How to Create a Work Schedule When You're Working From Home
Tips and tricks around creating a work from home work schedule from somehow who has been at it a long, long time.
No word of a lie, it probably took me a full year to figure out how to work from home effectively. It’s not like I was doing an abysmal job of it or anything, but far too often I was confusing being busy for being productive.
When you’re working from home and trying to create a work schedule, it’s easy to fall into the trap of simply mimicking a schedule from a previous job or work opportunity. That, to me, is a mistake.
The number one benefit of working from home is that you get to make a schedule that actually works for you, and is established on your own terms.
It can be a touch daunting at first, what with the self-discipline and all, but eventually you recognize that you can unlock another level of efficiency when you’re working at home (and particularly when you’re working at home for yourself).
While I do miss the social element of heading into a workplace, I don’t miss the obligatory unproductive meetings, or the often petty politics of an office environment.
As I said in the very first sentence - it took me about a year of tinkering to figure out what my workday should look, but my thought here is that if I share everything I’ve learned, I can help you skip that process altogether.
Before We Get Into the Nitty-Gritty, Here Are My Working From Home Commandments
I’m going to get into a lot of this in much greater depth below, but I thought I’d put this forth anyhow.
Know that everyday cannot be your day. Plan for the best, but don’t be afraid to reschedule and rearrange your tasks to suit the mindset you’re in, as opposed to the one you planned for.
Protect your schedule. Once the walls collapse, the army of people trying to take your time move in. You quickly realize that time is the currency you’re playing with when you’re working from home.
Play music. When you work for yourself, music is your quiet, encouraging coworker. It’s simply about understanding what music you need to bring you up or, conversely, help you relax into a rhythm.
Get yourself a pet. It’s a little harder to have a bad day when there’s a cat constantly showing you affection. Hell, get an iguana if you want, at least you combat that feeling of being alone.
Drink an ungodly amount of water. The benefits are indisputable, and there’s no one to judge you for going to the bathroom too frequently, anyway.
If you’re able to, keep your phone on silent for periods, and always turned over on your desk or table.
If you need to get outside to go for a walk, or even just for a change of scenery, then go. Isn’t flexibility the real benefit of working from home?
Have a definite time in which you start and end your workday. Without those times firmly planted in your mind, you can easily never actually stop working. Trust me, I’ve been there.
As much as possible, have a specific work space or area in your house that you return to each day to establish a process.
Be kind to yourself. It’s very likely that you are your own harshest critic. I know I was, and often still am. I always think about it like this - if you wouldn’t say it to someone else, then don’t say it to yourself.
It’s All About Routine & Structure
My thoughts are that a significant portion of people are now working from home that likely haven’t before.
In light of that, I’ll share my own routine and structure that I feel has served me well, and has ultimately been carefully crafted based both my personal experience, and an absurd amount of reading on entrepreneurship and productivity.
Before we get into that, I want to respectfully acknowledge that, during this pandemic, you may not have control over your schedule. You may have your kids home, and you’re basically just working when you can. My hope is that these ideas will still serve you well, and you’ll fit them in where you can - but you need to know that I hear you, I see you, and I know this isn’t easy.
Being productive isn’t always possible right now - that’s just the reality.
But I’m writing content such as this article, and others like “Productive Things You Can Do at Home,” to offer help - not to judge anyone, and certainly not to paint myself as a productivity guru. Like you, right now I’m just doing my best, because that’s all I can do.
A Work Schedule for the Morning/My Morning Routine
I’m going to share what works for me, and you can see what works for you.
Again, I’m not suggesting this is the penultimate work schedule, just that it’s the work schedule that I’ve tinkered with for two years, and now feel confident is best for achieving my goals.
It All Starts The Night Before
In my opinion, your “morning routine” actually starts the day before.
At the end of your work day, or some time before you go to sleep, create a to-do list for the following day. This ensures that you wake up knowing exactly what you need to do that day.
I personally write this list on my whiteboard (typically around 10 tasks), and colour code the list to give me even greater clarity. I use red to denote a task of high importance (to be done that day), pink for moderate importance (should be done that day), and blue for mild importance (can get done that day).
I put a star beside any tasks (up to 3) that are non-negotiable, and simply must get done.
Now, you don’t have to do that, obviously, but I’d strongly recommend having your tasks in order so that you can wake up and inherently understand what you’re aiming to do.
I also have a post-it note on my second monitor with a quote from Tim Ferris which states, “are you inventing things to do to avoid the important?”
Wakey, Wakey, Eggs and Bakey
Immediately after I wake up, I open my 5 Minute Journal. I write down the date, read the quote of the day, then write down 3 things I’m grateful for. Then, I write down 3 things that would make today great (which I’m easily able to answer since I know what I wrote on my to-do list the night before).
Finally, you write a daily affirmation. “I am…”
The 5 Minute Journal has legitimately been a big help in maintaining my focus and positivity, especially these days.
Just note that the links above are affiliate links, which simply means I get a small percentage of any journals purchased at absolutely no extra cost to you. Since I love them, I’ve partnered with them - but just wanted to be up front out of respect to you.
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After that:
I do a brief sweep of my phone and social channels to make sure there’s nothing urgent or pressing to attend to. I make a point of reading a couple of daily newsletters (namely Morning Brew and The Hustle) to get the appropriate updated, get in line with today, and to get my mind moving.
I make a pot of loose-leaf tea. Often, I’ve got one green tea (like sencha ginseng) and one black tea (like earl grey with lemon). If you’re in Toronto, I source my teas from House of Tea on Yonge, which is run by a wonderful, warm, friendly Sri-Lankan family. They know their teas, and I’d highly recommend them if you’re also in this city.
I eat some breakfast. Typically something reasonably easy like a bagel and a piece of fruit. I used to rush, but now I intentionally take my time, as this avoids setting a panicked tone for the day.
I meditate for at least 10 minutes. You’d be surprised how easily things roll off your shoulders that might otherwise bother you if you meditate in the morning. I currently use the Calm app to meditate, but anything will do, even plain old silence and a mat.
I stretch for 10 minutes to get my blood flowing. Often, it’s a standing stretch that’s really just about feeling a bit loose.
I shower, but tend to spend most of the time “visioning” what the day will look like. I know a lot of people talk about the power of a cold shower, but apparently I don’t have the gull for that just yet.
I get dressed and try to look presentable for the day. I found out quickly that working in your underwear is only novel for so long. How we look tends to have an impact on how we feel, and if that means I’ve got to put a little gel in my hair, well then so be it.
And, again - I’m not saying this is what you need to do, only that this system has worked for me.
When I first started working for myself, I was so caught up by the notion that “other people” would be at their desks already or in their morning meeting or whatever, that I didn’t feel like I “could” stretch or meditate at a time like 8:48am etc.
However, the true pleasure of working for yourself is your ability to create a schedule that works for you. There’s no advantage to working at home if you tether yourself to the expectations of other peoples’ perceived office lives.
Stretching and meditating in the morning allows me to work for a longer, more productive initial stretch, and pays unquestionable and immediate dividends. The 20 minutes or so I take, I realized, is more than justified.
Time to Get Down to Work
You’ll need to establish when you are most productive, but for me it’s from roughly 9:30-12:30. As a matter of practice, I work on the most important task of the day starting at 10am until I’ve finished my objective (or made the progress I set out to).
I protect this time with a marked ferocity. I don’t schedule calls, I don’t schedule meetings, I don’t check emails, and I rarely turn over my phone unless it’s tied to the project.
If you’re trying to get in touch with me, I’d say the absolute worst time you could do that is between 10am-12pm. That’s my sweet spot.
Everything changed for me when I read Cal Newport’s book Deep Work. I can’t think of a book I’d more strongly recommend if you’re new to working from home and trying to establish a work schedule.
Essentially, he talks about the importance of carving out spaces of time to do “deep work.” The central tenant is that we do our best work undistracted, when we’re able to get into a “flow.”
The “flow state” is a term coined by the famous psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, and, on very basic terms, it refers to what you might understand as "being in the zone,” or being fully immersed in the task at hand.
So much so, both Newport and Csikszentmihalyi argue, that time doesn’t even seem to really exist.
I try to achieve this “flow state,” every morning in my aforementioned productive sweet spot, while focusing on the big task of the day. Typically. I can get into a flow lasting around 3 hours.
Today, that task is writing this article, so this is strikingly meta. I’m writing about flow state, in a flow state.
Whether you want to follow me down this rabbit hole or not - I can’t think of anything I’ve implemented that’s had more of a drastic impact than having this protected time in the morning to achieve “flow.”
It means that by the time the afternoon arrives, I’ve typically already ensured that if I did nothing else, I’d still have rolled the ball far enough forward to consider the day a success.
Again, I fully recognize that I’m lucky to have an office where I can close the doors, and don’t currently have kids to contend with, but, if possible, get creative to think about how you can emulate this.
I have friends with kids who get up at 5am and start a similar routine to mine. It means they’re in flow from 6-7:30, and then their kids get up, and they’ve already tackled a few things.
Trust Me - You Need to Build Lunch Into Your Work Schedule
It sounds almost stupidly obvious, but I did a horrid job of actually building a lunch break into my work schedule for probably the first eight months of working from home.
For one, you need the nutrients and energy to keep going, but it also turns out you need a break.
If possible, I’ll prep a few lunches on Sunday, so that I can make the most of my lunch break. It basically just allows me to spend more time eating and relaxing, and less time prepping. I’m not going to lie, often Bri is the saviour for me in this regard. My wife, it turns out, is ever so considerate in terms of making a bit extra.
At first, I was terrible at eating a rushed meal, then getting back to work (talk about a workaholic). I’m talking 9 minute lunches or something absurd. It turns out that when you do that, you’re on a fast track to hitting the dreaded 3:12pm wall.
Yes, it’s a thing.
In response, I decided that I’d tune in to an easy to watch show at lunch. I personally settled on Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee. Most episodes are under half and hour, and are fun and light, and there’s something like 5 seasons now. Or, if not, I’ll throw on a Netflix comedy special with a comedian I like or a silly, laugh-worthy show like Final Space or Big Mouth.
This way, I can get my lunch organized, watch an episode of something, digest, and maybe get another cup of tea or coffee, and then head back to work having had a real break. Generally speaking, that process takes around 40-50 minutes, which I’ve found is about appropriate for me.
And, if I had to guess, I’d say I take lunch most days around 1 or 1:30pm.
I’ll also give myself permission to check my phone during this lunch, as long as it doesn’t lead me to work by accident, which certainly has happened, and it’s something I remain vigilant about combatting.
A Work Schedule for the Afternoon/ My Afternoon Routine
I plan my afternoons under the assumption that I’ll likely already have spent a fair bit of mental capital, and that I’m not going to be at my creative best.
Having worked at home for myself for a while at this point, I now inherently understand that there’s no use slogging to finish an article for three hours because “I should,” when it would likely take me a third or half the time to do if I made space for it in the following day’s morning routine.
In my afternoon work schedule, I spend a significant portion of it at a standing desk. There are few things more unbearable to me than sitting all day.
In the morning, I’m sitting and focused on creative tasks, and in the afternoon, I’m standing and completing tasks that are likely more administrative in nature, where I don’t need to be sitting and hyper-focused.
You might be thinking that it’s easy for me to form a schedule like this since I work for myself, but you’d be shocked how you can reorganize your commitments and guard your time when you’re working from home, period - even if you’re technically working for someone else, or a company or business.
Time to Get Back to it!
Pro-tip: A quality “working from home work schedule” acknowledges when you are actually going to be most productive and able to tackle particular tasks. It’s strategic, since you have more control.
Here are some examples of what I work on typically during my afternoon routine:
Email sweeps - This is the first thing that I do to start my afternoon routine. I comb through my emails to see if there’s anything urgent to address (that I didn’t note when I did a brief sweep after waking up), and tackle those.
I’ll typically spend 45 minutes to an hour (sometimes a little more, if necessary) getting my inbox to a place that I’m happy with.
I use a program called “MixMax” to organize my email inbox, construct templates for common replies, and often have emails sent back to me at a time when I’m better able to deal with them. That can even mean just having it sent back to me 2 hours later, and arriving at the top of my inbox.
Calls and meetings - It takes me longer to write in the afternoon, typically, but I’m perfectly happy to talk the afternoon away. I’m less stressed, as I’ve usually already accomplished what I needed to in the morning, and, since I work for myself alone at home, it tends to almost be a social reprieve.
I don’t like calls and meetings disrupting my mornings so, if possible, I always try to fit them into the afternoon. I actually usually walk around or pace during calls to squeeze in a little exercise. Hey, it’s better than sitting at least, right?
Relatively mindless tasks - If I’ve got to catch up on answering a couple hundred blog comments, I’m finding and mending broken links on my site (or some other tedious tech issue), or I’m creating pins for Pinterest, then you can guarantee I’m doing it in the afternoon (and at my standing desk with some loud tunes blaring on my living room speakers).
Honestly, if there is any task that needs to get done that isn’t going to require my undivided creative attention, it’s ending up in the afternoon at the standing desk.
Online courses and professional development - This is something that I’ve added to my afternoon schedule somewhat recently, in light of everything going on. I talked about some of the courses that I’m prioritizing in my recent article on how I’m staying productive at home.
Business wise, so much is up in the air for me at the moment, but that’s also created some space for learning and development for me, and I need to take advantage of that while I can.
Shutting Down for the Day
Learning how to work from home and create a work schedule is often as much about knowing when to stop as it is finding the energy to start.
The way in which you signify that you’re signing off for the day is huge when you’re working from home. You need to clearly indicate that, despite the fact that you’re in the same space, your formal work day has concluded.
I’ve spoken about this before, but I use a few signifiers to demonstrate that my workday is indeed over. I have a lava lamp (lame, I know) that I run while I’m working that I shut off when my day is over. I also shut off one particular lamp, and my air purifier.
Of course, this exact routine isn’t necessary, but find something. Put away a pen that you only use to write notes while you’re “on the clock,” or put away your water bottle and switch to glasses of water. I learned from Atomic Habits by James Clear that a lot of establishing habits and routine is based around seemingly insignificant overt signals that we send ourselves repetitively to get a desired result.
When my work day is over, I always leave to get some form of exercise. It used to be that I went to the gym, but, with everything going on currently with the Coronavirus, I now typically just go for an hour bike ride or walk.
This is important because it means that when I return, I’m mentally refreshed and I understand that I’m reentering my place in a casual, not work, capacity. I’m coming home to enjoy my evening, not work at my desk.
I’d also recommend setting some ground rules for what signing off for the day looks like in practice.
I, for example, refuse to check email after I’ve signed off for the day around 5pm, and I’ve yet to face a crisis for that decision. If it’s vital, I do my first brief email sweet shortly after I’m awake, and I can have it handled by 9 or so the next day, right before I enter into deep work.
I Know We’re All A Bit Trapped, But There Are Benefits To Working From Home
The biggest benefit, point blank, is that you don’t have to follow my work schedule, or his work schedule, or her work schedule, but rather your work schedule.
I encourage you to take what you need from this article, and try a few things out, just to see if they do work for you. Of course, I hope that they do, and this is helpful for you.
Done right, working from home means more control over your life, even if that means life is a little less social. I’d encourage you to focus on how efficient you can be when you can create an environment that suits your needs.
It may not come right away (it took me a year, after all), but you’ll eventually find a groove. I also know that your focus may not be tip-top at this moment, and that’s okay, too.
Everything I’m writing at this time is meant to assuage your stress and anxiety over these uncertain times, not add to it. So, once again, I’ll remind you that I’m only sharing what I know, and not writing from the top of any sort of golden throne and judging anybody for their productivity or lack thereof.
As I said before and will say again - all we can do is take things hour by hour, and day by day.
Focus on empowering yourself by changing the things that you can, while accepting that, in most instances, it’s not the actual crisis that sinks us, but rather our approach and reaction to those circumstances.