For over a year now, I have been lucky enough to work online from home full-time. I am incredibly grateful to be able to do so, and I get to create content that I’m passionate about and truly proud of every single day.

However, just because you love what you do, that doesn’t mean it never feels like work or that everything comes easy. In fact, my first few months were filled with ups and downs.

During that time, I didn’t have a strict morning routine to adhere to. I found myself procrastinating work. I didn’t write down specific tasks that I needed to accomplish on a given day, and I was extremely disorganized.

I’d push recipe testing back to Wednesday because I was too lazy to get it done on Monday, and then I didn’t have time to write on Wednesday. It was a domino effect that resulted in a crazy schedule that I couldn’t keep up. I would work three or four hours one day and 12 the next to try and make up for the time lost.

I knew I couldn’t continue working this way, so I sat down and made a plan. I developed a detailed schedule, and turned it into an easy to follow, multi-step morning routine that was simple yet effective. Now, it helps me maximize my productivity each and every day.

I get more done in less time, and for the past six months, I have consistently created content that I’m proud of. In sharing this three-step plan, I hope you’ll be able to gain some insights and ideas to apply to your own routine.

1. Wake up like this

For years now, I have made an effort to never wake up to an alarm. Even when I was in college and had 8 AM classes to attend, I tried to go to sleep early enough that I would wake up naturally with plenty of time to get ready so that I wasn’t late.

I now wake up naturally around 5–6 AM every single morning, brew a fresh cup of coffee, and then get started right away with my work.

Waking up to an alarm can contribute to social jet lag, which is essentially a conflict between biological and social time. This is detrimental because:

“social jet lag doesn’t just affect your health, it also decreases productivity, and has cognitive and economic implications. When we assess people with cognitive tasks, their reaction time is slower, their decision making is affected. All kinds of cognitive tasks have been negatively impacted by social jet lag.”

Luckily, you can avoid this by getting in tune with your body’s rhythms and waking up naturally. My top three tips for successfully getting up without the use of an alarm are:

1. Get enough sleep on a consistent basis. If you’re really sleep deprived, you’ll be more likely to sleep in late or sleep for more than 7–9 hours at a time.
2. Go to bed 8–9 hours before you need to wake up. If you have a work obligation at 7 AM and you go to sleep at 3 AM, odds are you will need an alarm to get up and out of bed in time.
3. Set a backup alarm. I rarely have to do this anymore because I set my own schedule. However, when I was in college, if I had a 6 AM cross-country workout or an 8 AM exam, I always set a backup alarm just in case I didn’t wake up in time.

Even though it may take a while to adjust to waking up naturally, it is definitely worth the effort. You will benefit immensely from the boost in motivation, energy, work productivity, and overall health the habit provides.

2. Adopt the Pomodoro technique

If you haven’t heard of the Pomodoro technique, you have been missing out big time. This technique boosts my work efficiency and helps me optimize my time better.

Essentially, the Pomodoro technique:

“teaches you to work with time, instead of struggling against it. A revolutionary time management system, it is at once deceptively simple to learn and life-changing to use.”

It involves the following six simple steps:

1. Choose your task.
2. Set a timer for 25 minutes.
3. Work on the task until time is up.
4. When time is up, make a checkmark in your journal
5. Take a few minute break (I like to take five minutes).
6. Repeat three more times, then take a longer break.

I love to write first thing in the morning for 30 minutes, take a five minute break to walk around and clear my mind, and then repeat the process until I have completed my article (it usually takes me at least a couple hours to write a well-researched article).

Then, I will do the same with other important work tasks, like recipe testing for my blog. I have tried a number of different time intervals, from 30 minutes up to an hour, but 30 minutes seems to be the sweet spot for me.

You can take a similar approach and figure out which interval maximizes your own productivity and work efficiency.

3. Fit this crucial health practice in

I have been an avid exerciser for over ten years, but I haven’t always exercised in the morning.

Throughout my four years as a competitive endurance runner in college, my team practiced anywhere from 5 AM to 4 PM. It wasn’t uncommon to have two practices in a single day (one in the morning and one in the evening).

I always hated the early morning practices because I felt tired, groggy, and could rarely get my body moving fast enough to hit my usual paces. After I completed my four years as a collegiate athlete, I was so fed up with early morning practices that I switched to running in the mid-morning or early afternoon.

However, over the past few months, I have started running earlier in the day again, just a few hours after waking up and eating breakfast. I have really come to love it, and I have noticed an increase in my productivity throughout the day.

This is actually unsurprising given that:

“Working out can increase your mental clarity for four to 10 hours post-exercise.”

If you have been struggling to determine when to squeeze a workout in, you might want to consider doing it in the morning before work, when your motivation is high and your body and mind are fresh. You’ll feel like you can conquer anything after you finish, and you’ll be glad you got it out of the way early.

Final Thoughts

By maximizing your work efficiency and productivity each day, you will be able to work less, accomplish more, and ultimately have more free time to spend with those you love.

When I first started working from home, my inconsistent schedule kept me from optimizing my time, and as a result, I fell short of my aspirations. Now, I hit more of my monthly goals and have plenty of free time to do whatever I want with.

If you’re schedule feels all over the place, you just started a new job, or you simply think that your routine needs a refresh, test out some of the productivity tips shared. They just might help you achieve those lofty goals you have set.

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