How to be Productive while Working From Home

There are more and more people that work from home. And this is not just because government has mandated or suggested that people work from home at this time. Even before this, we had a lot of freelancers and online digital workers who work from the comfort of their own home. There are approximately 1.5 million freelancers who work online as virtual assistants, writers, tutors, etc.

So for this particular segment, not much has changed in terms of the working habits that they have.

I’ve been an advocate of professionalizing this industry and I love the Filipino freelancing community. I, too, have been freelancing (also was a full-time freelancer for a time) continuously since 2010. I just focused less on it when I decided to put up my own business back in 2013.

With this, there are a lot of tips that we can actually get from the people in this community. So feel free to follow the them by joining different freelancing groups on Facebook.

For today, I thought of giving you some things that you can try out a home. So just to give you a background of what I do, I’m currently running a SaaS tech company with my husband. I also have an events based business. I am and have been a professional blogger since 2008 and I’m also a mom to a little girl.

So fo the tips that I’ll share with you today, I personally and obviously do and follow these things. As a mompreneur, I juggle a lot of things so these may be applicable to moms and dads who are reading these, too. Some of them are even probably shared by a lot of productivity gurus, but I’ll try as much as possible to share my personal experience together with these tips.

I wake up at least an hour before my first task (in my case, it’s usually an online call for daily syncs with different departments of my business).

Lying on the bed for an additional hour or so is such great temptation, especially if you’re not used to working at home. I can’t stress the importance of following a daily routine and building a habit from that. From what I have experience personally is that if I don’t follow a routine and just go through the motions and follow how I feel on a daily basis, I feel depressed after a few days. That feeling came from thoughts like “what’s the ‘plan’ for my life?”, “why am I so unhealthy? or I feel so unhealthy!”or “How can I be so incompetent and unproductive?”. And when you’re in that state, it’s harder (at least for me) to get up and grab that rhythm again.

I track all of my tasks, online calls/meeting using Google Calendar

What I’ve noticed when you’re working from home, you easily lose track of time and easily get distracted. I have had a few times that I was late to online calls, because I was doing something with my daughter or watching a video online that suddenly caught my attention. So my tip would be to have all of these calls in an online calendar that you can track and set notifications so that it pops out on your screen.

Also, I keep different kinds of Calendars. You can go to the lower left of your screen and add your own calendar. You can even share this calendar with other people.

Eat a tech-free meals.

To be honest with you, eating for me is more of fuel to get me through the day rather than an activity by itself that I enjoy. So usually, it takes me less than 15 minutes to finish a meal. Working from home even cut this time into half. I’m done eating in under 10 minutes. My husband is the total opposite though and he loves having a good meal. He actually taught me how to enjoy eating and be present while eating.

We also made this rule at home to leave gadgets in our work / study area when we would go for a meal. I’ve noticed that having a tech free meal encourages conversation with the family, and we get to talk to each other (and I mean really talk… as compared to us “sort of” listening to each other). So this is actually one thing that I encourage you to do. Have a quiet meal time (when you live alone) or have conversations with your loved ones.

Exercise, peeps!

Working from home mean that you have limited space to move around (no pantry area or a workmates to go to). You should move and get blood flowing through your body. I would see a lot of IG stories of videos of people who work out, and they’re all so glamorous and nice looking. But don’t let that stop you from exercising. You don’t have to look fab, before start working out. Exercising is not just for fit people or people who would normally go to the gym. You don’t have to do burpees, 3 minute planks or 10 push ups at home.

If you’re just starting out this whole relationship with fitness, start by just stretching. A simple routine that I personally do is the following:

  • Crawl to plank (10 times)
  • Stay in Plank position (try to stay for 10 seconds than gradually increase time)
  • Jog in place for 1 minute or Jumping Jacks
  • Air squats (10 times)
  • Air Jabs – Front (alternate at 20 times)
  • Air jabs – Twist to the side (alternate at 20 times)
  • Cruches – 10 times

It’s important also that you encourage your kids to workout, too and to move and stay active.

Fix your files in your computer and sync it with a cloud storage facility

Most of us, including me, know where to find things even if our desktop and document folders are a mess. But I recently fixed all of my folders and had time to fix my files that are stored in Google drive, too, and I feel and I “think” I am more productive.

Having a cleaner desktop leads you to find files faster. I recently just used the Use Stacks feature of my Mac. It basically, stacks in one pile all of the same kind of files based on how you sort it. Super cool! My desktop is so clean now.

Make it a point to learn something new everyday!

What I like about reading a chapter of a book or going through 1-2 sessions of an online course is that I feel like I did something “substantial” for the day.

I take down notes every time I go through sessions or when I read a chapter of a book. I store it in an online tool also. You can also use a notebook if you like writing using a pen and paper. What I use is my Notepad that syncs to iCloud. My notes sync in all my devices, so I get to access it everywhere I go.

I hope this list helps you.

One of the people that I follow is Thomas Frank. I usually watch his YouTube videos.

If you want to check out his course on Skillshare, here is a link to a free 2 month subscription:

https://skl.sh/gingerarboleda

I highly recommend that you look for these two courses.

You can experiment on it these different things that I mentioned, combine it with what you have learned in Skillshare, and try it out. Some tips may work for some and might not work for others. The important thing is you try to find what will help you work happily from home.

Let me know if you have questions on productivity or how to be productive while working from home. I’ll be glad to reply.

Love,

P.S. Here are some other articles that you may want to read:

Please visit the blogs below!

This blog post is part of Mommy Bloggers Philippines Blog Hop

Hope you will learn more tips from the moms to keep your mental and emotional health in check during this COVID 19 crisis. 

18 P’s You Need During This COVID-19 Pandemic by Certified WAHM

5 Ways To Fight Stress During The COVID-19 Outbreak by MumWrites

God is Bigger than COVID-19 by Tipid Mommy

5 Ways to Keep Your Sanity During COVID-19 by Mommy Mhownai

How a Positive Mindset Alleviates Anxiety During the COVID -19 Crisis by All Around Pinay Mama

Life in the Time of COVID by Hits and Mrs Ph

Community Quarantine + Oratio Imperata by MajLife

Pause, Praise and Pray by Tweenselmom

Is it possible for a WAHM to get rich?

Are we talking about rich in love and happiness? haha! If that’s it then, raise the roof! AMEN! Β We Work-at-Home-Moms (WAHMs) are rich in love and happiness. But for this particular post, I’ll be talking about financial wealth. We can all get rich, WAHMS!

I have been a work at home mom / entrepreneur since October 2012 and those who have been reading my blog would know about this journey. And I think a lot of you would see that every weekend (and weekdays, though just from my home), I work my ass off to have great and successful workshops — workshops that are painstakingly prepared by my awesome team, backed up by great sponsors and attended by beautiful people who prioritize learning.

Success didn’t come easy and until now, it’s just creeping in slowly, but I am proud that I know that I will have enough for Zeeka’s college tuition fee already. I am proud to say that even if we just live a simple life, we have enough to make us happy. We have enough to not to worry about the future. Of course, there are still things that we are saving up for and things that we still wish we could have, but we know that we are slowly getting there.

My husband is employed while I work on our business. We are simple folks with simple dreams. A lot of the couples that I meet are quite like us in many ways — very practical. We don’t splurge on things. A lot of the financial advice that I got early on was really by listening to my good friend, Fitz Villafuerte. I used to sit in a lot during his Ready to Be rich workshops with Manila Workshops and I really learned a lot.

I highly suggest that you attend his workshop on April 18 which is entitled Get Rich, WAHM: Work at Home and Achieve Wealth. This will be from 10AM to 4PM at O2 Space – Unit 330 Milelong Building, Amorsolo St., Bgy. Pio del Pilar, Makati City.

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Fitz Gerard Villafuerte, RFP is a civil engineer who decided to quit the corporate world in 2003 to pursue entrepreneurship. In 2014, he became a registered financial planner.

His blog, entitled, Ready To Be Rich, has already received several recognitions including the Best Business and Finance Blog at the Philippine Blog Awards for two years in a row. Moreover, an international finance publication, Wise Bread, has likewise ranked his website as among the Top 100 Personal Finance blogs in the world. Fitz has also been recognized by Moneysense Magazine as among the top 12 most influential people in Personal Finance in the Philippines.

Learning Fee is at:
Regular rate: Php 2500
Early bird rate: Php 1800 (until April 8,2015)
Group rate: Php 4500 for a group of three

Participants will get a 2-months premium Raket account from raket.ph! πŸ™‚

For more information, email chinky.magtibay@manilaworkshops.com

To register, please go to this link:Β http://manilaworkshops.com/events/get-rich-wahm

Let’s all get rich WAHMs!

The WAHMderful Life Community and The WAHM 101 Workshop

I just had a meeting with Sally of http://thebinondomommy.blogspot.com/ and i just learned that she just resigned from her job. I told her that I clearly remember the first few months that I resigned from my job to be a work-at-home-mom (WAHM as the online world calls me). I was really scared. I know that I have this aura that can fool a lot of people that I know what I’m doing and I always look as if I’m in control, but the truth was, I wasn’t. I wasn’t sure about what I leaped into. I wasn’t sure if I could bring in money to help my husband with the expenses. I wasn’t sure if my business would fly. I wasn’t sure about my capabilities and my skills. Every day, I doubted myself.

I always encourage others to try to make risk, but I really know that once your in THAT PARTICULAR SCENARIO, your knees would shake and you’d always feel like fainting just by thinking of that thought of not having a steady income when you go into business. It’s a tough world and venturing into business is a tough road, that’s why only a few take that path. But the rewards are great when you start seeing the fruits of your labor. The stakes are high, but once you stay on board, the benefits are numerous, too.

But during that time when I started, looking back, I know I couldn’t have done it without a group of people who supported me in each and every step of the way. Yes, I had my family, but more than that, I needed the support of individuals who could tell me that what I was going through was but normal and part of the big picture. I am thankful that I had the WAHMderful Life Community, a group of 1200+ (to date) ladies, mostly moms, who are all working from home or who have experienced how it is to work from home.

READ ABOUT ITS BEGINNINGS HERE…

No one really understands that invisible bond that this group has. We don’t all know each other personally. We don’t get to see each other often. We only get to see each other during workshops and events, but being a part of the group (even if we just get to interact through the Facebook group) made me stronger and assured me that I wasn’t alone… that I am not alone.

Aside from the support, I got to gain friends, business partners, really great suppliers, acquaintances, blog readers, etc. that helped me make my life and businesses easier. Yes, working from home doesn’t make you a loner (I think I even know more people and my network grew exponentially when I worked from home and had my own business).

For those thinking of working from home or starting your own business, whether married, married with children, or single, I highly recommend that you join us on June 28, 2014 for the WAHM 101. You will learn a lot of things from the speakers or even just from the people who will be attending as participants, too. You will get to network, get to validate your business idea or even share a tip or two to people who will become your friends (probably forever).

WAHMderful Workshops 101 - 2014

Speakers
So please do sign up and spread the word. BTW, we would like to thank Insular Life, 88DB.com and Unilab, our co-presentors for making this event possible!

I’d love to meet you and talk to you! Feel free to approach me!

Love lots, your WAHMderful Life Sister,

The WAHM Life and the WAHM Time

I am panting! I have done so many things today and yet why do I still have tons to do. I practically have more than half of a bond paper with all of my to do’s still uncrossed. I actually wanted to skip posting in my blog today, but since I have made a resolution to achieve all of my goals, I did not want to skip posting this article. In my action plans list, I have blogging at least twice a week as an entry.

I sometimes forget to do that so pictures and ideas pile up as files in my phone and laptop, but I don’t get to update any of my blogs. Why am I so busy? I think I’m even busier now that I’m not employed. When you meet my friends, they will say that it’s typical for me to be ‘always busy’, but I shun whatever they say since I think i’m not that busy. But today, alas! I myself am convinced that I am a ROBOT!

I have three planners all with list of things that I need to do. For those of you wondering, yes, I have three. One for my blogs, the other for my schedule and the other for my household checklist of to do’s. Aside from that, I have a desk calendar (as if three planners were not enough to remind me of where I should be or what to do at a particular moment) that tells me of all of my appointments. Also, to add to all of these things, I have my Google calendar reminding me through my phone and my email.

As work-at-home-moms and mompreneurs, people think that we handle our own time so we’re not that busy. I agree in the handling our own time part, but as for us not being busy, try juggling between breastfeeding a baby, to getting to a meeting on time, to blogging regularly, to handling inquiries in the website you own, to shipping orders, to inventory checking, to going to the bank, to running to the grocery, to giving the pay to the maids, to worrying about that aircon that needs to be cleaned, to worrying about the baby’s next doctor’s appointment, etc. I practically breeze through lunch and taking a shower. Sometimes, I don’t even want to get up just to go to the toilet.

But working at home made me closer to my baby and that was really the plan. I love being around her. When I need a break, all I do is go to the other room and play with her. I get to hear her say ‘bo’ (ball) or ‘bird’ (bi) or ‘mama’ often. I get to hug her every time she nurses and that’s at least 6 times a day.

My life isn’t perfect. There are times when I am so stressed because I feel like I don’t get things done, but the thought or being with my family and the thought that all of these things I am doing is for them, I am happy and contented. Although, at times, I know that I would need some tips on how to handle things more efficiently. I know that you would want some tips, too. The beauty of being in a community of women (WAHMderful Life sisterhood) who are almost in the exact situation as you are in is that you get to share best practices and tips with each other.

So for the start of the year, we’d like to invite you to the WAHMderful Year Starter Workshop 2014, where you will get so many useful tips on how to start your year right as a WAHM. We get so many inquiries on time management, so for this run, most of the day will be set aside for managing your time.

WAHMderful Workshops YEAR STARTER

This workshop is brought to you by Manila Workshops, the WAHMderful Life Sisterhood and Insular Life! Thank you Insular Life for being our sponsor.

You have until Friday to avail of the Early bird rate, but even if you don’t the regular rate is really worth it.

The speakers for this WAHM workshop will be Martine De Luna and Teresa Gumap-as Dumadag. Sign up now and I really hope to see you in this workshop!

A Wonderful 1st Anniversary: WAHMderful Weekend!

I can’t believe that it has already been one year. Time flies so fast indeed. This year, October 27 was a red letter day for most work-at-home-moms. It was the day we celebrated the first year anniversary of the WAHMderful Workshops and of the community. We celebrated it at SMX Taguig Convention Center.

Have a WAHMderful Life!

Have a WAHMderful Life!

Yes, we, work-at-home-moms, have a ‘sisterhood’. We are part of a community of women who share the same interests and share the same goals and dreams. We are here to help one another. By definition (thank you Google), sisterhood means…

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Yes, we treat each other in this community like sisters. We have a strong bond that connects each one of us. Our goal is to help each other, even our ‘new siblings’. We started as a small group and now we are already at 900+ in our facebook group: Manila Work-at-home-moms. All of us are here because we have a common goal of making our own contribution to the world while raising our children well and keeping our husbands and family happy. We realize that at times, we need help Β from others, from business connections and partnerships or just a shoulder to lean on during difficult times. Each ‘sister’ understands the unwritten rule in the community that we need to pull each other up to achieve all our dreams and aspirations and that the success of one person is the success of everyone in the WAHM community.

We also know that the family of each one is important. We value time and we teach those in our community how to maximize it and spend it on things that matter the most.

Wacky Shot of the group at the WAHMderful Weekend!

Wacky Shot of the group at the WAHMderful Weekend!

 

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Any one and every one who has been to a WAHMderful Life event knows that each one is valued. Each one is welcomed with open arms and we are all ready to listen and help you out. We hope that each one gets to learn and apply these things in their work-at-home careers. We hope that each one feels loved and valued. We hope that by feeling loved and valued, we hope that this inspires you to reach for your goals and we hope that we give you that boost to accomplish things!

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The Speakers and the Huddle Up Mentors

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PLDT, one of our Sponsors explaining Cyberya πŸ™‚ Thank you very much!

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The Icebreaker sponsored by DSM πŸ™‚ Thank you, DSM!

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The DSM Team πŸ™‚

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FREE Fitflops from Alta for the participants! Thank you Alta! πŸ™‚

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Insular Life explaining the Gift of Dreams πŸ™‚ Thank you Insular Life!

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Teresa launched her Breastfeeding book during the WAHMderful Weekend πŸ™‚

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Our Panelists! Thank you Ladies! πŸ™‚

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Registration being manned by Event Director, Patty Cuyugan from Manila Workshops

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We are so excited to share with you the things that we have lined up for all of you WAHMs/WAHDs and even work-at-home-singles (we had a few during the WAHMderful Weekend!) for 2014. We would like to thank all of the sponsors of the WAHMderful Weekend. If it weren’t for these brands, our event wouldn’t have been possible.

Thank you to our Co-presentors, DSM with Quali-A, Quali-D, Quali-C, Quali-Blends brands under them. We would also like to thank Unilab (as always), who have been continuously supporting us all throughout the year.

Thank you to our Major Sponsors: Alta, Calchews, Tocarre Spa and Insular Life.

Thank you to our other sponsors: Xend Business Solutions, Mamachows, Sitting Pretty Crafts Studio, MRLightworkz Photography and Memory Crafters.

We would also like to thank SMX Taguig Convention Center and Josiah’s Catering for their excellent service πŸ™‚

Thank you to everyone who attended the WAHMderful Weekend and we are looking forward to meet more ‘sisters’ (and brothers) in the future!

P.S. Visit the http://wahmderfullife.com/ for more tips on how to be a WAHM/WAHD πŸ™‚ Subscribe to the Manilaworkshops.com Newsletter, too, to receive updates on our schedule for 2014!