most productive time.
Set Specific Work Hours
Scheduling your time is extremely important for having a constructive day if you make a schedule that works specifically for you. Choosing your own schedule is one of the better perks of working at home, after all.
When are your most productive hours? When do you work most slowly? Some bloggers have their most productive hours between 5 a.m. and 10 a.m. Others have it from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. Whatever time works best for you, make sure you build your schedule around that.
Make Daily, Weekly, and Monthly Goals
Both short and long-term goals do wonders for inspiring creativity and helping you stay productive. If you’re a work at home blogger, you’re probably goal oriented and deadline driven. Each day, write out your goals for your desired progress and tack it to your office wall. Similarly, define weekly and monthly goals that you’re constantly striving to achieve.
Log Out of Social Media
Social media is incredibly useful for promoting your writing and networking with others. However, when you’re supposed to be writing, it’s basically the antithesis of productivity. During your scheduled work hours, log out of social media. Better yet, block your favorite networks on your computer until a certain time or ask a trusted friend to change the password for you until you’ve finished your work for the day.
Make Time for Exercise
Sitting at your desk chair all day long not only contributes to lost muscle mass and definition, but it also makes you feel less alert and can contribute to lost productivity. When you stay stationary all day long, it can make you feel sleepier and fog your thoughts. Setting aside time for exercise on a daily basis can boost your efficiency by making you more alert and motivated, all while leading to a healthier lifestyle.
Eat Healthy Meals
Another thing that contributes to fatigue and lack of motivation is sugary, unhealthy food. These make it so that you don’t feel 100 percent, which makes it difficult to work efficiently. Healthy meals and reduced snacking on sugary treats can make you feel more alert and healthy, which enhances your abilities to perform your daily tasks.
Prepare the Day Before
As a work at home blogger, your schedule can fluctuate from day to day, but you can still benefit from preparing for your workload a day in advance. Write out all of the tasks you need to complete the next day and even a tentative schedule for completing them.
Furthermore, prepare yourself and your office space. You might set out your clothes or prepare your lunch. You might also clean up your office and pull out any resources you might need for the next day’s tasks. A cleaner, more prepared office makes it easy to go straight to work without worrying about a mess.
Further Reading: 5 Ways to Make Your Blogging Life Easier.
Productive blogging takes practice and a series of trial and error, but once you figure it out, the freer lifestyle is worthwhile.
How do you stay productive when goofing off is a more appealing option?
Larry Alton is an independent business consultant specializing in social media trends, business, and entrepreneurship. Follow him on Twitter and LinkedIn.
I like the idea of dressing up. Working from home has made me pretty lazy when it comes to my attire. I usually only dress up if I’m heading out for meetings or after hours events. When I used to have to work in an office daily, my dress up routine was completely different, but there was also a productive and business mentality that went with that.
Since I’ve started concentrating on areas that inspire me the most, I’m much more focused and less likely to sidetracked online which was my main problem. I have no issue with external distractions, even more so now I’m going rather deaf. So my main recommendation is not to wear your hearing aids :-)
I use different Firefox profiles, one bare-bones with, no bookmarks or popup notices, for concentrating on writing blog posts etc, one for Gmail and one for social sites. I recently set aside time to sort myself out. I unsubscribed from a lot of emails and creating new email accounts for those that distract me but aren’t time sensitive. I set up schedules for social media posting. The time spent doing this has been well worth it.
Dressing for the part, rather than sitting at the computer in PJ’s or really casual clothes and not working when tired really helps me.
After reading this, I’m going to concentrate on writing down and then sticking to tasks and goals. Thank you, Larry.
Great post Larry,
Blogging is never an easy job no matter how easy some people makes it to sound, there are so many things that will always tend to stand on your way towards being a successful blogger but what will separate you from others is exactly the way you overcome those things.
I agree with all the points you made here on how to stay productive while blogging and I’m certain that if we can diligently follow your advice, we will be supper productive.
The distractions out there today is quite enormous and if we must get anything done, we must first have to find a way to eliminate those distractions.
Thanks for sharing Larry.
I like the idea of dress up ;) Making yourself feel like you’re actually going to work can motivate.
I find a morning run & some healthy eating helps me with energy but I do struggle to stop working & 14 hour days eventually lead me to the point of having a few days off….
Getting rid of distraction with lot of self-control, focussing time once you log into computer are essentially driving success of a work-at-home blogger. All I can think of is incremental goal leads to big results
Excellent advice. I started getting up, showering and getting dressed a few weeks ago, and did find that I am getting more done. I just read that section to my homeschooled teen who is struggling to get her work done, and she made a face at you – implying she likes her comfy pajamas, and is not happy that she has to get dressed today. We will see how it goes. As for social media, so true. I will log out for the day and will probably get twice as much done. Sometimes it’s the reminder like this post that makes the difference. Thanks Darren.
This helped. I am not a full time blogger, but I still gleaned a lot from this post. Thanks.
Maybe my problem is far from distraction.I like game online and i think its more addictive.Focus and learn to make a goal can be helped to more productive.Great post Thanks
You are absolutely right about this. I am a type of part time blogger and work for few strictly maintained hours. But social media and other external distractions always distract me. I am gonna make a checklist of these points.
Hi. You have some really nice tips here. I especially liked the first one – ‘find your groove’. As for me, it’s the most vital one. You can eat sugar-heavy snacks all day, be dressed in a pajama (or even be nude lol), work in a room full of drunk folks, but if you got into the groove – you’ll be productive as monster.
Not talking for everyone here, but it works for me, really.
Again, thanks for putting these tips together :)
Thank you for the tips. Gradually, I’ve been making some of the changes you’ve listed. With so many other things that need to be done, it just isn’t always easy. I finally decided I needed to make a real commitment to blogging and food photography. Once I did that, I found it easier to stick to a schedule. I tend to take short breaks in my “work days” during which I do other necessary tasks, such as walking or playing with my dog, a little laundry, lunch or “day dreaming” with a cup of coffee, etc. The key was to keep the breaks short (15-20 minutes). And I do watch the clock a lot more. Often after a short break, I feel mentally refreshed and can get back to work clearly focused on blogging or a food photo shoot (which is for a blog post).
These are all fantastic tips. I hope to be entering the “work at home” career in less than a year and one of the things I’m worried about is being too relaxed and unable to focus. Mentally, I’m getting myself ready. Thanks again!
B
A great app for staying focused is SelfControl, it puts websites on a blacklist and wont allow you to access them for set periods of time.
For home based bloggers its very hard to focus on blogging specially because there are lots of distractions like social media etc. I like all the points you have mentioned here.
It can get lonely and a lot of discipline is required initially when working from home. Totally agree, getting up and dressed is the perfect way to get business going daily!
Donna,
Working from home does require a lot of discipline and can get lonely as you mentioned. Good thing to know your not the only one thinking that.
Honestly, DNN considered getting dressed as if the founder were going to a day job just to sit at the desk and create content daily. What you mentioned in this post actually makes sense. When a person gets dressed as if they’re ready to head out the door to a day job with a shirt and tie on and a pretty shoe to go with the outfit, they tend to be more productive. This is because the brain automatically converts into work mode. Working from home is a blessing and can also make a person lazy as you mentioned. The good thing about working from home as an affiliate marketer-blogger is making your own hours to work at your own pace without having to meet in employment quota. Agree?
I agree with most of the points. I recommend looking at the Pomodoro, Time slicing technique. Work intensively for 25 minutes, take a five minute break, when I make a point of standing up.
This is repeated 4 times and then a longer break is taken.
I work slightly differently. Crawl out of bed in the morning. Tea, computer on and just belt out as much text as I can in the first two hour session.
Then breakfast, wash and dress properly and do my editing work. I write creatively as a slob, but the repectable me is much better at editing, grammar etc.
I confine my emails, social media etc to three 25 minute sessions through the day – morning, afternoon and evening. The rest of time I don’t bother, except phone calls.
Hey Darren,
Sometimes we need a post like this. There are times that Youtube gets addicting for me, but at least the majority of the videos are educational right? Well if it’s hindering me from being product that’s still not a good excuse. I definitely should set up a time for social media.
I definitely make time for exercise. I actually go to the gym, then afterwards I’ll hit up a starbucks and go to work. This is definitely my comfort zone and I don’t get bothered by anyone. But from the exercise I come up with some great ideas for my blog.
Thanks for the share Darren! Have a great day!
Hi Darren, its very difficult to stay productive working from home. My advice would be that if anyone finds it too difficult go for an office set up.
That will keep you working.
There are some good tips here, but i don’t agree with all of them. I’ve freelanced for nearly 20 years off and on, and one of the best things about working from home (and a great time saver) is NOT having to dress for work. There is nothing more freeing than working in your PJs, trackies, sarongs, togs, the nude … wherever it is you are working from and depending on the time of year. Social media and taking time out to see friends or talk to them on the phone (or go to the gym/walk on the beach) is a great way to break the isolation of working alone. You can work it in as a lunch break or tea break (you chat to people when you are working in an office, don’t you?), and I often find you work better when you’ve had that recharge. Working with a pet on my lap or at my feet is a constant, and when kids came along, it was a blessing to be able to work my schedule around them. Yes, you have to be disciplined and I’ve always set working hours. (That flies out of the window a little when kids come along and they can’t always go to childcare/school etc). You have to educate friends and family that the fact you are at home still means you are working, and you have to make sure you don’t end up working all hours to make up for lost time if a child is sick or you are really busy. You have to take holidays and time off without guilt. But enjoy the benefits of working from home! Not having to commute to work and spend a lot of money on a wardrobe and time getting dressed and putting on make up is great. You can churn out just as much work in your PJs as in a business suit … It’s just getting your mind into gear. That was always easy for me, because if I didn’t work, I didn’t get paid. Simple.
Hi Darren,
Thanks lots for this post.
Although I am not working at home, these tips do act as my magic wands that reminds me continue to be productive at working place.
Being green in working year, less than 1 year, this article opens my eyes in doing the best in every single thing with focus.
Hi Larry , Seems to be a good schedule of dealing things in your life as a Blogger. Btw, I am also a big fan of tasty food. :O
Larry did a great contribution over ProBlogger. I am a blogger who works from home and perhaps its important to be focused towards work. But certain distraction makes a person feel lazy, and ultimately affects work. So need to be very keen, mannered, while working at home.
Thanks for the great post Larry.
Hi Larry,
Thanks for sharing the great tips on how to stay productive because it’s very important when it comes to blogging and online marketing. There are a few things that are keeping me away from being productive such as not planning and using Facebook most of the time. I think I need to plan the next day and limit using my time on Facebook.
Your tips really helped me to become more productive :)
Whatever that has been mentioned above, is just what every Blogger or Internet Marketer needs to know. I’m a student and its very frustrating sometimes that I cannot manage my blog all alone. I stopped working out in order to grow my blog and work for some more time on it. But, that decreased my creativity & productivity. Also dressing is very important. When I’m in the comfort zone, I had that urge to relax. I really saw myself while reading this.. Thanks for the share. This must change me, and many others as well :)
Greats tips and actionable advice. I like the idea of fixed working hours and I would like to add that the communication about this to your family is very important. Be clear about your work time and what your family can expect from you and be clear about your off time so you can be fully dedicated to them.
Working at home is very easy but distractions within the house easily take away your focus. For me it helped to create a dedicated room just for me and clear communications with my family that when that door is closed I am working.
Thanks for sharing!
Awesome tips thanks,
All negative i am doing now with this article. i was thinking that social media will be good to connect with people but after reading this only i got to know i will be connected afterwards also :p
This is very relatable! I run a copywriting agency and having been a blogger myself (I blog at http://www.expresswriters.com/blog), I understand how difficult it is to get your mojo up sometimes to write. I’m sharing this to my team & across our social channels. Thanks, Problogger team! :-)
You’ve shared really noteworthy tips, thank you! Staying productive at home has always been a challenge for me. I just can’t concentrate on doing work while my dog is jumping around me or when the fridge in my kitchen seems to call me every hour ;) I must definitely try following your rules, I hope they’ll help me!
Larry, what about content plan? I think it’s necessary to create one for your project. It would make you content creation process easier. Blogging it’s all about time management; if you have a problem with spending a lot of time in social media industry, maybe you should use it to post your content. It will be better to create your own community, create quality content and share it with friends and subscribers.