The COVID-19 pandemic is causing business people – both professionals and entrepreneurs – to become accustomed to working remotely from home. For some this is a blessing in disguise, but for many it is a challenge.
As an entrepreneur working from home, your biggest challenge will likely be workplace productivity. Interestingly enough, this is never something a new entrepreneur thinks about early in the journey. Generally, the concerns are centered around making enough money, finding clients, networking, building the business, etc.
However, the truth is that every successful company is successful because it has developed processes and routines that contribute to a highly efficient work environment. It is no different for your success as an entrepreneur. It is absolutely crucial to design routines and habits that contribute to workplace productivity.
“Spinning Wheels”
In business, if you feel like everything is spinning, there is a fairly simple solution. You have coworkers and bosses who can easily motivate you and help you get back on track when you have a day off or a week off. However, as a home-based entrepreneur, you can’t rely on anyone but you!
The most important thing you can do to increase the efficiency of your home office is to work consciously every day.
Schedule
The best way to stay focused and in control throughout the workday 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 stay incredibly productive is to spend 15 minutes at the end of the day planning the next day. What are your MCOs (mission critical objectives) for today? List them. You may need to set up credit card processing services. Develop your to-do list for the next day. This is an incredible stress reliever (trust me!) That way, when you go to work tomorrow morning, you already have an overall plan, direction, and purpose for the day.
The morning routine
The worst thing you can do as an entrepreneur is wake up and sit at your desk a few minutes after waking up and start working. This is a terrible idea. Believe me. I did this for about a year before I realized it was significantly affecting my productivity.
I’ve spent months researching the morning routines of successful people and successful entrepreneurs, and there are some fascinating similarities between many of them.
- They get up early. Many wake up between 5am and 6am;
- They do not work for the first few hours they are awake;
- They exercise in the morning;
- They visualize their entire day in the morning;
- They eat a full, healthy breakfast.
Now you may not be an early riser and you may not like exercising, but the point is that you want to create a gap between the time you wake up and the time you sit down to go to work, and that gap exists in your work. so you can prepare for the day’s work. This could be taking 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 also feel in control, and this is an invaluable benefit for work-from-home entrepreneurs.