6 Work From Home Pitfalls and How to Overcome Them

Working from home, the holy grail of work environments. We believe if we could simply take out our commute we would be 10 times more productive at home and at work.

This can be true but for the vast majority I'm going to say it's not. Here are a list of work from home pitfalls and how to work through them to become the productivity ninja you were born to be!


Pitfall #1: I'll throw in a load of laundry!

Pitfall number 1 hits close to home for me. I thought if I threw in a load of laundry when I woke up at 5AM and tossed it into the dryer when I was getting the kids up a couple of hours later, it would feel like I was never doing laundry.  Too bad I forgot about the folding and putting away piece of the puzzle. Each day I was forced to stop what I was doing and fold laundry for at least 30 minutes. In a week that was a loss of 2.5 hours of productivity! But it's actually more than that. By stopping and starting again it would typically take me at least 30 minutes to get back into a work task. So yeah, I was losing 5 hours of productivity a week FOR LAUNDRY!

So, I decided to kick it old school. When I was going to an office everyday I would do all of the laundry on Saturdays. 5 loads in a day seems crazy but it was actually more productive and I didn't lose those precious 5 hours of work time.

Takeaway: Be one task oriented. Focus your day around 1 main goal, whether it be a work or household goal. You will finish the task faster and more thoroughly.

Pitfall #2: I'll become Julia Child!

I love to cook, I feel like it's my way of showing my family love while also helping my waistline. Going to an office everyday forced me to come up with quick 30 minute meals so that we could eat at a reasonable hour. Working from home I felt like I could use my commute time to create meal masterpieces.......WRONG!

I would inevitably forget:

• the meat needed to marinate for 4 hours
• a side dish needed to be started earlier
• that I needed a side dish at all
• how much chopping was involved in these intricate recipes
• what time it was and I would only have 30 minutes to make dinner

Yet again I found my commuter lifestyle fit my family better. 30 minute meals are our go to no matter where I'm located. Trying to be creative and special is now only reserved for holidays.

Takeaway: If it ain't broke, don't fix it. If you have a meal plan that works for your family why would you overcomplicate this even if you had additional time. Keep it simple. 

Pitfall #3: I can work in my pajamas (or workout clothes) all day!

I workout first thing 6 days a week. Showering ate into my time to get the kids up and ready for school. Now I could simply workout and get the kids ready, I'll never be late again!

Except.....

What I was missing in all of this is that I LOVED my morning shower. I was a sweaty mess daily and covering this with deodorant was not my style.

What if I had a video conference call with someone? I pride myself on being professional and being a sweaty mess isn't really the way I want to project myself 24/7.

Also I would have to stop and shower during my workday....back to pitfall #1, interrupting my day made me less productive.

I also found that showering right after my workout, putting on normal clothes and wearing makeup set my mindset for the day.  I was ready for a more structured day,  and became a more professional person.

Takeaway: Don't sacrifice personal care, it shapes your daily mindset.

Pitfall #4: I can work from anywhere!

This romantic fantasy is just that, a fantasy. You can work from anywhere, sure! But, do you have everything you need? Are you in the right mindset?

Having a designated workspace is key to productivity. You need to be able to have everything at your fingertips and if you're constantly changing your workspace from coffee shop to porch to beach you may not be in the right mindset and  this could derail your ability to finish, or even start, tasks.

Find a spot in your house that is quiet, calm and bright. I love my dinning room table, I have everything I need and a beautiful window to look out of to see the world. I also know when I walk in that room my mindset shifts into work mode.

Takeaway: Create a dedicated space to work from home to have all your tools available and put you in the right mindset.

Pitfall #5: I will solve world hunger by noon!

I didn't think I was actually going to solve world hunger but what I did do was schedule way too many activities in too short of a time period. Just because you are in a distraction free environment doesn't mean you are going to work faster, actually quite the opposite.

When uninterrupted you are going to end up down an amazing rabbit hole where you deepen your knowledge and get to follow your thought process completely. This doesn't always happen in a 10 minute window, it may take 30 minutes to an hour.  Give yourself more time to complete a task, the end result will be much better crafted and more well thought out.

Takeaway: Give yourself double the amount of time you anticipate needing for tasks. This will allow you thinking time and will also help you manage your time better in general. You will be forced to pick only a handful of tasks vs your entire to do list. 

Pitfall #6: I'll work through lunch and won't schedule any breaks to finish faster!

This sounds amazing but unfortunately it's not how our brains are designed to work. You will burn yourself out and end up wasting time. The human brain can only concentrate on a task for about 50 minutes at a time before it loses some of that focus. If you work without breaks daily it's like forcing your body to run a marathon. EVERY. SINGLE. DAY.  You would never do this to your body so why are you trying to do it to your mind?

I will also challenge the "work through lunch" concept that we as Americans have adopted. This concept is wrong on several levels.

1. You are forcing yourself to eat too quickly, messing up your digestion
2. You aren't presently eating which will cause you to eat more. By simply enjoying your meal distraction free for as little as 5 to 10 minutes you will notice hunger signals more readily and stop eating sooner.
3. Your work area isn't as clean as you'd think and you are inevitably picking up some gross little viruses by eating at your computer. Wash your hands and eat in your clean kitchen.
4. You are also missing the opportunity to connect with another human being. Schedule a lunch date at least once a week to enjoy a meal and deepen a relationship, working or otherwise.

Takeaway: Every 50 minutes give yourself a 10 minute break. I know you're worried about productivity but with the break I promise you will be more productive. 

Eat lunch away from your computer screen either with someone or at least in your kitchen away from distractions. You won't get sick as often and you may even lose weight.

Note to the Reader: Each of these pitfalls are from my real life work from home experience except the last pitfall as I wanted to understand the grossness of eating at the keyboard. Here's the article that changed my ways. Reader beware.