Work from home hacks

Admit it - your life as you knew it in 2020 has changed.

For better or for worse, that's up to you but one thing we do know is that right along with your life, the way you consume content on social media and how you interact with people, your way of working a 9-5 has also changed.

While it was almost impossible to consider the possibility of working from home before (it was the stuff dreams were made of), it is now the norm and even expected.

The key downside to working from home - especially for a creative - is productivity. Heck, I'll be the first to admit that sitting on your bed with a laptop or even beside your bed on a chair and table is definitely not the way to go as you'll realise it is calling out to you like a siren ... cue siren song!

We all have our side-hustles and that's a given, but tackling them and still giving our best at our 9-5 is a task which only a few have mastered 😊

Here are some of my tips for being a successful #CorporateCreative #enterprenuer in the now:

📌 It's all in the mind. It is that simple and it isn't that simple. You need to first admit to yourself that there are changes you will need to abide by. Be strict with yourself even and by all means, go as far as rewarding yourself or punishing yourself if need be.

📌Create a schedule. There is nothing to help the mind stay organised like a list, a plan or a schedule. Yes, we don't always keep to it but it definitely prevents a lot of headaches and heartaches in the near future. You can use an app or your phone but I still like to write out my schedule/tasks/to-do list for the day in my work notepad. I write down every-single-thing I need to do that day (yes, even the side-hustle stuff 😁)

📌Make the most of free time. Admit it - work doesn't go on every single second of every single minute of every single hour. That time you would take a walk to the canteen or make idle chitchat with the colleague in the next unit doesn't exist anymore. Make the most of those times in-between (10 minutes, 15 minutes, 20 minutes or more) and get something done, no matter how little it may seem.

Here are some examples -

1. A Photographer - create a mood-board for a shoot or edit some pictures

2. A Makeup artist - try out some new products

3. A blogger - schedule some posts with only the titles and short summaries

4. A Chef - develop some meal plan ideas

5. A shop owner - call your store or work on your inventory

6. A consultant - make some follow-up calls e.t.c.

📌Practise time management. While previously there were distinct lines between work and side-hustle i.e. work gets done in the office and side-hustle gets done at home; the lines are now blurred and there is no clear line of demarcation any longer. It is easy to get caught up in something and go on with it for hours on end but with time management, each task gets a time allocation and you can either purposely break it by not moving on or set it aside when the allotted time comes to an end.

📌Turn off notifications. If you've ever sent me a message on social media and wondered why I don't respond as fast as I used to, this is the reason why. I used to get distracted by notifications a lot and I would end doing something random that wasn't related to work or even my side-hustle and the time would disappear. So now, I have them all turned off and only my work email on so I can concentrate on getting work done.

📌Rest. Because the lines are now blurred, it is easy to take office work into home time or extend side-hustle time because the work schedule extended. The likelihood of burnout is higher with working from home. Take a break, standup and say hi to the fam or neighbours, catch up on the top 10 Netflix list for your country, call a friend to say hi, take a short nap. Your body will thank you for it.

Over time, these are 6 tips that have worked for me. I'm not perfect so I still flounder on them sometimes but for the most part, they keep me sane by making sure I'm productive at work and still have the time to build my personal brand, create content and work on my side-hustle.

The best part is that some of these hacks are also useful for working out of the office and running your own business too.

Do share your own hacks.

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