If you’re self-employed the chances are that some, or maybe all, of your working life is based at home.
This is an opportunity that for many seems like the dream; working from the comfort of your own home allows the space to create and grow at your own pace and to choose work hours that fit your own personal creative flow. You don’t have to worry about commuting – you don’t even have to get dressed if you don’t feel like it. Yet you may find, especially in the beginning, that the set-up isn’t exactly as you envisioned. Finding a balance between work and home life in the same space can be a challenge, especially when relying on your own self-discipline to remain motivated and inspired.
We love the freedom of building our own business from home here at Harmonizing, but we also understand the struggle! We’ve put together some of our best tips to help you feel more energised and inspired in your daily working life.
power up at the start of day
Creating a nourishing morning ritual for yourself allows you to start the day by giving to yourself; a little treat to tell you the day has started, which helps to blow away the sleepy cobwebs. View the early morning as a precious pocket of time and gift yourself that much-needed gap, that precious breath of punctuation before the daily routines kick in, where your focus is on receiving rather than doing.
For this, choose something that nourishes you. This could be buying yourself a coffee from the local cafe, going for a walk in the woods or making yourself a healthy, filling breakfast. We know your time is precious, but even half an hour dedicated to something just for you can work wonders for your productivity. Starting the day with giving to yourself will help to rebalance your energy, and leave you ready to face your work feeling invigorated and empowered.
(For more information and inspiration on how to do this, you can check out our post HERE )
clear your space
Create a nourishing space for yourself to feel inspired and creative in. It is important to try to find a space that isn’t your bedroom, or other general living areas if possible – to create that separation in your mind between work and home. If this isn’t possible, carve a niche for yourself in a corner of your room to use solely for your work.
Try to regularly declutter your work space. This will allow more space for your mind to be creative and focused. Hang inspiring quotes, pictures and lists on your wall, and add some greenery with a plant or some flowers. Make your workspace somewhere you want to be and somewhere that makes you feel good.
Task : Starting your work day with a ten minute tidy of your desk before getting stuck in can help to create a habit.
switch off and set boundaries
We are constantly reachable at all hours of the day, and in self-employment especially it is natural to feel we always have to be on stand-by. This can feel especially true when there’s a more ambiguous physical boundary between work and home.
How many times have you thought about dealing with ‘just one more’ email in bed on a Sunday night, or been tempted to ‘just check in’ on your work social media while you watch tv? Having no clear boundaries between work-time and you-time means you may find yourself never properly switching off, and therefore never properly relaxing.
We need to set strict boundaries between work hours and home hours in order to fully recharge. When you leave work, actually leave work – even if leaving work for you means simply moving from your desk to the sofa. Consider signing out of your email and work social media accounts at the end of your working day, or getting an entirely new phone for work which gets switched off in the evening.
split the day
Having something to look forward to at lunch time can help us to power through our work in the morning. Going outside to grab lunch, or even changing where you work from in the afternoon, can give you a new burst of energy – you might want to consider taking your laptop and settling down in a local cafe for a couple of hours.
Write an achievable list of everything you would like to get through at the start of each day. As you tick things off you will feel a sense of achievement, and the structure will aid your organisation. Figure out what times of the day you feel you have the most energy and productivity, and schedule your most important or difficult tasks for then.
Task : Think about how your ideal work day would go. Write down how you would like your day to look, and what you need to include. Play around with different styles of working and figure out what feels best for you.
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If you’d like some more advice on self-discipline, and tips on how to organise your time, you can also check out our article on refreshing your mental energy HERE.
