Have you ever found yourself majorly unproductive when working from home where
you feel like no matter what you do,
you just can't get your stuff done or you feel like even though you have a never
ending to do list, you just simply don't have the motivation to move forward.
I have even after a year and a half since quitting my corporate job and building
my business from the comfort of my own home,
I've had my fair share of ups and downs.
There were times where I've been crazy productive feeling like I'm on top of the
world and that I could accomplish anything that I set my mind to,
but many other times where I haven't necessarily shared on social media where
I've completely gone breakdown mode.
While I'm certainly no master to productivity and mental health.
After many months of trial and error,
almost a year and a half of working from home on my business,
I have learned a few things along the way that have helped me prevent
procrastination and burnout more than I did last year.
And when I'm talking about procrastination and burnout,
I'm talking about scrolling mindlessly on tick tock all day, which by the way,
I'm sometimes still guilty of playing with my cat when I really should be
working or not falling into a slump every other week.
Today I've been able to do a couple of things that have truly allowed me to
create more and more space between work and life so that I can finally put my
best foot forward when I'm building my dream business. And in today's video,
my hope for you is that by sharing some of the things that I've incorporated in
my routine when I work from home,
in order to help me stay productive and stay healthy,
that you're able to achieve better work life balance as well,
and that you don't find yourself falling into constant burnout or constant traps
of de-motivation.
So let's start off with tip number one and that is staying active.
Last year when I started my business,
this was something that I heavily neglected and that I found difficult to be
committed to. But as I researched,
the common thread between successful entrepreneurs is that all of them always
prioritize their health and wellness.
So this year I committed myself to truly taking this seriously and so I finally
took the plunge and invested in a personal trainer to help push my limits,
not just physically but also mentally.
Now this isn't to say that you need to have a personal trainer in order to stay
active and you can easily carve out time in your schedule,
whether that's 15 minutes or 30 minutes to watch some YouTube videos and follow
your favorite workouts. Now, because of the current global pandemic,
we now have moved our sessions virtually. So my personal trainer,
Andrew and I now work out three times a week through the computer and even
though I struggle through the workouts a lot, by the end of it,
I'm always glad that I got my body moving.
I find that working out has allowed me to truly stay more focused throughout the
day and gives me a kick of energy that I didn't even know I needed. Obviously,
like I said,
you don't need to hire a personal trainer to get active and you can easily do
this yourself. So for me, the times where I'm not working out with Andrew,
I've actually gone ahead and bought myself a bike for super cheap and today I
take daily 30 minute bike rides. I use these bike rides to get some fresh air,
take a nice break and also to sneak in some time to listen to my new audio
books. For these rights especially,
I've been using the app called audible and the reason why I've chosen audible
for these bike rides is that it's longer form content and I find that it makes
the bike rides a lot more enjoyable.
Audible is an app where you can listen to audio books and podcasts on the go and
with your subscription every month you get a credit to choose one book.
If you want more,
you can always buy audio books on Amazon and link it to your audible account.
A book that I've been in,
the process of reading is called ego is the enemy by Ryan holiday.
I'm really enjoying this book so far because the author doesn't really have a
boring narration voice,
which is why I usually get turned off from listening to audio books and the
concepts in this book apply a lot to the challenges I'm currently facing in my
own life and business. So if you're interested in checking out audible yourself,
you can visit the link in my description box so that you can get a free 30 day
trial and get two free audio books on me.
Now moving onto the next thing that I do in order to stay productive when
working from home is to simply show up.
So what I'll do is I'll start off the day by washing my face with one of my
favorite cleansers that leave my face feeling minty fresh,
and then I'll proceed to do my skincare and makeup routine. As usual.
A recent hack that I've actually been doing is putting a little drop of color
pigment into my regular day cream. For my day cream,
I use Elta MD and for the color pigment I use cover FX.
This way it feels like my regular cream. It doesn't feel heavy,
feel super light and it doesn't necessarily look like I'm wearing heavy
foundation, but by doing this alone,
it's really helped me become a little bit more confident and feeling a little
bit more camera ready, especially as a content creator and a coach.
Something that I find is I always need to be on camera and when I find that I'm
a little bit more put together,
I'm a lot more willing to create more content and connect with you guys through
video. Afterwards, I'll put on basic powder,
thrawn quick lip gloss and do my hair if it's a mess that day.
By doing all of this,
even though I'm not necessarily going out or seeing anyone,
I feel a lot more productive and I truly feel like I'm showing up to work.
A very common indulgence that tends to happen when you work from home is the
craving to stay in your pajamas or sweatpants all day.
Now I'm here to tell you that even though it is super tempting,
it can kill your productivity when you're a bit too comfortable. Now,
I'm not saying that you need to wear jeans or a fancy shirt because what I
learned is also important to do. Your best work is for you to feel comfortable,
but what I am saying is that you should at least throw on maybe some leggings or
something more form fitting so at least you can feel a little bit more put
together versus wearing a bathrobe sweats or a baggy t-shirt.
This little change that I've made in my routine has really helped wonders,
and again, I'm not saying that you need to dress to the nines because that's not
comfortable for anyone either. Speaking of feeling put together,
a cluttered environment creates a cluttered mind.
I'll be the first to tell you that I am the worst at keeping things clean,
but if you do find yourself feeling unproductive,
spending a little bit of time to clean up your workspace can do wonders.
This means taking out your garbage,
clearing your desk from distractions and putting away any unnecessary items that
might make you feel messy overall. Once my workspace is cleared,
something I've learned through being the master of overwhelming myself with
unrealistic tax entities is I use my productivity planner.
This is a planner that was gifted by a mentor of mine and what I love about it
is that it's all about zoning in on your top three tasks.
Oftentimes I'll lose focus or I'll over forecast how much I can really get done
in a day. By using this planner,
it helps me to realign on what's truly important and what will be the most
impactful to get done in my business.
If you're interested in any of the products I mentioned,
by the way in this video, you can always visit
www.vanessalau.co forward slash tools where I'll put all the products that I
mentioned. Now, speaking of focus,
one thing that I have on my desk that has been my absolute favorite are these
roller balls from Sage wellness.
Each roller ball serves a different purpose and my personal favorite is
peppermint halo. I've been using this for a very long time,
so I'm so happy I now have a whole set that I can put on my desk and reach for
anytime.
I usually start my day by putting some peppermint halo under my nose and it
instantly wakes me up after working for some time in the morning.
One thing I've started to do that has helped me a lot is to give myself a lunch
break every day at 12:00 PM I always make myself lunch.
Last year I found myself burning out every week and having very unhealthy eating
habits.
So this year I invested in hiring a nutritionist to make sure I'm putting the
right foods in my body. Again, like I mentioned earlier on in this video,
I'm really taking my health and wellness as my number one priority this year.
One of the easiest and most delicious meals that I learned to make is a simple
egg and avocado toast sandwich.
Every afternoon I make lunch for my boyfriend and I and at the same time my
boyfriend washes the dishes. Since we both run our own businesses,
this allows us to touch base mid day and take a quick break together while
catching up on how our day went. As I spend time to make our food,
I found it to be a great de-stressor and it takes my mind off the things that
may have been stressing me out throughout the day.
Over time as I've been running my business for a year and a half now,
I've learned that it's become more and more important for me to take frequent
breaks in order to prevent burnout and to eat foods that will keep me energized.
Instead of being tired.
Last year I would always find myself scarfing down cup noodles 10 minutes before
my meetings and always wondered why I felt like crap. Well,
I'm not the master of not burning out and having work life balance over time.
I do feel like I've been much better at staying healthy when running a business
from home.
The next thing I love to do and make to keep myself healthy and productive is my
Suby drink. This is something that I drink every single day.
This is my favorite super greens powder and it's something that I've been
drinking for a while now.
What I love most about Suby is that I get all my nutrients in this drink and it
tastes just like matcha and what I love about that is that I can actually read
everything that's in the ingredient labels,
something that my nutritionist and I have been working on. As you can see,
all the ingredients on the back of this label are all fruits and vegetables and
the nutrients that you can see are absolute crazy.
Now what I like to do to make this taste great is I add honey to sweeten it and
again, I'll then froth my almond milk using my Nespresso milk for author.
The end result basically tastes no different than a matcha latte and it is
absolutely bomb. If you'd like to try soupy yourself,
you can use the code Vanessa 10 at their checkout to get 10% off your order and
Bulla. Now,
both my boyfriend and I have something to eat and drink latte for him and Suby
for me. Now here's another tip. If you're taking a lunch break,
a true lunch break instead of eating lunch while working.
I spend that time watching funny YouTube videos.
Today I'm watching another YouTuber's video about productivity and observing how
he films his videos because making better B roll footage is something that I'm
actually trying to work on.
This has helped me become more creative by watching other content creators
outside of my industry and it makes me feel good that I'm slowing down to
actually enjoy my food and not worry about things that are directly related to
my business. As the day goes on,
it's easy to forget common essentials like drinking water.
This is something that I struggle with a lot since quitting my job and working
for myself. Unlike when you have a corporate job,
it's easy when you have colleagues wanting to take breaks with you and having
quote unquote water cooler chats, but when you work alone,
no one is really there to remind you to drink water or to take a break or do any
of that because there's very little social activities happening that would
prompt you to drink any water. That's why for me,
I use this health Lish water bottle that reminds me to drink water every hour.
Although sometimes I still forget having it by my side at my desk.
They'll nudges me to stay hydrated throughout the day.
Now as I work through the afternoon,
I eventually will break for dinner and then call it a day.
But for me as I film this right now in my business,
it's very busy season as my team and I are revving up for a couple of launches,
so after dinner and Netflix,
I've been finding myself still working a little bit in bed. Now,
something common that may happen,
especially when you work from home and especially if you're a night owl like me
that likes to work in the evening,
is that your eyes may get tired from all of the blue light.
One of my favorite products to use at the moment are these blue light blockers
that I had got from classy network.
I find them to be the most durable and really good quality for price.
I've had blue blockers before in the past that were much more expensive.
That actually broke on me,
so for me to find a brand that actually feels sturdy is really, really awesome.
The best thing that I love about these glasses is that they were created by
another female entrepreneur,
so I like the fact that I'm supporting another small business.
If you'd like to check out these glasses for yourself, you can use my code,
Vanessa Lau and get 20% off your order. As you can see,
I love these glasses so much that I always alternate between multiple pairs.
Now as we head into bedtime and everything is turned off,
I find how I end the day prepares me for a better day ahead.
That's why at night there are a couple of things I do that have helped me get
way better sleep and start my day fresh without feeling groggy or anxious.
The first thing that I like to do as my nighttime routine is I turn off my
notifications.
This is actually something that I've been doing very recently and as someone who
runs a coaching program and is also very active on social media as my
livelihood, I always wake up with 30 to 50 new notifications on my phone.
This lately has been causing a lot of anxiety for me,
especially since right now in the business.
We're going through a lot of projects that are already stressing me out.
Thanks to some of you who follow me over on Instagram.
You guys have suggested I turn off my notifications,
which is now what I do every night before I go to bed,
so I'm able to wake up to a notification free phone.
It's been really helping me a lot lately and I just really want to take some
time to thank you to those of you who suggested me to do this. Now,
after I've turned off my notifications to help me release anxiety and drift off
into a peaceful sleep, I use sole CBD. I've tried many CBD oils before,
but nothing has beaten soul CBD.
I have a couple of drops before I go to bed and it really helps me calm my
anxiety and my racing mind and also puts me to sleep pretty easily.
One of my favorite parts and the reason why I love this brand is that the lemon
lime flavor is absolutely bomb.
Unlike other CBD oils that I've tried that I haven't featured because I didn't
like it really feels like you're tasting good stuff into your mouth versus just
regular oil. If you're interested in trying soul CBD yourself,
you can always check out their website and use my code.
Vanessa tend to get 10% off any order that you place in the U S I find that it
really helps calm me down and helps me really,
really get that sleep that I've been missing next to maximize these calming
effects with the CBD oil and just to simply really end off the day I've been
using a meditation app called simply habit and it's recently been my newest
favorite. Funny enough,
I actually heard about this app when I was watching an episode on shark tank.
I used to use Headspace,
but I quickly got bored of it and as someone who likes variety,
I really love using simply habit because there's so many options to choose from.
It's funny because right now they've got Kovac meditations and other meditations
like evening meditations, intimacy meditations, ASM,
or if you're into that and so much more. Not only this,
you can also choose from many different teachers and voices,
so every time I use the app, I never truly get bored for me at night.
A recent favor of mine has been this meditation right here that's really helped
me release any emotions I've had from the day and drift off to sleep.
I personally think it's the perfect meditation before you go to bed.
I love this app so much that I personally reached out to the company to get you
guys a free trial.
You can use the link in my description box to get an exclusive 30 day trial if
you'd like to try it out for yourself.
Winding down at night is one of my favorite things to do and it allows me to
reflect on the day that I just had calm my nerves and remind myself that
tomorrow is a brand new day and that nothing is truly urgent over time.
What I learned is that from my experience from working at home as an
entrepreneur is that the deadlines and the stress that I put myself is a choice
and that if I don't have a productive day today doesn't mean that I can never
have a productive date ever again.
A quote that I really love is the quote where Jay Shetty said that you should
never judge your life by a day, which means if you had a bad day,
that doesn't necessarily mean you've had a bad life.
I've learned to truly become a lot easier on myself over time and to recognize
when my body truly needs a break and being okay with giving myself a break.
As you can see from this video,
I've really emphasized a lot on taking these type of breaks and putting your
health and wellness as your number one priority.
It's really easy and really tempting to go into burnout and always work your
butt off because you want to build a business,
but I can firsthand tell you that that strategy doesn't last long.
It's only a matter of time when you find yourself like me a year ago where you
burn out constantly and you're no longer productive. Lastly,
another thing that I learned from my experience of working from home,
putting a lot of stress on myself and building my business is what I did is I
stopped attaching meaning to failure.
This was a really big shift that I made mindset wise.
That has truly helped me become a lot more happier when running my business and
not falling into multiple slumps.
What this means is if I didn't meet my goals or didn't do what I said I would
do, I no longer make it mean that I'm not successful or that I can never be
successful.
I really big reason why a lot of new entrepreneurs fail is because they think
that failure means something. In fact, it doesn't mean anything. It just is.
That's why today I let any quote unquote failure as it is. I let it be.
I learned to let go and I just move forward.