I can slip into bad work habits: sitting in one place for too long, forgetting to eat, doing one task all day, or focusing too much on day-to-day busywork instead of bigger projects I place on the horizon.
I took today off — or kind of. Mostly, I wanted to work offline, or I suppose online but unpingable, unreachable. Which are different things. I love Slack, which is the tool we use to communicate all day, every day. But sometimes I need to hide.
My husband, who usually works from home as well, is working from his office in San Francisco today. I love working from home with him, but I also really like being home alone during the work week, too.
A lot of people use the Pomodoro Technique to manage their time. I do not. Although I’ve never really tried.
I suppose I did my own version of it today:
7:30 Checked inbox, commented on a few p2 threads.
8:00 Made a cup of coffee.
8:15 Scheduled social for my photo challenge in Buffer.
8:45 Checked Slack, answered a few pings.
9:00 Cleaned the kitchen.
9:30 Scheduled a few editors’ picks.
9:45 Ate granola and yogurt.
10:00 Watered the herbs.
10:30 Started drafting a p2 post for the Discover calendar.
11:00 Swept the deck and put the leaves in the bin.
11:30 Made a bowl of instant ramen.
12:00 Opened Sketch to start an artboard, but failed to do anything.
12:30 Took a shower.
1:00 Unpacked from my trip a bit more.
1:30 Drafted a feature for Discover on a blogger who announced a book deal.
2:30 Swept the other deck, which has not been swept since we’ve moved here.
3:00 Removed the dishes from the dishwasher.
3:15 Started playing around with my new Pressable site.
3:45 Poured a glass of Chardonnay and started writing this post.
Since I technically took the day off, I really shouldn’t be working at all. But I’ve toyed with the idea of making Fridays (or every other Friday) an “offline work day” where I can brainstorm, work on things that I always brush aside, and step back and think about the bigger picture — and what I’m doing and if it’s effective.
Working from home has many benefits, but can also be challenging. There are many tools I can use or techniques I can do to help keep me on track, but ultimately it’s up to me to constantly produce good work. The intervals of work mixed with spurts of activity helped a bit, so I might try it again next week.
