Creating a Work From Home Routine to Win the Day

As someone who’s lived the work-from-home lifestyle for almost a decade, I met the chaos of 2020’s impromptu WFH movement feeling rather smug. I had friends and family alike asking, "How have you done this for years without losing your mind?!"

Well, the first step is accepting that working from home has no set rules. This double-edged sword needs mitigating with a solid yet malleable WFH routine that works for you – and fast, particularly if you're lucky enough to do remote work now that the pandemic has been deemed over.

Unfortunately, here in Ireland where I live, office workers have been largely ushered back into the workplace. Good for local businesses, not so good in terms of work-life balance and the environmental impacts of the daily commute. There are a few organizations, however, with a less antiquated viewpoint on the working day – especially in terms of hybrid working – and they're willing to pilot WFH options. So, it's crucial to nail a productive WFH schedule quickly.

In this blog, we’ll delve into why you need a WFH routine, share a practical example, and outline some best practices.

Why a Work From Home routine is important

Creating a regular work schedule is especially salient if you're newly adjusting to a office-free environment. Having this level of structure helps you stay productive, ensures you meet your output expectations, and stay sane.

Here's an overview of how a well-defined schedule can benefit you.

Sample ‘Work From Home’ routine schedule

A cursory Google search will throw up all manner of schedules “for peak productivity” that look a little something like this:

Part of this “wrapping up” process is reviewing how your work day went. What worked, what didn’t work. Keep a log of when you were most productive and if swapping where you work was beneficial or not.

Time tracking tools like Memtime can help you gauge all of these things. It can identify times of peak productivity, which you can then reshuffle to suit your day. Maybe you work best really early in the morning or late at night?

Defining a routine that works for you

You know as well as I do that schedules, in the short term, are there to be tweaked. After all, no two days or workloads are exactly the same. That’s why, before you define a daily WFH routine that’s realistic, you should consider your unique situation.

WFH Best Practices: 6 winning ways to nail your routine

Now that you have a better gauge of what’s a realistic Work From Home routine, you can further optimize your schedule by applying some Best Practices to your own WFH set up.

1. Early bird it

While I’m all for arranging a workspace that is inspiring – separated from the living space, and clutter-free plus a door you can actually close at the end of the working day – it doesn’t always work out that way.

Living in a small house with two growing kids on their summer break, plus a partner who works a hybrid model, renders my workstation a bit more fluid than I’d like (he has more meetings than me so needs that closing door). So, sometimes, I have to be an early bird. I rise with the larks to get work done before the chaos descends from their respective bedrooms.

2. Bring on the boundaries

In light of point 1, I’m aware that the introduction of boundaries might seem oxymoronic. If you’re someone who struggles with instilling boundaries, then consider removing yourself from the situation. By that, I mean if your partner is also working from home and space is limited, take yourself off to the local cafe with decent wifi. Create a mutually agreeable schedule for that practice if needs be.

3. Be realistic

Realistically, it’s tricky completing an extensive to- do list within your average working day. So whittle your list down to three-to-five doable tasks. Obviously, you’ll need to strike a balance between what is a priority and what is achievable.

4. Start small…

There are those who believe that tackling the tough stuff first is a must when getting things done. Personally, I like to complete a few easier, more achievable tasks to bolster my self-confidence in getting things done. Let’s face it, nothing is more disheartening than toiling away on a certain task for hours and still having nothing concrete to show for it. If you, like me, find positive reinforcement a source of fuel, then get some relatively easy things boxed off early.

5. Be prepped

As someone who is hugely meal-motivated, I have been known to start day-dreaming about what to have for lunch, or what to order for dinner. It’s best to remove that mind-sucking factor from your routine. Therefore, I make all food-related decisions for the following day the night before.

6. Take breaks

Anyone who regularly reads our blogs might be aware that I love breaks. One every 25 minutes, in fact.

Resources to help you hone your WFH routine

Now that we’re reaching the business end of proceedings of this blog, here are some effective tools to consider for your remote work schedule:

1. Digital Workplaces: Digital work spaces – like Slack, Asana, and Switchboard – streamline communication, manage deadlines, and organize tasks irrespective of wherever you and your teammates are working from.
2. Note-Taking Software: These capture essential details, whether it’s client conversations or task prioritization. Apps like Microsoft OneNote, Obsidian, or Google Keep help to maintain your focus and rhythm.
3. Time Management Tools: You can allocate specific time blocks for tasks, track progress, and elevate high-priority items with time management software like Memtime.

Wrapping up

Defining your WFH routine is an individual thing that requires fine tuning. It’s an ongoing process. By adding a time tracking element to your schedule you will be able to identify and optimize your personal daily performance patterns. It can also help you beyond billing for your time.

Again, when optimizing your schedule, be mindful of any physical and mental limitations and implement our top 5 effective, executive-level time management strategies to keep you on track!