Poor Schedule At Home

[robertbanking]

Hello everyone, hope you are doing well.

When working from home and i dont have to meet any clients, i find i eat later like my breakfast and i sometimes struggle to stay productive. I have a set routine with positive affirmations but still find it difficult to follow. I know there is no set formula for sticking to a schedule, but is there kindly any changes i could try make for it to become easier to follow please and to try and get away from these bad habits at home?

Thank you very much for any support you can give. Take care and have a lovely week.

 

[Alan]

It is hard sometimes.

I have found the pomodoro technique - aka tomato timer is useful.

Basically short timed burst of activity e.g 25 minutes and short break 5 minutes

Although recently I have found domestic distractions hard. e.g. wife arranges brother in law to come around - OK he is only in the house 2 hours - but then I think is it worth getting back to work - wife arranges something else OK it is just an hour - but that seems to write off the day - etc etc

 

[simon field]

Go back to the office?

 

[Alan]

My office has been in house my for 10 years.

My office used to be downstairs, but it moved upstairs and the wife can see the sign any more.

 

[BusterBloodvessel]

Following with interest as I struggle also.

Things I have tried to do are;

- In general, stick to set hours so I now aim to work 8.30 til 5.30 then switch off and be done. Sure, there are times I need to do more or less but I found I was just in a routine of starting absolutely whenever I felt like it, and the same with finishing. I had no fixed pattern.

- Force myself to get up, take a shower, and take the dog out all before 8.30. Make a brew and a slice of toast or bowl of cereal just before half 8 and then I'm upstairs and at my desk awake and ready to go. Its far too easy to roll out of bed at 8.25, throw some pyjama bottoms and a dirty t-shirt on and sit bleary eyed staring at the screen for the first hour doing nothing.

- I use Microsoft To Do and keep track of all my small jobs on there. At the end of each day I run through my outstanding jobs and then make a schedule for the next day of which ones I want to complete and in which order. It's actually quite satisfying to tick them off as the day progresses. Any I dont complete in the day automatically get moved to the next day. Likewise any new requests or bits of things that come in I enter straight into here rather than having scraps of paper all over my desk.

- If I'm doing something specific, close outlook and put my phone on silent. There's nothing that can't wait 20 minutes or half an hour whilst i concentrate on something and get it done. My worst habit was seeing an email pop up in the corner of the screen and clicking it to open it right away - it can wait! All I ended up doing was getting distracted from what I was supposed to be focusing on.

- Setting times in my diary to take a break (I usually have 10 minutes 2 or 3 times a day to take the dog round the block and get a bit of fresh air) and half an hour for lunch. By blocking them out of my diary, people see that I'm busy or in a meeting at that time so I don't find myself dashing upstairs halfway through eating my lunch because a teams call is coming in.


Interested to hear other peoples thoughts and ideas too because even with all of the above, I won't lie - I still struggle!!

 

[Paul Norman]

There is no easy answer beyond this.

You have to prepare some kind of schedule that works.

You have to find the self discipline to stick to it - with, of course, the fact that you can be more flexible if you need to be. But flexibility might not always be useful for the business.

I suppose the harsh truth is this. Not everyone has the raw self discipline to work from home. Or be self employed.

 

[MBE2017]

This thread illustrates why I find it very hard to believe all these companies saying how more productive their workforce are working from home since the lockdowns.

This is not any reflection on anyone concerned, it is as has been said very hard to maintain focus when at home for the majority of people. My only advice FWIW, designate a separate area to work in, a spare room, garden shed etc, away from the family and other distractions.

 

[estwig]

I been working from home for the best part of twenty years, schedules are nonsense, so are routines and timers.
It's all life, you dont have to work 8 hours at this, then do 4 hours of lesisure at that, mix it up, it doesn't matter, stop being so hard on yourself.

Stop trying to replecate the 9-5, you dont need it!

 

[Assistant Advice]

Robert you don't say whether you are freelance or an employee - both of these situations require very different working routines.

Are you expected to answer calls/prepare reports etc. within a 9 to 5 structure? Do you have to be available during standard office hours to talk to clients? Or are you able to structure your day so you can schedule in some downtime without feeling guilty? Does it really matter if a report is completed at 10pm at night? I do find that a bit of structure really does help - but keep it flexible!! Don't be too hard on yourself.

• Be self-disciplined
• Structure your day
• Create a professional workspace
• Use an online calendar to organise daily tasks
• Confirm what daily/weekly/monthly tasks have to be done
• Set deadlines for completion of individual tasks
• Try and eliminate as much distraction as possible
• Take regular breaks to help clear your mind
• Reward yourself when task complete

 

[BusterBloodvessel]

I been working from home for the best part of twenty years, schedules are nonsense, so are routines and timers.
It's all life, you dont have to work 8 hours at this, then do 4 hours of lesisure at that, mix it up, it doesn't matter, stop being so hard on yourself.

Stop trying to replecate the 9-5, you dont need it!

This has always been my attitude....until recently. I run a business as well as being full time employed so experience it in both worlds. I always had the attitude that "I'm always available" for work, but I justified that with "I also have flexibility to do what I want". So yes there's days where I've been hungover to hell and sat on the couch all day doing next to nothing, or multiple times I've clocked off early and gone to the hairdressers or the pub or shopping at 2pm. But I've always justified that with there's equally as many times where I start work at 7am and am still working at 10pm, where I answer emails and phone calls on holiday, work away and don't see my family or friends for a week at a time, etc.

But....I realised I was at a point where I could NEVER switch off. Ever. I was walking the dog for 20 minutes in a morning and instead of enjoying the fresh air and countryside around me I was getting my phone out of my pocket as soon as an email pinged.....what email can't possibly wait 20 minutes until I'm back at my desk? Why do I need to answer the phone when I've booked a day off? Why am I sitting at home at 8 at night while my partner is downstairs on her own because I've got deadlines to hit?

Meanwhile I looked at my colleagues in Spain and they work very differently. Working from home is not really encouraged or allowed even with senior management. They work long hours in the office (although with extremely regular coffee and cigarette breaks I should add!), they are quite strict on hours worked including how long taken for lunch break. BUT - when they finish work for the day or the weekend, that is IT - they are clocked off! Three years I have reported into Spain now to the Sales Director and the MD, and I honestly don't believe I have had more than 5 emails or phone calls out of working hours in three years. Quite frankly it's probably 2 or 3 at most.

It got me thinking....maybe there's not too much wrong with the "9 to 5", in a way? My aim now as I mentioned earlier is to get up, and concentrate on having a solid, productive day. But know that come the end of the day I've done my hours, I've accomplished what I can, but then it's time to switch off and take a break.

More difficult as a business owner, for sure (as I say I have both!) but even with that I have made a point now of saying at times to my business partner "I'm off out for a meal/away for the night/going out with friends" etc, and I'm not available to be discussing things by WhatsApp that can wait until we next see each other face to face (which is at least 3 or 4 times a week!).

 

[Lucan Unlordly]

I know there is no set formula for sticking to a schedule, but is there kindly any changes i could try make for it to become easier to follow please and to try and get away from these bad habits at home?

I thought long and hard about this, even started typing up and deleting a couple of considered replies.

Then it struck me. The answer is NO!

If you set schedules and can't stick to them, there's no advice.

We sound very much alike, the difference is I don't add in personal targets. I put a small pile of things to do on my desk when I pack up at night, have lunch, make a coffee and don't shuffle them to an order that suits me, which get done *when it suits me. The pile rarely disappears and if something doesn't reach the top it's not important.

*Although taking an order at 11.30am when stark bollock naked having just got out the shower isn't best practice

 

[Mark T Jones]

In common with much f the above, the solution to me revolved around going easy on myself and not tying myself to set hours or routines (a couple of exceptions apply) - in particular

NOT to sit at a desk / computer pretending to work (like a demotivated employee)
NOT to work set hours.

A couple of routines I did keep were

To do something work related fiirst thing. For me that could be anywhere between 5.00 and 8.00 AM; really just an acknowledgement that it is a woking day.
To go for a walk or bike ride late AM (that became a given when I got a dog.

Beyond that, it was really about being clear on what jobs needed doing & prioritising them.

My most productive WFH year was 2019. I'm pretty sure I didn't work more than 30 hours a week on average - though some phases were manic!

2020 was set to be even better, until...

 

[KateCB]

Hi Robert, are you working for yourself or are you employed? My husband and I have worked from home for over 20 years; I run a business and he is employed elsewhere and has a team meeting via Microsoft Teams at 9am every morning, at 9.30 we have a coffee and a 5 minute chat about what we have planned for the day. That is the edtent of our SCHEDULE....We then go to our work areas and do what we need to, do. One of us may put the kettle on at various times; the washing may go on, maybe a call with one of our children but around 1pm we stop, we leave the workspace, we go to the kitchen, we have lunch, prepare things for tea, talk about our mornings, our plans for the evening/weekend etc. When lunch is done (could be 30 mins, 40mins and hour, depending on our afternoon needs) we go back to workspace, back to work, UNLESS we have planned or need to do something/go somewhere and then we might work for an hour or two in the evening, maybe we don't work on Friday afternoon but go out, but put the finishing touches to a report or something over the weekend at some point - as long as everythind we need to achieve in a certain timeframe is done, then our schedule can be as flexible as we need it to be.

 

[Ryan Paul]

I appreciate you shouldn't pigeon hole folk but here's my tuppence worth.

It's all to do with mindset and discipline.
An employee who can perform well in the office will also do so wfh.

Someone struggling wfh, in most cases, will not be as efficient in the office as they probably think they are. Being seen at your desk by your superiors - clicking away is usually enough to keep a manager happy but in between times your talking over the desk, making coffee, on socials etc..
With that now no longer appeasing enough, employees now must work harder and stay focused so that when it comes measuring today's achievements or issues.. . And it's that pressure that is difficult for some.
The fear of not doing enough and as a result your answering emails beyond 8pm either playing catch-up or pretending your such a hard worker.

If someone really needs you and it's important, they will call.

An unpopular opinion no doubt.

 

[Charliechops]

I'm not a morning person.

Thats not to say I'd stay in bed till midday I'd still get up in the morning and walk the dog but I realised I was more productive later in the day, I could write better, I had more ideas later, I could concentrate better and was less distracted.

Once I'd figured that out I found working from home a lot easier.

 

[Juicy Spreadsheets]

I have been working from home (10 as a freelancer) and for me, the secret was having quality downtime and not just downtime. As soon as I started to spend my spare time on quality things (going out, visiting family, going on hikes, playing online games with mates, etc) my daytime routine fell into place.

I think it's because your work time and downtime bleed into one another more and more over time. This makes putting off tasks easier and easier. Blocking time off and making yourself accountable by others makes putting off tasks harder. I suspect there is a work / reward thing going in my brain as well.

If I didnt do anything special with my time off, my whole routine blended into one long work / play day where nothing was achieved.

 

[SEODEV#338055]

Two words

Google Calendar

 

[Juicy Spreadsheets]

Unfortunately, organisers won't help if you have a procrastination problem. It may make planning and tracking easier, but it won't get you moving. I have tried them all starting with Lotus Organiser (yes Iam that old) and I am currently using UpWork.

To get to the heart of your procrastination problem read the Chimp Paradox by Prof Steve Peters. It helped me identify that my mind was rebelling against the lack of quality of downtime, so it was stealing time from other activities. Hence my previous suggestion. For you it maybe a different reason but the book should help find it.

 

[SEODEV#338055]

Unfortunately, organisers won't help if you have a procrastination problem. It may make planning and tracking easier, but it won't get you moving. I have tried them all starting with Lotus Organiser (yes Iam that old) and I am currently using UpWork.

To get to the heart of your procrastination problem read the Chimp Paradox by Prof Steve Peters. It helped me identify that my mind was rebelling against the lack of quality of downtime, so it was stealing time from other activities. Hence my previous suggestion. For you it maybe a different reason but the book should help find it.

Yes they will

Stop making excuses and giving into fleeting emotions and complicating a ridiculously simple problem

You have a target correct?

In order to achieve your target you have tasks correct?

Use Google Calendar to schedule your tasks and get notified when the task is due for action

Then take action

If you don't take action then your motivation for completing your targets cannot be that strong