The COVID-19 pandemic pushes business people – professionals and entrepreneurs alike – to getting used to working remotely from home. This is a blessing in disguise to some, but a challenging feat for many.
As an entrepreneur working from home, your biggest challenge will most likely be workplace productivity. Now, interestingly enough, this is never something a new entrepreneur thinks of early in the journey. Generally, concerns are centered around making enough money, finding clients, networking, building the business, etc.
The truth is, however, that any successful company is successful because it has developed processes and routines that contribute to a very efficient working environment. Your success as an entrepreneur is no different. It is absolutely critical to design routines and habits that contribute to workplace productivity.
“Spinning Wheels”
In corporate life, if you feel that you are spinning your wheels, there is a pretty easy solution. You have co-workers and bosses that can easily motivate you and help get you back on track if you are having an off-day or off-week. As an entrepreneur working from home, however, there is no one else but you to rely upon!
The single most important thing you can do to boost your home office efficiency is to work in an intentional manner every single day.
Planning
The best way to stay intentional and in control throughout your work day is to plan. Planning provides a powerful structure through which your day unfolds, and it should start at the end of the previous day.
The best way to remain incredibly productive is to devote 15 minutes at the end of the day in order to plan out the next day. What are your MCOs (mission critical objectives) for the day? List them out. Perhaps you need to set up credit card processing services. Develop your task list for the next day. This is an incredible stress-reliever (trust me on this!) That way when you sit down for work tomorrow morning, you already have a general plan, direction, and objective for the day.
The Morning Routine
The worst thing you can do as an entrepreneur is to wake up and sit down at your desk a few minutes after waking and begin work. This is a terrible idea. Believe me. I did this for about a year before I realized it was significantly affecting my productivity.
I spent months researching the morning routines of successful people and successful entrepreneurs, and there are a few fascinating commonalities among many of them.
- They rise early. Many wake up between 5:00-6:00am;
- They don’t work for the first several hours they are awake;
- They exercise in the morning;
- They visualize their entire day in the morning;
- They eat full, healthy breakfasts.
Now, you may not be an early riser, and you may not like to exercise, but the point is that you want to create a gap between the time you wake up and the time you sit down to begin working, and that gap exists in order for you to empower yourself for the day’s work. That may include a walk outside, reading motivational material, meditating, exercising, etc. Experiment with different morning routines until you find what works best for you.
To Conclude…
A morning routine will significantly increase your productivity throughout the day. Not only will you approach the day with much more clarity, energy, and intention, but you will feel in control, and this is a priceless benefit for work-at-home entrepreneurs.