Do you need to get some chores and personal items done after work?

Wondering how to be productive, without overwhelming yourself?

In this post, I offer a few tips to help you attend to items at home…after a day at work.

Plan ahead.

Have trouble figuring out what to do at home once you arrive home from work?

It pays to take a few minutes to pull your thoughts together.

Take a few moments the night before, or in the morning, to jot down one or two tasks that absolutely must be completed when you arrive home.

This way, you won’t waste time or energy figuring out what should be done; you can just arrive home and attend to the item(s).

If need be, write down your tasks in your calendar or schedule as a visual reminder.

Know your activity style.

When are you most productive and alert at home?

Do you do your best work as soon as you get home and enter through your front door?

Perhaps you need a few minutes to relax and unwind before doing some light housekeeping?

Or maybe you need to change and have dinner first before you begin practicing your guitar in earnest?

It really doesn’t matter how you work; as long as you are comfortable with your arrangements.

If you’re not the type of person who can go through the postal mail as soon as you walk through the door, or the type of person who can focus for hours working on some crocheting after dinner, so be it. 

Don’t force yourself to be someone you’re not.

Set realistic goals.

Cleaning the house, baking a cake, writing a book chapter, paying some bills, having dinner, repairing your mountain bike, and decluttering your closet…

While you might want to get all of these things done in one evening or just a couple of hours, realistically speaking, you probably won’t get to everything.

Set realistic and achievable goals for yourself. Don’t try to fill up your evening with every possible activity you can think of! Instead, choose one or two larger projects on which you can focus your time and energy.

For example, maybe you really want to declutter your closet and get a head start on paying some bills. Break these projects into smaller, daily tasks, such as getting rid of ten pieces of clothing from your closet or pay three bills online.

Likewise, it’s important to learn how to prioritize your tasks. What items have to get done that very day? What items can wait until another day?

You’d probably want to go food shopping or do a load of laundry (urgent), instead of cleaning out your kitchen pantry or shredding some confidential papers (not-so urgent).

Don’t forget to relax.

Just because you’re not at work, doesn’t mean you have to spend every single moment working on a personal project.

Set boundaries for yourself. How many hours per week do you want to practice playing an instrument or planning your mother’s retirement party?

What days of the week are you willing to tackle personal projects at home?

What days of the week will you leave free for some much-needed rest and relaxation?

How about you? What types of personal projects do you tackle when you’re at home after work? Join in the conversation and leave a comment below!