Every person who wakes up to a 6:00am alarm has played with the idea of turning it off and getting a few more hours of needed sleep. No matter how bad you want to, you don’t. You get up, stumble towards the kitchen to make your morning coffee because you know you need to get to work on time if you want to keep your job. But, what now? There is no “on time,” there’s just “work remotely.” So why not turn off that alarm? There’s nowhere to be! Just because your office’s doors aren’t open, doesn’t mean the work stops. Here are some tips to help you stay on track while working from home.

Make a List 

The first step out the door in the morning starts your day and gets you thinking about how you’re going to make the most of it. But now, there is no out-the-door push to get you going. It’s hard to find motivation while trapped inside your house, so you need to make your own first step. The number of days stuck in your home is beginning to add up, don’t get swallowed by a monotonous routine that makes you forget if it’s Tuesday or Wednesday, Make a list! Keep that alarm on (you can move it back to 8:00am instead of 6:00am) to get you out of bed and start planning out what you want to accomplish throughout the day. Having the list be the first thing you do acts as that push of getting out the door to start your day. Make the tasks on the list easily achievable so you can finish one job quickly and get onto the next. A small, but essential task when working from home could be to “check inbox” or “reply to all emails,” this can help keep you on top of work-related conversations and circle back with co-workers to make sure everything’s in order. The physical act of crossing items on your to-do list gives you visual confirmation of your being productivity while never leaving your house.

Movement 

It’s easy to opt-out of exercise and blames it on the quarantine, but the movement is precisely what you need to keep from going stir-crazy. Quarantine may mean no gym, but it doesn’t mean no exercise. Studies have shown people are more productive when they break up their work overtime rather than sitting down for hours and bingeing your work to completion. According to Republic Fitness, “cognitive function tends to increase after a day-time sweat sesh by 5-10%”. If you take a break during the day, you’ll come back to your work with more energy to finish out the day strong instead of crawling through that last phone call. During this time when going to the gym isn’t an option, companies are stepping up and creating workouts that will make you break a sweat from your home. Camp Tampa, allows users to access their workouts from anywhere, not just Tampa. Camp Tampa created Camp2Go, online classes with a variety of different workout styles like; cycling, yoga, HITT, circuit training and stations. Releasing new classes every Monday night Camp2Go keeps your fitness exciting and knocks the chance of getting bored with the same circuit. CorePower Yoga, is offering an “On Demand” service where you can subscribe to their site and receive a plethora of classes to keep you feeling zen. Another great resource is an app created by Kayla Itsines, Sweat. The application has refocused how designs are styled and tailored them to be easily done in the comfort of your own home. There are tons of different workout plans to choose from at a low subscription rate of $7.99 a month. Working out in the middle of the day is also proven to help information retention. When you have a late-afternoon meeting and are preparing all morning, break up the prep and the meeting with some movement to make the most out of your preparation to put your best foot forward in that afternoon meeting. 

Environment is Everything

Does your office building have piles of dirty laundry? Is the sink in the office kitchen overflowing with unwashed plates? Do your co-workers wear pajamas to work? No, no, and definitely no. Create a space where you want to spend time in. Don’t let your dirty clothes pile up; find yourself wearing the same PJs for a week straight. Change out of those PJ’s to remind yourself you shouldn’t be in bed and that you should be doing your work. Create a workspace that will get you out of bed and into the right headspace and ready to face your daily tasks. If your space is a mess, there’s no escaping it. For the time being, it seems like we’re going to be stuck inside. Rather than looking at it as a challenge, make it an opportunity. 

Find a Quarantine Soundtrack 

Pair your plans, with some jams! Music is a huge help when trying to keep yourself motivated and awake through a 9 to 5 workday in which you never leave your house. Washing dishes? Pair it with an upbeat song to keep your pace up, and your attitude. To help keep productivity up, Money.com curated creative professionals to assemble a work from home “productivity playlist”. Employees asked some of their busiest co-workers what tunes keep them on track to make the most out of the day. Take a look at their productivity playlist or create your own!

For more ways to stay on track, head over to our Instagram and see how we’re pushing through this quarantine.