My New Working from Home Schedule

As a time management coach for mums and former project manager of almost 10 years, when I asked over on my Instagram what blog post you’d most like to see next, I was secretly thrilled when the answer that came back was my working from home schedule.

To be honest though, even for a scheduling lover like me, working from home full time for the last six months has definitely brought up some productivity demons within me.

Some days I’ve been uber productive and some I’ve been yawning by lunchtime and spending the afternoon on Slack or in my inbox, producing little of value.

I’ve tweaked and tweaked and am happy to share what’s now working for me daily.

Brain dump weekly, then plan daily

You guys will know I am a Monday Hour One convert and it has seriously changed my calendar for the better in so many ways.

(Side note: Do let me know in the comments below if you want to hear more specifically about that method here on the blog.)

However (shock) I do not use it for my working days.

At the start of the week, I do brain dump everything I want to get done at my day job and in my coaching business, but I don’t plan it out until the day of.

This is because client needs / calls / meetings can differ day to day, and therefore my priorities can shift too. If I did my daily plans at the start of the week, I’d likely need to be redoing my calendar each day anyway.

So in the morning, I write out the hours of the day (yes by hand), slot in any pre-arranged meetings, then fill the gaps with the more substantial tasks from my weekly brain dump.

Top and tail the day with personal tasks

I’m sure we’ve all heard about how challenging it can be to work from home, when the urge to dust your windowsill right in front of you, or water your wilting indoor plants during random times of the day feels strong.

It may seem tempting to just stroll off and do a couple of jobs around the house, but this constant context switching will kill your productivity, I promise you.

My workaround is to add a house task at the start of the day (usually emptying the dishwasher, or putting laundry on) and one at the end of the day (often getting ahead on dinner – such a perk of being at home).

I then feel like I’m getting some personal things in without jeopardising my focus during working hours.

Add ‘margin’ and outside time

I use the term margin (thanks to Lauren Cash) or buffer, which means allowing time for things I haven’t planned for that may come up.

I add margin to my schedule to make sure my day isn’t too packed, but it’s mainly there so I have room if any extra requests come in (which they often do).

I usually put this in for around 4pm. I write things down as they come up throughout the day, then pick off the most urgent or important tasks at 4pm and finish those off so I’m not behind when the next day rolls around.

I also insist on outside time (unless it’s absolutely pelting rain).

It definitely feels easy for me to keep powering through work or, let’s be honest, at the moment, I’m quite sick of the walking track around my house. But I always feel 1000% better once I’ve been outside.

This was the same in the office and it’s the same at home.

I’m always interested and inspired by sneak peeks into other people’s lives.

My formula of daily planning, adding margin and outside time, and getting ahead on home tasks in specific slots has made my days run really smoothly and has also saved me working around the clock at home because I’m not planned.

I’d love to hear in the comments below which of my strategies helps most with your productivity, and if you’re on a time management roll, you can read many more posts from me about planning here.