Suddenly Working From Home? Maintaining a Consistent Schedule Can Help You Adjust
We are creatures of habit. Use that to our benefit.
If you’re like me, you’re working more from home right now during the COVID-19 pandemic. It’s quite an adjustment. I’m used to working on some stuff from home, but I am not used to doing my entire work day from home.
I have loved working from home for the past two months, but I know it’s hard for a lot of people. For many of us, it was a drastic change that had to happen in a short amount of time. Within a few weeks, we had to shift our schedules and our lifestyles. One of the tips I have to share is maintaining a consistent work schedule. That consistency will help you more than you may realize.
Having a consistent schedule helps you build a daily routine. You may need to be flexible and change it once in a while, but keep it as consistent as possible. Once you get used to it, you will develop a solid workflow. From Monday through Friday, I work from 8am to 4pm with a lunch break from noon to 1pm. That was my schedule before working from home, and that’s still my schedule, even if I’m working at a desk in the corner of my bedroom.
My work day has always ended at 4pm, and it still stays that way, even from home. I do have a shorter commute, but I don’t use that as a reason to work past 4:00. I have a family that I want to spend quality time with, and by keeping my work day before 4:00, I’m protecting my time with them. There have been a few times I did work past 4:00, but those are rare and I only do it when I really need to. My intention is to protect my work time and protect my family time so that neither suffers.
If there are other activities you want to do, like hobbies or a side-hustle, you have to schedule time in the day for it. At least 3 times a week, I wake up at 5:30am to work on my creative writing projects before the regular work day starts. I like to do that in the morning because it’s when I’m rested, and since everyone else is asleep, I have undisturbed time to be focused. It may be early, but it works for me. If I want these morning sessions to happen, I have to make the effort to schedule them.
However your schedule may look, it needs to exist in order to set you up for success. Having a consistent work day helps you build consistent habits that will make you more effective and productive. Your schedule will help you make time for what is important, and protect it.
