Working from home routines/tips

[cheesetoasties11]

I've just started an MA. I have to commute a long time in to university so I nearly always do my work at home. That means 4/5 days, roughly 8-6 in the house alone.

I thought I was coping alright but then the other day I realised I'd kept my DPD driver (who is lovely) chatting for 15 minutes at the door

I've got my working routine sorted ish, although I still struggle to get out of my pyjamas somedays and on days when I'm very tired I sometimes let the day run away with me and end up working until midnight I find it difficult because when I did my BA I lived across from the library so got up everyday and went in as if it was an office.

Anybody found a way to A) beat the solitary blues and/or B) ensure a really productive day without getting distracted?

Find a nearby cafe to work in. Well invested 2.50 per day :)

You need to feel like you are 'going to work' and trick your brain into a different routine. I get up with DH, get dressed and leave the house when he does. I go grab a coffee, pick up something for lunch then head back and sit at my desk. I also find that taking a proper lunch break and having a finish time works too.

Do you have a separate part of your house where you can work or are you doing a laptop-on-the-sofa kind of thing? In my experience, it makes all the difference to have a separate room in your house that you work in. Obviously not everyone has that luxury but if there is any way you can even separate off a corner of a room and put a desk there plus a shelf or two with all your books and paperwork, then it's easier to think of that as "going to the office".

And just get up, shower and get dressed first thing without even thinking about it. Even if you just wear leggings and an old jumper afterwards, you need to just get into the routine of up-shower-dress-desk. Don't think of yourself as being at home; think of it as being in an office that happens to be in your house (so don't put the TV on, don't have long personal phone calls, etc).

It's hard.

I have to do an early morning school run, so when I get back I shower, dress properly, take dog for walk, throw on load of laundry, make a nice coffee and aim to be ready to go to work in the attic by 9.30 am.

But i do get distracted sometimes and start later. Once I am in my 'office' I usually manage to stay there until lunchtime.

I get up, get dressed, do all the beds and tidy up, do the school run, come home and put the kettle on and then sit down at my desk. I try to stick to office hours and always without fail get dressed properly

I really struggle with this too! Leaving house with DH and grabbing lunch and coffee sounds like a good idea - will try that, thanks!

I work from home bot spend the majority of my time in teleconferences so don't feel isolated. I don't think I could handle it otherwise and would probably go stir crazy after a while. Are there opportunities for you to engage with others remotely whilst still being relevant to your studies? Are others on your course working from home so well that you could maybe arrange short regular Skype calls with to discuss work?

Take a lunch break somewhere there's people - go to the gym or just out for lunch.

I track my time. The hours that are set for work have every minute accounted for. If I procrastinate, my time tracker knows and then I'll know where I'm wasting it. Keeps me.on the ball.

What time tracker do you use crazy?

Very basic homemade one in excel. I just track the time I start something and then the task that I do. It's something a business coach suggested s few years ago and really keeps me focused.