Working for yourself requires a lot of work—so the desire to increase productivity is almost always present.

Does this sound familiar? 

• If I just work more efficiently, maybe my business will get to that next level before the end of the year (make more money, get more followers, hire more people to be on my team).
• If I  can just get a little more done, maybe I’ll actually be able to take one day off to relax with my family (or get a manicure or daresay take a nap!?).
• If I work just a few more hours, maybe I’ll get ahead and stop working well into the night and on weekends.

Being your own boss can present unique challenges—those that may not come up if you are working for a company or big organization.  To start, you have to constantly motivate yourself to be productive, since no one else is telling you what needs to get done each day. You have to set your own goals and metrics for success. You have to somehow ignore the pile of dishes you can see in the sink and not get distracted by the TV while working from your “home office.” And, you have to learn how to prioritize all your responsibilities (at home and at work).

If you are in need of a little help managing all of those issues to increase productivity…we’ve got your back.  Here are three things that can seriously help.

3 Ways to Increase Productivity When You Work for Yourself

Learn How to Manage Distraction

You don’t have to show up in the office at a certain time or have set meetings from colleagues you must attend. Instagram notifications keep going off, and you just remembered you haven’t watered your plants this week, and…is it lunchtime yet?  Distractions are inevitable and all-encompassing when you work for yourself, so you have to have concrete strategies for managing it. Here, an expert explains how to do that, via scheduling, toggling between work “modes,” and even conducting a “distraction audit.”

Minimize Daily Decisions

Decision fatigue is basically what happens when your brain gets tired of making decisions. When you’re running your own company (often alone), you naturally have to decide on every detail. . And since  you may work in an unstructured way (not from a set office)or different hours every day—there are more decisions to be made at every moment. (Should I go home for an hour or find a cafe to work from? Which cafe? When should I leave to get to my next client?) That decision pile-up has real consequences, like sapping your mental energy. To avoid it, try these science-based strategies.

Create Boundaries

Because you work from home, maybe your mother-in-law thinks that means she can pop in any time to chat for an hour. Or, in wellness, people are likely to ask you for free advice on nutrition and self-care every day. Here, we explain how to create boundaries that allow us to prioritize time without upsetting close friends and family.

(photo credit: Shutterstock)