We’ve mentioned the most important tools you need for the at-home-office.

Now it’s time to discuss the tips that will keep you from feeling burnt out at home.

Here are 13 work from home tips to avoid burnout and get more done.

Track how you spend time during the day.

When we know how we’re currently using our time, we can plan how we want to use our time.

For instance, you might wake up and scroll social media apps for 30 minutes, then make a cup of coffee, and take a shower. But maybe you don’t want to be on social media that early, and you feel there is another way you’d like to spend those 30 minutes. Or maybe, after work, you log back onto your email and check for any updates before you go to bed. 

If you track every half hour that you are awake for a few weeks, you’ll notice the patterns in how you spend your time.

Maybe weekdays and weekends look different, or maybe your mornings vary. Either way, routines are helpful in many situations and can help us create and maintain a work/life balance, which helps us avoid burnout.

Create a schedule.

We can be super efficient if we create a schedule for ourselves and stick to it.

Once you’ve tracked your time, create a schedule for yourself. You can keep this schedule generic with terms like work, cook, eat, exercise, sleep, etc. Or, you can create a new schedule each week. The key here is to be consistent with your schedule and to truly stick to it.

Be sure you write in a space each day or maybe once a week that says “free time.” By creating a schedule, you give yourself a formula or a recipe to follow. For many of us, this is easier to stick to than simply saying, “I’m going to log off at 5pm tonight” or “I’m going to relax tonight.”

Set aside certain work hours and stick to them, this will help avoid burnout because you won’t allow yourself to stray from the schedule.

Find what relaxes you.

Not everyone has the same idea of how to relax or what the word relaxation really means to them.

For some, it might be drawing a bath and lighting some candles, while for others it might be watching their favorite TV show or playing video games.

Whatever it is that truly helps you relax and forget about work things, life things, family things, etc., set aside time and space to do that. Every day would be the best case scenario, but for the workaholics out there, maybe a few times a week is a good start.

By letting go of overwhelming work thoughts and tasks each day, we prepare ourselves to be better individuals, friends, family members, and employees. If you can’t find time to relax, you may feel burnt out. 

Set alarms. 

If creating a schedule and writing it down isn’t enough for you, or enough for you to stick with it, then consider setting alarms.

Set an alarm when you want to start your work day, and when it should end. Set an alarm for when you should be taking a break. You can even set alarms for various tasks that you need to complete that are work related. Maybe you spend too much time on a certain project or maybe not enough, but having the alarm alert will help keep you on track.

Step away from the remote office at break time.

It’s too easy to stay seated in front of your laptop or computer and continue working while eating lunch or having a snack.

We’re here to tell you that break time is important! It’s good to give our brains and our bodies a break during the day so that we can finish our day with strong and solid work.

Physically remove yourself from your desk, your office, or wherever it is that you spend your day doing your work. 

Keep your office outside of the bedroom. 

One reason we feel burnt out is because we bring our work with us into our sleeping space, and this can be very detrimental to our every day lives.

Your bedroom or sleeping space is where you notify your brain that you will be sleeping and shutting down for the night.

If you cannot keep the office outside of the bedroom, then simply try to keep it out of your bed. If you can set up a desk and chair to the side, that works too, but your bed should not be your office!

Build a strong sleep routine. 

Once you’ve moved your office outside of the bedroom, it’s important to build and maintain a solid sleep routine.

This tip is super important because building a solid sleep routine will help manage your overall physical and mental health. Without a good night’s rest, our hormones are thrown off, and this can affect so many things in our bodies.

By creating a sleep routine, you signal to your mind and body that it’s time to wind down and go to sleep. For instance, maybe you plug in your essential oil diffuser, play certain music, read a book, or all three.

If you continue to do these things each night, your routine will begin to signal to your brain and body that it’s time for sleep.

Psst! There is no right or wrong way to wind down, just keep it consistent and avoid the blue light from phone/tv screens right before shut eye. 

Eat well.

We know you’ve heard this tip across the board, but our diets play a huge role in our lives and it’s important to take care of ourselves from the inside out!

Including fruits and vegetables in your diet can be great brain food and give you energy. Of course, everyone is different and many have dietary restrictions so eat what is best for you. 

Drink enough water.

Just like eating well keeps us well, so does drinking well.

Water keeps you hydrated, alert, more focused, and it helps to satiate hunger. If you’re feeling overwhelmed and constantly searching for a snack, try a glass of water. Sometimes, we mistake hunger for thirst.

In addition, when we are dehydrated we may not think as clearly or as critically, which leads to the feeling of being burnt out more quickly. 

Get up and move.

It is so important to get up and move throughout your work day. Working from home every day now, you may not move as much as you were in the office.

For instance, you walk across the hall to a meeting, you walk to speak with coworkers, you walk to grab lunch, or you walk to the water cooler. Now, you have the ability to stay in one spot all day, you don’t need to get dressed, you don’t need to move!

But those little movements are so important throughout the day. In addition, exercising in some form helps you sleep better and can help relax your mind, so exercising helps in so many ways. If you don’t want to move during your work day, consider a workout in the evening or early in the morning. 

Change notification settings. 

After a certain time during the day, change your notification settings on your cell phone, computer, and any other devices that contain work or emails.

Either silent them, turn them to vibrate, or completely shut them off (if your work allows). A work life balance is so important. It is nearly impossible to have a good work life balance if work is constantly beeping, buzzing, or humming its way onto your tech devices.

Leave your phone.

If changing your notifications isn’t enough, we highly recommend leaving your phone in another room, leaving it on your desk, or leaving it in a drawer.

If you’re spending time with a loved one or with your kids, then the phone is not the most important thing. Even if you’re spending time with yourself, you should focus on you and what relaxes you, get things prepped for tomorrow (non-work-related things: clothes, meals, etc.), or prep for your bedtime routine.

Cook.

Even if you aren’t a chef, cooking is a great way to take your mind off of everything and anything.

It’s a way to work with your hands, inhale the delicious smells, and enjoy something you made just for you! Cut up vegetables, season chicken, mix the soup, sear salmon, whatever it is you like to eat, cook it!

Cooking is a great way to relax, so if adding “relax” or “free time” to your schedule from Tip #2 is too much for you, then consider writing in “cook”. Bonus: it’s a great activity to do with your sweetheart or with your children. 

Now that you’ve seen our list of 13 work from home tips to avoid burnout and get more done, what do you think? Did we miss anything? Leave us a comment below!