These work from home tips will definitely help you stay productive and focused so you can achieve your goals. We absolutely love when people share what’s working for them when it comes to products, recipes and life/business tips with the hopes that maybe their experience will help others in a positive way. We’re always so grateful others are willing to share and continue to power the ‘community over competition’ movement.
We’re so excited to introduce you to Virginia, the owner and founder of Acre75.ca, an online shop featuring items made in Canadian towns with less than 30,000 people. Virginia also has an amazing subscription box that is shipped four times a year. We love her commitment to celebrating creative makers from small towns across Canada.
Virginia has been kind enough to share with the Shop Local CANADA community her top tips for staying focused while working from home. We know you’ll love these amazing tips and we’re so grateful to Virginia for sharing them with us all. Enjoy!
Work From Home Strategies
“Starve your distractions, feed your focus”
I have this quote on my whiteboard in my home office. It serves as a reminder that if I want my business to be successful, I need to be a master at staying focused. Working from home can be tough. The laundry room is right around the corner from my office and I can see the weeds in my garden from my office window. Basically, there is always something else that I could be doing.
Over this last year, since taking my online shop, Acre75.ca, full time, I feel like I’ve really begun to master the whole work-from-home thing. When I come down to my office, I work. When I leave my office, it’s back to home life. My daughter goes to daycare three days a week so I have three days to get everything on my Acre75.ca to-do list finished – sourcing, marketing, bookkeeping, packing, shipping, pricing, customer service. Focus has become my best friend in order to capitalize those three days. Work smarter, not harder, as they say.
6 Tips For Working From Home
If you’re looking for ways to be productive when working from home, here are a few things I do to starve distraction and feed focus:
1. I clean up all the dishes from breakfast, pick up any toys and always make the beds before I head down to my office. This way I start the day with a clear mind rather than constantly thinking about the mess waiting for me upstairs.
2. I’ve turned off all social media and email notifications – these notifications are massive productivity and focus killers! I’ve conditioned myself to check in on my social media and email throughout the day so I don’t miss out on anything important. The difference is that I choose when I check in, rather than the notifications taking me away from whatever it is I am working on.
3. I always have my phone turned over so I don’t get distracted by the messages popping up on my screen. I will often put my phone on silent if I’m working on an important project.
4. I’ve moved all my social media apps into a folder and moved that folder off my home screen so I’m not tempted to check them every time I pick up my phone (this is a life changer!).
5. When I really need to focus, like when I’m packing my Acre75 Gathered subscription boxes or working on a new campaign, I listen to Classical music (mostly piano) or movie soundtracks (We Bought a Zoo is my favourite!).
6. I use a journal called Daily Greatness religiously every day and set my “Three Inspired Actions” – the three things that I absolutely need to get done that day. I’m 100% sure I wouldn’t have launched Acre75 Gathered without this journal!
Thanks so much to Virginia for taking the time to share her top work from home tips. We hope you found a new idea to help you stay productive at home.